Denis Carlin

Hi,

I'lm looking to book 2 flights soon with Cathay Pacific:

Kyushu Trip
1. 24.10.19 Zurich -> Fukuoka
2. 22.11.19 Fukuoka -> Hong Kong
3. 24.11.19 Hong Kong -> Zurich

Economy Core - CHF 894 ($876)
Premium Economy - CHF 1539 ($1508)

Australia Trip

1. 12.12.19 Zurich -> Hong Kong
2. 14.12.19 Hong Kong -> Adelaide
3. 18.01.20 Sydney -> Hong Kong
4. 19.01.20 Hong Kong -> Zurich

Economy Core - CHF 1132 ($1110)
Premium Economy - CHF 2593 ($2542)

The economy prices are great, the PE is quite a hike (especially for the Australia flights).
I was going to book the economy flights but wondering what the chances are of a Premium Economy sale and the chance to get the PE seats at a much more reasonable price, I realise the is much more likely with the japan flights.

Any idea if this is likely at all?

cheung.chunyuenc

NetJets Germany

If you're open to the suggestion, do look at other outports in Europe that may offer significantly cheaper fares than ex-ZRH. When I last made a comparison (About half a year ago), CPH and BRU both came up significantly cheaper than most of the other destinations that CX fly to in Europe.

cheung.chunyuenc

CPH is no longer served by CX anymore, it was a seasonal destination but served by SAS currently.
ex-Europe markets are quite different from ex-Asia markets.
ex-EU ports rarely have extremely crazy deals, but I do agree that other EU ports can be cheaper.
After all, ZRH is an expensive origin, CDG/BRU/AMS/FRA/MXP or wherever are also suitable and can be slightly cheaper.

Besides, the destinations of OP is not that popular.
FUK and ADL, the choices from EU are not too much

My question/recommendation is:
Is HKG a compulsory stopover in OP's journey?
For the first trip OP can look for different transit points? such as NRT, HEL, etc. (FUK is not a too popular city)
For the second trip, is it possible to look for ZRH-LHR-HKG-ADL (where the ZRH-LHR-HKG is in World traveller Plus of BA, and HKG-ADL is BA codeshare of CX flight)?
I am not sure if OP is willing to choose another Alliance,

Cw novice

I managed to get MAN-HKG-TYO return in PE for Ł1k in the last sale. if that's a starting point that would work for you as wel

Denis Carlin

No, but from my searches at least, the only options if I want only one stop from Zurich are Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and Tokyo.
Tokyo is more expensive (with Swiss) and I prefer HK for a stopover compared to BKK and SIN, I've visited all of those cities several times.

I have, it's not cheaper and adds an extra leg.
That's CHF1700 with more additional stops than just with CX.
I am but for these two flights, it seemed best to go via Singapore, Bangkok or HK.

Denis Carlin

Thanks.
Doesn't seem that way at the moment.

Denis Carlin

That would be better than full price, it's whether there will be a sale or not though...

1010101

In nearly 10 years flying CX i don't think I've ever seen a meaningful sale. Very occasionally they will drop prices to match the BA sales ex-LHR but that's about it.

CXFlyerBoy

You can book hotel together with flights and usually they would be priced rather attractively as compared to if you booked separately. I see this as more of a form of sale, booking into PE in E class

cheung.chunyuenc

Almost every 2 months, Air China does a Business class fare deal from Germany, say FRA or MUC / ( I am not sure if ZRH is in the list or not)., purchased from CA website
You may attempt to subscribe CA's newsletter online
The duration of the online deal is around 2 days each time
What CA business class offers is somewhat like 1300 Euros to Asia, 2000 Euros to Australia, which is similar to what you pay in Premium Economy in CX
Economy is <500 Euros to Asia, and around 800-ish Euros to Australia

1. Chinese Airport transit experience is absolutely worse than HKG, which can be quite awful
2. I am not sure if you need a Chinese visa or not for the EUR-PEK, and PEK - (DLC) - FUK segment (Or perhaps you can do FRA-PVG-FUK with CA, with visa free transit in PVG overnight perhaps)
3. CA does not serve ADL
4. I think CA business class is decent bur not great on board............. CA economy class, eww....


I am not sure if this information is useful to you

Denis Carlin

Thanks for the info, last year I flew with Air China to PEK and Hokkaido and would rather avoid them if possible, the flights were very cheap and of course the planes were old and basic but the flying experience was bad but not as bad as I feared. However, PEK Airport is a completely horrible experience and our flight (HND-PEK) was delayed by 4 hours on the way home, so our connection to Zurich was gone and there was no flight to Zurich for 2 days, getting any information was impossible till we got back to PEK, they did sort as out with a hotel and another flight home but I'd rather pay more and not deal with that airport and they high likelihood of delays and cancellations.