lixiaojuventus

Thanks for the suggestion! I think my company does not regulate on the carrier I choose --- they just ask me to purchase the cheapest economy class tickets (but I can upgrade to PE or C at my own expense).

The suggestion on the credit card is very good. I might want to keep one or two USA credit cards open for a while exactly for this reason! But I will definitely look for local offerings in the long term.

lixiaojuventus

Thanks for the reply! I may not be able to maintain BA status as I do not regularly travel to Europe --- my main travel will be to the US. With that said, assuming that I mainly fly Economy (and sometimes PE), which of BA, AA, and JL is the easier program to maintain OW Sapphire status?

Also your suggestion about CC game sounds very good to me. So are you saying that I should open a Asia Miles co-branded credit card in Hong Kong and convert my daily spending into redeemable miles? The main goal for this practice would be to get some award tickets on CX/KA in case there is no availability in *A?

sxc

If looking at just Premium Economy travel, apparently crediting CX Y+ to AA is a sweet spot. Y+ also credits to BA favourably.

However I'm not sure about economy travel - I don't think CX economy credits to either program particularly well. You would need to do some modelling by looking at the details of each program.

CrazyJ82

Have a look at the current credit card thread here. There are a bunch of ways to rack up Asia Miles at a rate of 1 mile per us$0.25 roughly with the right set of cards. When I lived in HK it didn't take much effort to accumulate enough miles for one or two longhaul J redemptions per year from spending alone.

garykung

No, but...

1. Some people simply don't like the messy land border crossing.

2. Don't expect a nice lounge at SZX.

Many:

1. JMB/JGC is more restrictive than BA in term of elite status. Specifically, while BA enforces a 4-segement requirement (codeshare counted), JMB/JGC requires a 25K miles.

2. You can potentially earn more Avios than miles. Specifically, a BA elite has a elite RDM bonus. JL does not have one. Also - BA has Dah Sing, Citibank (Hong Kong), and Chase as partners. JL only has AEON and First National Bank of Omaha. So even you may not end up with an elite status, the credit card partners will still allow you to earn decent Avios than miles.

Centurion

I find CX fares from LAX to HKG are much cheaper than AA code share fares from LAX to HKG. Same equipment and metal so go figure

JALPak

shek3112

The ZH flagship lounge at SZX is actually quite good, spacious, lots of food and alcohols to choose from. However I'm not sure about the eligibility to get in @@

QRC3288

To the OP, as well intentioned as the advice is, if you're living in HK I really don't think there's a snows chance in hell you're going to want to be commuting to Shenzhen to do your China flights.

There's no mincing words: OW, via KA and CX, dominate flights to mainland China. *A doesn't hold a candle in this regard. And overall for HKIA: OW is just a lot more convenient.

Now to North America, you have decent *A connections via UA nonstop and BR, but once again.... there's just no way to sugarcoat it, convenience and comfort in HKG is OW. If I were you I'd ditch your loyalty to *A and research the quickest route in whatever program to get OW Sapphire or even Emerald. Some of them are way easier than CX. It's my understanding the MPC program CX runs is one of, if not the hardest in OW to earn status. Since you seem to fly a reasonable but not crazy amount, you probably want to research which program gets you status fastest.

CX does have very lovely J class lounges and a lot of them. CX runs 4 J class lounges at HKG (and I think The Pier J might be the best J class lounge I've ever seen), and Qantas runs another excellent one. So you'd get 5 lounge access. IMo the SQ lounge at HK sucks, including the F section. It's basically like prison in there. Haven't been to the UA lounge in ages so can't comment.

And in irrops, lounges add value, even if you otherwise don't care much about the lounge otherwise. And more frequencies + home base help when things inevitably go wrong, which they do frequently to China.

If you were a heavier traveler my advice would probably be to diversify away from OW/CX/KA. But I'd start there being based in HKG, especially since you're flying Y class it sounds like. The biggest value of benefits comes from Y class fliers with elite status, since the lounges in HKG are really good.

sxc

SuloL

I don't have very up-to-date knowledge of programs other than MPC and AY+ (my main one), but Finnair's program could be an option.

You earn 50% to AY+ on CX/KA in booking classes O/S/Q/N
You earn 100% to AY+ on CX/KA flight in all other Economy sub-classes as well as PEY.

OWS status achievable with 3.43 round trips HKG-LAX annually in 100% earning classes. No Finnair own metal requirement. Redemptions on itineraries other than HKG-HEL are not great (and come November, I think Finnair will impose surcharges from HK that kill the attractiveness of these). However, if the only goal is to earn status and travel a bit more comfortably, that could be a hassle-free option (e.g. no need to fly BA metal etc.)

*Edit*: expanding a bit on this:

I don't know how much OP flies, but OWE with AY+ similarly achievable with less than 7 HKG-US RTs in Economy on CX. Also, if you don't quite make it to OWE, AY+ offers the opportunity to exchange redeemable points to tier points at 3:1 ratio. Add to this the unofficial status soft-landing policy (you seemingly go down only 1 level per year, regardless of how much you fly), there could be value with the right pattern and strategy

1010101

It would certainly be easier for you to switch to Oneworld. CX has a large network and you will soon get tired of trekking to Shenzen or connecting in China/Singapore to get anywhere you want to go. Plus, with HK as your home airport, you ideally want to stick with the main airline there. The CX lounges are fantastic and far better than a Star Alliance outstation, and in a place with frequent weather delays the more flexibility you have the better.

I also think, with a few exceptions, Oneworld airlines are much better than Star Alliance, especially in the Eastern Hemisphere. CX, JL, QR and QF are all among the best airlines in the world.

MSPeconomist

ermen

how often will OP fly Y / Y+.

if doing a weekly Y return, should be easy to get to Marco Polo Gold (OWS) - this is the most practical way for Y flying IMO. An alternative could be QF (but then again, Im unsure if the cheapest Y fares even earn anything?).

or even better, ask for a match to CX Silver - which gets OP lounge access for 1. that should help alleviate the pain whilst in transition

garykung

Why do you need codeshare when AA metal is operating the route?

I believe they are all *G lounges. So OP would have the eligibility if he/she decides to stay.

I know the chance is slim. But it is not a bad alternative. Given there are hourly cross-border buses, I would insist the demand exists.

FWIW - the easiest achievable OW Sapphire status is AA PLT. But with the EQD requirement that can't be waived and the change of bases, I simply do not have confidence that OP can even make it.

Completely unbiased, most accurate statement.

While I won't say SKL sucks, CX's lounges @HKG are generally better than all *G lounges @HKG, even with similar designs (i.e. the Wing v. SKL).

This is a fact.