ms.moneypenny

I have decided to switch to collecting Avios miles.


However, my work flights (mainly to China and Europe) are all on Cathay. Should I continue collecting the points using my Asia Miles or change to Avios miles. Would changing it to Avios not let me collect club tier points to reach silver status?


Also, is there any advantages of contiuning collecting Asia Miles at all? It seems the redemption points are a lot better using Avios.


I am new to the world of point collection.

Mwenenzi

ms.moneypenny Welcome to FT

What fare class are the China to Europe flights? (not the cabin)
What cabin (economy - business - first)?
With BA you need 4 BA flights before you get status

The airline you fly most or an airline of the country you live is the best ffp for many people. Generally you are better earning on your primary airline due to greater recognition, better service when disruptions, ability to upgrade flights and possible operational upgrades.

Look here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...help-here.html

kaka

You dont get as many credit card bonus w avios as compared to cx am.

percysmith

I think trying to enter different earn programs (FQTV) and status programs (FQTS) is now too hard http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...l#post24187581 and you have to credit both your miles and your status with AM/MPO or Avios/BAEC.

I think there's a fair bit about MPO vs BAEC in here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...pr-2016-a.html . Those who know me know I don't get/buy paid tickets so I refer your MPO/BAEC choice to that thread.

Avios vs AM: I assume you are HKG based and you know CX and KA are Avios redemption partners.

Advantages of Avios:
1. Less miles for Y short hauls (up to as far as Bali/Sapporo). TPE/HAN/OKA R/T: 9K Avios vs 15K AM, BKK R/T: 15K Avios vs 20K AM, Japan Honshu/Korea R/T: 20K Avios vs 30K AM, Sapporo/Bali: 25K Avios vs. 30K AM
2. Avios one-way are 50% Avios of R/T. AM one-way is around 70%
2a. So an Avios mixed-class redemption will be priced as the sum of two one-ways in their original class. With AM it is likely to be the R/T AM of the higher class (e.g. HKG-KIX n Y, KIX-HKG in J is 30K Avios. In AM it's 50K AM)
2b. I've even mixed Avios redemptions with LCCs. I might take a HKexpress/Vanilla redeye to HND/NRT when it's on sale, and come back on KA397 for the baggage allowance.
3. Cancellation fees are lower. AM charges US$120 (HK$936). Avios charges the lower of HK$427 or the taxes and surcharges you paid on the ticket.
4. Can cancel ticket within 24 hours of booking
5. Avios currently has good credit card to Avios promotions e.g. HSBC extra 50% (and HSBC's Rewardcash to Avios rate is already 50% better than the Rewardcash to AM rate), Citi extra 30%

Disadvantages of Avios:
1. If you're booking long-haul Economy Avios and AM are roughly equal. If you're booking long-haul Premium Economy or higher Avios loses out in a big way (e.g. HKG-LHR-HKG in J 180K Avios vs 120K AM)
2. AM allows two stopovers and one open jaw. Avios will require these to be priced separately.
3. Rebooking (change of flight) fees are higher - AM only need 1,000 AM
4. Cannot cancel within 24 hours of departure
5. Fewer HK cards convert to Avios than AM (as kaka mentioned):
Avios: HSBC (Premier only), Citi, Amex, Dah Sing (co-branded only)
AM: HSBC, Citi, Amex, Bankcomm, BEA, BoC, CCB, DBS, Fubon, SCB, Shacom, Wing Lung
6. AM opens its awards 360 days before departure. Avios 354 days (if you're redeeming for Christmas everything gets cleaned up a day or two after release)
7. Avios does not allow online CX/KA redemptions within 6 days of departure (phone only) (Mainland China not at all within 6 days) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...-no-seats.html
8. Avios will show different redemption availability depending on your place of residence http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...l#post26438637 (e.g. some seats you can't see as a HK member but you can as a Canadian one. AM is not known to discriminate by country of residence)
9. And even if you overcome (6), (7) and (8), there are just CX/KA seats that AM does not release to any partner http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...l#post26171378 (sometimes as extreme as five seats http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...l#post27138721 )

fallinasleep

Great summary percysmith

The only thing I would add is that Avios allows points and cash bookings with (usually) reasonable cash costs (especially on Y tix), whereas the top-up feature with AM is a rip-off in my opinion.

kaka

i stopped having the patience of percysmith. i applaud him.

anyways, yes, i see both have it pros. and being HKG based it's way easier to earn AM but avios do have their pros too... AND its not that hard to earn them (HSBC if you have premier, citibank, dahsing)

btw, CX AM hasnt had a devaluation since however long i can think of (before i joined FT!), if that is to come soon i shall not be too surprised.

ms.moneypenny

Thanks for all your helpful response.


Mwenenzi - I normally fly to Europe on Business and Asia on Economy. Since I won't be flying BA on any of my flights therefore unable to gain status, I guess it makes sense to contiune collect Asia Miles on my work flights.


percysmith - Yes I am based in HKG. That is an incredible detailed pros and cons, thanks! From what I am reading, it seems if I collect Avios I will stick with redeeming short haul flights on Economy and use Asia miles for my long haul.

ms.moneypenny

Thanks for the reply. That was extremly informative Percysmith.


I am based in Hong Kong and normally fly business class for long haul and economy for short. Based on the responses, I will keep collecting my asia miles for work flights and use them to redeem long haul flights. But switch to collecting Avios (currently using Dah Sing CC) for use on my short haul economy flights.

Mwenenzi

Some low priced economy flights on CX will earn little (or nothing) with BA, but may earn more (up to 100%) if credited to CX AM. You need to know the fare booking class
www.wheretocredit.com/cx

ermen

I am a HKG member predominantly flying CX (long haul J) whilst redeeming / paying for short haul Y.

I would actually probably advise you to credit to BAEC given your flying patterns (since you go to Europe on J)

I too credit to BAEC instead of AM. Why?

1/ Better tier points on BAEC - wouldn't make CX DM on my flying patterns. But make BA Gold (OWE) on BAEC
- need c.10 to 11 long haul J sectors
2/ Going to europe, it is fairly easy to get 4 flights on BA/IB
3/ My longhaul avios which I collect - I can use it to redeem for my short haul travel within Asia
4/ Plenty of ways to get Asiamiles in HKG - I have an OK number of Asiamiles (mainly use it to redeem companion tickets long haul once or twice a year) via credit card spend (SCB Asia Miles card for restaurant, Citi Prestige annual bonus, CCB Eye promotion)

So, doing the above, you get the best of both worlds in my opinion

kaka

I too share my basket of eggs w avios too

sksk

Hi guys,

I have read through a few threads but still couldn't decide which program is the best for my situation.

I am based in Hong Kong and is currently a gold member which will expire in Oct 2017.

1. I fly 3 long hauls in business class for work every year, destination varies, could be the US, South America, Europe or Australia. I don't get to choose the airlines but most probably it would be Finnair to Europe, AA to America and CX to Australia which are all one world members.
2. I fly around 15 short hauls within Asia for work in economy every year, destinations include Seoul, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Shanghai, Thailand, etc. 90% of the time I fly CX. But I don't get to choose the fare types and it is always the cheapest one available.
3. I use the asiamiles earned during the year to redeem 2 business classes return flights to different locations for vacation every year.

To me the most important things are upgrades on travel and good award redemption rate. Lounge assess during long haul flights is also important.

I am considering jumping ship as well after the devaluation of the MCP. I don't think I can maintain the Gold status next year and will be demoted to Silver. It takes 600 club points to maintain the Gold status but I am guessing I will only get around 550 points next year. I don't think there is a big difference in terms of benefit between the Gold and Silver status of MCP. But it makes a huge difference to me when I travel to Europe and America because Gold in MCP is Sapphire in Oneworld while Silver in MCP is just Ruby in Oneworld -

Ruby benefits:
Priority Business Class check-in
Preferred seating (where offered)
Priority standby and waitlisting

Sapphire benefits:
Priority Business Class check-in
Extra baggage allowance
Priority baggage handling
Priority boarding
Preferred and pre-reserved seating when offered by the airline operatiing the flight
Priority standby and waitlisting
Access to Business Class and frequent flyer lounges (with one guest), regardless of the class of service flown that day

I am not very familiar with the British Airlines FFP. Do you think I can maintain Sapphire if I switch to BA FFP or even other oneworld FFP based on my current travel pattern?

Any advice is appreciated!

sxc

If you fly J long haul three times a year, you will easily get BA Silver which is Sapphire. Suggest you have a browse of the BA forum to learn more about BA.

It will make your regional flights in economy more comfortable - these don't earn much in the BA program.

sksk

Thanks a lot for your info! Will definitely check up the BA forum later. But can you clarify a bit on how it makes my regional flights more comfortable? Thanks!

Except BA, is it the same for AA, Qatar or Finnair if I have 3 long haul flights each year?

Maybe I should put my long hauls with BA program while the regional flights with MPO so that I can get a Sapphire status with BA while earning maximum miles for my regional flights?

cxfan1960

If you are flying long haul in business class, how does it matter if you are OWS or OWR?