Suggestions on whether to fly CX or JL
 

I'm currently in the midst of booking a J award from SFO-->PEK with my BA miles. I have two options:

1) Fly JL Executive Class SFO-->NRT-->PEK

2) Fly CX Business Class SFO-->HKG, and then buy a separate KA Economy flight HKG-->PEK (BA won't allow 2 different airlines on the single partner award)

Now I know it seems like I just just book the JL award flight straight thru to PEK. But looking at their products, CX has a fully flat seat in Business while JL has angle-flat. And I've read that CX service is slightly better as well. On the other hand, I would have to buy another economy flight if I do CX.

Has anyone flown these routes and can give me some suggestions?
Thanks a lot!

Sounds like a toss-up. In my opinion:

CX:

JL:

thanks for the comments on both airlines
I'm still leaning towards CX despite having to purchase another ticket... though looking at prices of HKG-->PEK on Kayak, a one-way ticket is costing $382 now!

I definitely prefer CX business seats tho

As noted in your cross-post of this question, CX flies HKG-PEK once a day (CX312/317), so you should be able to get it included in the award.

Yep, you should definitely book with CX/KA. At the moment, the situation with JL/DL is quite confusing, the latest sources say that they'll quit OW. I don't quite know what will happen to award bookings if that really occurs.

You should consider booking directly with www.dragonair.com.hk, in which you can also avail of the lucky draw (http://www.dragonair.com/da/en_HK/of...0007d21c39____) [only for .com.hk] and usually lower fares. Also think about booking a return ticket but don't use the PEK-HKG sector (90% likely that it will be cheaper than one-way).

Also try www.priceline.com.hk and even CX Holidays might be cheaper that Kayak!

Thanks christep, I saw that there is a CX coded flight. However, it does not look like CX ever opens any award for BA miles redemption. I checked almost the entire year of 2010 and didn't see a single award available for the CX flight from HKG-->PEK.

And unfortunately, I have to redeem a "single partner award" on BA, meaning I can only use one airline (and yes, I know KA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CX, but it looks like BA doesn't care).

Toyotaboy95, I have been looking at the HK site of dragonair, and it looks like roundtrip is about 2x as expensive as one-way.

Can you use the CX codeshare which exists on all the KA flights?

I have recently flown both airlines on this route and CX is the winner hands down. I discussed this before but I will post again because I am so sure you will find CX much more enjoyable.

On a long haul daytime flight I like to sit back and relax with some entertainment but AVOD on JL is primitive compared to CX - a poor movie selection and one or two dull/safe English documentaries. If you flew CX before you will know their AVOD system is one of the best available with a ridiculous amount of programming.

The seats in JL Executive are really odd and uncomfortable when reclining due to a ledge that sticks out in anything except full flat (actually angle flat) or full upright. Some people hate the CX seats but for solo travellers they are fantastic. Privacy is excellent and of course the seats are full 180 degree flat. You will get either a great night's sleep or a very comfortable recline.

JL is a Japan-centric airline which means a very poor selection of English magazines, entertainment etc.

Food is a little better on JL but service on both airlines is about the same. JL has some interesting Japanese wines and snacks to try if that's your thing. English ability on CX is much better and consequently the FAs are more chatty/friendly.

Boarding on CX is a little more organised than JL - JL felt like a free-for-all to the gates at every leg.

They person I spoke to on the BAEC line said I cannot book a codeshare with the single partner award.

Thanks llary for the comments. I agree that CX seats seem a lot better, and since I will be traveling alone, I figure the isolation won't bother me much.
I do hear that JL food is better, but i think that's one thing I can sacrifice =P

Now its just a matter of getting a cheap HKG-->PEK flight!

Do you have the date when you will fly ? non-discounting ticket actually quite normal on PEK / PVG route during peak season

I know SSW207 will tell you to pick JL over CX. He will tell you that CX's flat bed is bad for your back.

Hi ChrisLi, I am looking at Oct 7 or Oct 9, 2010. I'm seeing prices around $382 for one-way.

I suppose this isn't quite a good time to book this route, you should try again around August when Autumn fares are released. It should be signficantly cheaper then (~260USD rt exc. tax).

If you don't care about your BA OW status (if any), you should try Air China (*A). Many foreigners (~50%) were onboard my last flight in August '09 and FAs were ok in understanding English. For 14 Aug - 31 Dec of this year, CA is offering HK$1800 rt exc. tax for this route, probably will be offering this again next year. Flights are relatively frequent, comparable to KA frequency (CX/KA codeshares on CA v.v.)

All JL NRT-PEK flights have either MAGIC-III or IV, i.e. AVOD, unless they have an equipment switch to 744, so it's not really a lottery.

Yes, you will most likely to get regional business class seat on NRT-PEK flights, but this is still much better than Y in KA :p

slightly off topic, but instead of starting yet another thread... which route would you suggest for me if I had to do the trip in Y? i.e.:

JL: ORD-NRT-HKG
CX: YYZ/JFK-HKG-NRT

Let's just assume for a moment that I wouldn't really care too much about the extra flight time on the CX routing.

Is food/service much different between the two routes? I can choose either CX or JL on the shorthaul in Y, regardless of which I choose for the longhaul. Which one should I choose between HKG and NRT? I've only flown JL on shorthaul/regional, so I don't know the longhaul experience. I was impressed with the service on shorthaul, though.

Also, I have OW Emerald status - is there any reason to choose JL or CX for increasing op-up odds? I wouldn't imagine it'll make a big difference, but had to ask. :D

Thank you.