concol

I am not sure where this belongs but here is my dilemma.

I live in Canada and over the last few years I have collected 80,000 Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Avion points through the use of my RBC credit card. The Avion program promises no blackout dates on travel rewards and other catchy marketing gimmicks. However given the ridiculous point to reward ratio it doesn’t seem like my Avion points are really worth anything. For a fully paid business class reward ticket from Toronto to Hong Kong I would need around 800,000 points which in effect means that I would have to spend almost $800,000 CAD on my credit card to earn a free business class ticket to Hong Kong. ( trust me that is not going to happen) The best use of my Avion miles would be to transfer them to Asia Miles on a one to one point ration.(1 Avion point = 1 Asia Mile). I currently do not have an Asia Miles account and given my foreseeable future I am not and most likely will not be much of a frequently flyer.

Here are my questions:

1) If I want to return travel from Toronto (YYZ) to Shanghai (PVG), on CX via Hong Kong (stop over in Hong Kong). It is my understanding that I can buy a Y, B, H or K Economy class ticket and then use 80,000 Asia Miles to upgrade to business class. Is the entire trip upgraded to business class or is it 80,000 Asia Miles YYZ to HKG and then another 20,000 Asia Miles for HKG to PVG?

2) I am pretty flexible in my dates and can commit to dates as far as 6 months out if I have to. Is there a way to find out the upgrade availability for certain dates before I book my ticket? Is there a waiting list for Asia Miles upgrades, and if so what is process of getting my upgrade approved. I really only want to buy a more expensive Y, B, H or K Economy class ticket if I know I will be upgraded to business class.

3) If I buy my ticket from my travel agent as opposed to on-line using the CX website does this make a difference in getting my upgrade?

I only want to transfer my useless Avion points to Asia Miles, if I know I will be able to get an upgrade to Business class on CX.

Of note I have no status with any airline and do not see my self obtain status in the near future.

Thanks for your help.

bernyx

If you have time and your miles convert 1:1, you might want to consider converting them to AA or Alaska air, getting a credit card with that program to get 20-25K miles, then try and use that program to get the ticket on Cathay.

cxfan1960

Not for upgrades, which I believe OP wants.

cxfan1960

As far as miles required for YYZ-HKG-PVG-HKG-YYZ, if you do not stop in HKG both ways, it will cost you 80000 miles.

concol

Thanks ... however my Avion points only convert to Asia Miles or British Airways miles. I can't convert them to any other Airline Program.

concol

Does this mean I can have one (1) stop over in Hong Kong. OR is Hong Kong only a transit point.

If I wanted to stop over in Hong Kong how many more points would I need.

christep

It means you can stop over in HKG in one direction but must transit in the other (your choice which comes first).

Guy Betsy

Avion isn't that useless when it converts to BA miles. Twice a year, the promo of 1:1.5 conversion happens over to BA miles. Using BA miles only need 100K miles for an award from North America to Asia on any OW partner, ie CX and JL.

With Asiamiles however the advantage is that you can actually book the flight without having enough miles in your account. It doesn't matter if you book online or through TA if you want to upgrade. Asiamiles still need to do an upgrade booking in conjunction with your confirmed booking. When the upgrade is confirmed, then they or you have to contact whoever you booked your flight with to cancel your original booking.

As CX draws the same inventory from free tickets if "U" class when it does upgrades, you might want to give yourself plenty of time for the booking.

concol

Thanks ... I will keep that in mind. I am pretty flexiable in my dates and can also lock in dates 6-7 months in advance.

chanman

In my opinion, Avion is the best loyalty program in Canada. With the twice a year conversion to BA Miles (May/June, Nov/Dec the past few years), I have been able to use 66,666 Avion points and book a CX J Class award ever year. Last November, BA had a 50% off BA Miles award. I was able to book a F class to the UK for 75,000 BA Miles or 50,000 Avion points. Can't get better than that.
Also, for 30,000 Avion points, you can book a revenue ticket anywhere in NA on any airline even during the holidays when award tickets are scarce. It is limited to $750 but that's not a bad deal during high season.