What is the best method to go to Hong Kong this december on business class? I live in San Francisco. I have about 130k AMEX member rewards point, about 160k AA point, and 60k chase sapphire point.

Define what "best" means to you first - cheapest cost? best hard product? best soft product? Non-stop flight? Best flexibility in travel date? Best policy in changing flights? Until you can narrow down what are the most important factors to you, there is no way to narrow it down which might be the "best" option(s) for you yourself.

The AMEX pts can be transferred to airline FFP which allow you to book award with miles. However it would cost quite a pretty penny if using Air Canada or British Airways because both programs charge fuel surcharges on award redemption. Changes are not free either.

The AA miles can be used to book CX non-stop to HKG. Enough threads in AA forum for you to peruse.

The Chase UR pts can be transferred to either UA/CO or BA then use the miles to book.

Of course you can also use AMEX pts or UR pts as "cash" currency to purchase ticket - it would yield you a much lower value per point versus using miles to book, but the flights would earn you miles, and you are not subject to award availability as those are simply regular purchases other than that the points are being used as cash on a set value, thru the program's own site.

For my own preference, AA miles for CX premium cabin is the best option - non-stop flight, superior hard product, reasonably good soft product, great availability if booked several months out or several days out, no fuel surcharge and most changes are free using AA program. Flew CX F SFO-HKG in Mid January in 747. Seat 1A and 1K in the nose section are as private as you could get on this route. 55K one-way in business and 67.5K one-way in First, and you do not need to fly the same class in both directions - i.e. you can fly F out and J in or vice versa, though the CX lounge at SFO is quite blah (no F, just one lounge) while the lounges in HKG are very nice, especially the F lounges. So may be a J out and an F in might work better if you have not tried CX lounges in HKG before.

I recently flew Cathay Pacific from San Francisco to Hong Kong (then on to Bangkok) in business class. It was very nice. Flat beds, good food, good entertainment, good service. You can have it for 100,000 American or Alaska Airlines miles.

F on CX is an 'experience' - J is a good business product that gets you there quickly and in comfort. Think others have pointed you in the right direction here, especially seeing how premium *A redemptions to HKG are tougher when not going via Europe these days

I agree with Happy and benzemalyonnais. If you are going to go Cathay (non-stop flights from SFO-HKG) on J using AA miles for 55K (one-way), might as well spring the extra 12.5K to go in F.

Cathay First class is an amazing experience (plus you get to use the First class CX lounges in SFO and HKG). So, it'll be 135K roundtrip (and also, don't forget the north american gateway option on the way back from HKG; which basically amounts to a 'free' one-way first class ticket anywhere in north america).

I will echo the endorsement of CX on an SFO-HKG trip. I flew J with them last summer and found the experience quite good. While the SFO lounge wasn't as nice as HKG (I think it's actually a BA facility in SFO) it had the advantage of boarding directly from the lounge. That was a nice perk!

OMG, I went to HKG over Christmas/New Years... CX in F is quite an experience. Superior!!! You have to be relentless in searching and calling. I was able to secure 2 seats round trip using AA miles. But only after calling every day sometimes 2-3 times a day. One seat should be easier. Spluge and enjoy!

What is the North America gateway option? I have to fly to Xiamen AA is suggesting OMA-ORD-HKG-XMN for 55k in J and I can spend up to 23 hours in Hong Kong each way.

You can spend 23 hours in HK each way. In addition you can schedule a stopover at ORD if you want.