Please help with Cathay discount fares.
 

Hello:

I recently have started a small company in Bangkok (15 employees) and am starting to travel. I was originally USA based and this is a new experience for me....on many levels.

I am a OW flyer Emerald and would like to continue to fly on Cathay, earn my AA miles etc. However, as I start to travel I go to the Cathay website and am unable to find anything but high fares? Cost is an issue. Am I doing this wrong?

Do I need to find myself a local Thai travel agent who can utilize partnerships and corporate fares to my advantage? I am the only one traveling and will be for the next few years so I have no volume to offer and yet I am being driver to use other airlines based on cost.

Any suggestions you have would definitely be appreciated? You can PM me with information if you have some good resources to share and do not want to publish. Thank you in advance!

In order to get AAdvantage miles, you need to book your tickets in H, B or Y classes. Most of CX's special fares from asia are in the subclasses of L, K or M. H can be had but you're going to pay a premium for it.

If you want to earn Asiamiles, then originating from BKK is good. But if you want to earn AAdvantage miles, you'd be better off originating from USA as CX published fares are in "H" class. There are cheaper deals around, but the subclass will not be to your liking.

NYCTraveler, call their toll free number - 800-233-2742. Be nice and just tell them the truth - want to fly their airline but want to earn AA miles. Tell them you're only getting quotes on their website for non-earning fare codes (as Guy Betsy pointed out). I just did this for my upcoming LAX-HKG-SIN-HKG-PVG-HKG-LAX trip (Dragonair doing the HKG-PVG-HKG - not earning AA miles for that) - got a very good rate. Good luck - and with the new business...