Recently returned from a trip from NY to Vancouver, Victoria and Tofino. We flew Cathay Pacific as we were easily able to get Business Class seats for 60,000 miles; we got them from 50,000 Starwood points.

It was a bit of an incovenience. First of all, we had to fly from JFK while we live in NW New Jersey - an extra hour commute to the airport. But getting Business Class for about what Continental wanted for Coach made it academic.

The other issue was timing - we landed in Vancouver about 1:15 AM. It was an amazing experience. First of all, in a pretty packed 747, maybe 30 people got off. That means we got out luggage and went through Passport control and customs in under ten minutes. We walked to the Fairmont Vancouver Airport and checked in very quickly - could not have been more convenient. Yes, we had to pay for a night's hotel stay, but an internet rate made it very affordable and still heavily tilted the decision in favor of Cathay.

The next morning, we went into the airport for a quick breakfast and walked to Avis to get our car. What an amazing difference from the night before - from a deserted airport to a hub of activity. Made getting in in the middle of the night seem like a great idea.

We were very, very impressed with the service we received in Business Class - incredible service, always using our names, great food, etc.

I'm a big fan of AsiaMiles and now also of Cathay Pacific.

Taking CX889 from JFK and then staying at the Fairmont is my preferred way of getting to YVR as well. Great seats, service and entertainment.

The only problem is that 889 does has some problems with delays but the BA lounge is still better than anything offered by CO.

Though I've never actually stopped in YVR, the CX flight 889 is probably the best transcontinental service out there, because its actually a transpacific flight timed to arrive in Hong Kong in the early AM. So, you get transpacific service for a 5.5 hour transcontinental flight. I don't think any of the other carriers flying NYC-YVR could compete. Even economy is better because of the entertainment if you don't plan on sleeping.

And from NOV this year, CX will have the new J and F class seats on this route. We don't know if the new Y will be on as only one aircraft does not have the new Y installed alongside the new F & J seats and CX of course does not just deploy one aircraft on any given route.

Argh!

Because of CX 889/888 having the new F/J seats, all of the "A", "D", and "I" inventory has been totally zeroed out on the YVR-HKG vv sectors November onwards.

From what it seems, they timed CX835 (the "extra" flight on select days) YVR-HKG to depart BEFORE CX889 so that is is more difficult to be "confirmed" on CX835 and "waitlisted" on CX889 (which leaves later) at the same time.

(Note: "A" and "D" inventory are available YVR-JFK vv., which means if I really want to try out the 74A I'll pay CAD 5600 RT for an A2 fare, or USD 2800 OW for a F fare JFK-YVR)

Looks like I'll have to fly SQ instead when I go to Asia :-( [as they have "A" inventory (for Circle Pacifc / RTW) on their 77W on some if not most days]

May be common knowledge, but you can also use a 45k award on AA to get J on CX JFK-YVR. This also allows an open jaw and a stopover. FWIW, AA's availability mirrored asiamiles exactly for the dates we checked.

We were able to go JFK-YVR on CX and spice it up with Q(u)antas YVR-SFO, AS SFO-SAN stopover for the entire semester, and then go SAN-LAX-JFK on AA. AA tickets are extremeley changeable up to the last minute - as long as you avoid the $50/$100 fees for the advance purchase (assuming no EXP status).