Booking Cathay with Avios
Feb 17, 2026 | 12:28 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2019
Programs: British Airways Gold, IHG Platinum, Accor Hotels Silver
Posts: 7
Booking Cathay with Avios
Does anyone have experience of booking Cathay flights with avios?
Also, when do Cathay release award seats? Do they have black out days, like around Christmas and Chinese New Year?
Also, when do Cathay release award seats? Do they have black out days, like around Christmas and Chinese New Year?
Feb 17, 2026 | 2:05 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,554
Feb 17, 2026 | 2:48 am
#3
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: HH LT Diam, IHG Plat AMB, OWE, STAR G
Posts: 3,120
I have done ot lots of times and there is great value intra-Asia. Europe-HKG is a little trickier and you may struggle to het LHR flights. More available are places like Milan.
In recent times availability is a little bit more sketchy.
In recent times availability is a little bit more sketchy.
Feb 17, 2026 | 7:40 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,217
I also use my Avios for intra-Asia redemptions; indeed, some good values. There is not as much availability as via Cathay though (I am Diamond), but I usually check both programs, and issue via Avios if the availability is there. The other reason is that I am trying to burn down my Avios account, since I have not put much earning into it in recent years.
Feb 17, 2026 | 8:22 am
#5
Join Date: Feb 2025
Programs: Qantas Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 24
For short haul CX J class within Asia (e.g. BKK, japan, DPS) , redeem via Qatar can save a lot of avios as compared with redeeming via BA and Finnair. For long haul CX flight to/from Europe, mostly only Y/PE is available for redemption using avios va BA.
Feb 18, 2026 | 6:24 pm
#6
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: LAX
Programs: Marriott Ambassador LTT, IHG Platinum, AA LTG, UA Premier Silver, SQ Elite Silver, AC 25K
Posts: 253
My wife and I are flying out this Monday on CX in J that I booked with Avios via BA's website 348 days in advance for the LAX-HKG-BKK route. I fly to Southeast Asia quite a bit, but I rarely see CX show up on BA's site for those routes.
Feb 19, 2026 | 9:50 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2019
Programs: British Airways Gold, IHG Platinum, Accor Hotels Silver
Posts: 7
Thank you all. I've been looking at flights for the last month via BA, Qatar and Finnair - saw only one CX reward flight and then it disappeared a minute later 
Feb 19, 2026 | 7:33 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Hong Kong, France
Programs: FB , BA Gold/OW emerald, QR
Posts: 17,074
All airlines now have sophisticated yield management IT, including for awards. CX gives priority to its own FFP. It is not unusual that a CX award is open for some time only to AM, especially for DMs, then finally open to partners if they are not taken. As mentioned above, CX tends to release more awards a few days before departure if the load is light.
Just looking at one month can be misleading. For example, February is Chinese New Year travel season. It could be that CX basically releases few, if any, awards to partners.
Last edited by brunos; Feb 19, 2026 at 7:40 pm
Feb 19, 2026 | 8:12 pm
#9
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 22,134
I have one Avios redemption with CX for 2026 - and that's for the wife's birthday. CX generously released the inbound for Sunday.
Mar 13, 2026 | 2:25 am
#11
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 442
I heard to use Qatar Avios for a Cathay PE booking, you have to fill out some sort of online form and submit it, with the ticketing desk booking for you within a few days. They unfortunately don't have it online - only BA does (at least this was my latest understanding).