I have been a lurker for the past few months and am now seeking advice from my fellow FTers.

I am looking to fly first class on CX possibly to HKG/HKT end of 2012 or 2013. Here is where I stand:

I have 80k MR from AMEX. I plan to fly CX this fall SFO to MLE (haven't booked tickets yet) and then SFO to HKG early next year.

Here are my questions:

BA requires 150k miles while CX requires 180k miles to HKG on First. Does it make sense to jump on the 50% BA mile bonus AMEX is offering right now?

For my CX flights (to MLE & HKG), will I be able to enter my BA FF# and have the miles posted to my BA FFP instead of CX FFP?

Given the current offer and my planned trips (MLE for sure, HKG maybe), I should be, if not over 150k points, very close to having 150k points. Is this the most economical way of achieving my First Class boarding pass on CX? Or are there other options?

SingaporeAir and Emirate both fly to MLE from SFO. But I don't think I can apply those miles towards my CX First Class boarding pass.

In case you are wondering why I want first class on CX:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...st-suites.html

Thanks for your input!

As far as I'm aware, CX does not fly to MLE.

I think you could take BA instead, and credit everything to your BA account.

I think you are correct... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal%C3%...tional_Airport

Also, CX does not seem to release that many seats to One World. I don't know about a single first class seat SFO-BKK, which seems to be the OP's objective, but I do know I have not been able to fine a single Y class redemption for HKG-LAX for either June, July or December.

So I would caution the OP to not get his hopes up too much and have alternate plans in mind. ALternately, if you really want CX, then accumulate all the miles onto CX...

If you want some help I have KVS Tool and can look at CX Inventory for you.

I recently booked a Biz Class award on CX/AA:

SIN - HKG - JFK (CX Biz)
LGA - ATL (AA First)

All for 55,000 AA Miles.

I found my seat via KVS Tool. PM me your dates and I can send you what I find.

Foo

Cathay Pacific does not fly direct to MLE, but on CX, SFO-HKG-BKK-CMB and then on SriLankan Airlines to MLE.

I checked BA -- my return flight isn't available but even a one way ticket SFO-MLE is over $3000...too expensive in my book.

I had no idea Wikipedia showed what airlines fly into Male. Thanks!

OP stated that the objective is to fly in the end of 2012 or in 2013. You have at least 6 months before the inventory even starts loading for end of 2012, so at this point it is pure speculation if you can find seats or cannot find seats. You should start actively tracking seat availability in December of 2012.

BA does give you 50% bonus from MR, so it maybe a good way to bolster your account between now and July 31st.

Best,

PedroNY

Wikipedia shows this for most airports, it can be useful for finding low-cost carriers, but generally you are better off with a proper tool, as Wikipedia is very rarely complete or up-to-date.

OP, when you say you're flying to HKG-HKT, I assume it's from SFO, correct?

At least in my limited experience, I was able to book two seats on F awards RT using AA miles for two separate trans-Pacific trips over the past year. It helps to book as far in advance, which for AA is a 330-day window (that you can and probably should book separately for the outbound and return). But availability seems to come and go over the course of the year, so keep trying if at first you can't find what you want. It could even be that sometimes F availability is better than J or Y.

Anyway, the suggestion about looking via the KVS tool sounds like a good one. I use the AwardNexus service, myself. You of course can call whatever airline you bank miles on to find out award availability, but sometimes these sites are useful and identify options that a lazy or less-than-competent airline CSR might not. Also, be aware that even if you can't find availability from SFO, you might be able to do so via LA or Vancouver.

Regardless, I can't be sure which airline makes the most sense to accumulate miles on, in view of the good MR to BA transfer. But I believe that AA might charge you fewer miles for redeeming CX F than BA does--135K RT (or perhaps even less???) on AA from SFO across the Pacific, if I recall correctly. Also, if you look in the Miles Buzz and/or AA forums, you'll see discussion of and links to the great AA Citibank credit card deals offering 75K miles per card for some initial spending. Many folks have been able to sign up for two or even three such cards.

This is exactly how we flew to CMB on CX earlier this year, then on to MLE on Sri Lankan. Since these are two separate tickets, especially on your way back give yourself an overnight or at least a day in or near Colombo just in case your Sri Lankan flight gets delayed or due to a mechanical you have to take a later flight. (Perhaps better to find a beach to hang out at near the airport, rather than going into Colombo itself, which is an hour away and doesn't have very much to see.) CMB-MLE is just a short hop, but FWIW the J ticket is not that much more than Y. Then of course you'll have to pay more than that to fly within the country from MLE to most hotels.

You can also try Thai Airways from LAX - BKK. I recall this being an option last year when I was trying to get to HKT. I ended up booking *A with LAX-SIN and then Silk Air to HKT.

besides KVS tool, where can we search for award ticket using AA mileage to Asia? I do not have KVS tool, and AA.com does not show any flight from EWR or JFK to HKG or TPE.

I was able to find first class tickets on CX for various months in 2012 from SFO-HKG through the BA website. I don't have any specific dates in mind as to when to fly first class, just contemplating whether it is a good idea to jump on the BA 50% bonus.

Correct, SFO-HKG-HKT. I will look into getting some AA points. Do you how much the fees are when booking CX first class via AA?

RE: CMB-MLE. According to the itinerary I had in mind, I will land in CMB at midnight and then on to MLE at 7am. Do you know if there a hotel at the airport or nearby that I can rest for a few hours before my 7am flight?

Register for AsiaMiles and check award availability using their tool.