Status on OW ex HKG - CX or BA?
 

Hi,

Looking to build up some status on OW this year - probably by a RTW or long haul discounted J class on CX (ex. BKK)

Also thinking to do a TIP fare end of the year.

As I'm an Asia Miles memeber, was thinking to stick with CX, but any thoughts re: BA ?

Mostly fly long haul (USA & UK) several times a year, either discounted J or fullish Y...

Tks

Seeing as you're based here in HK, I'd recommend sticking with CX. You state that you're an Asia Miles member, but have you joined the MPC yet? Bear in mind that Asia Miles itself doesn't give you status - just miles.

Of course, you could still do your UK trips on BA and stay with CX for the US runs. Just make sure that any Y cabin flying on BA is in the right ticket class for full mileage (Y,B,H). Check out

http://www.asiamiles.com/en/earn/air...117477,00.html

for sub-class eligibility.

Again, seeing as you're bsaed in HK, you'll find Asia Miles/MPC status more useful for redeeming flights on CX rather than BAEC ones.

Thanks Meerkat - that was kinda what I was thinking...

I'm a MPC green(!) but now dumping quite a lot of miles into AM because of the Cathay/Citibank card.

Are AsiaMiles / BA about the same for mileage earning/burning ??

Actually, as a more general extension to that inquiry, are their any good comparison sites/tables that compare earning/redemption rates on OW carriers?

Depends greatly on three factors.

1. What class do you normally pay to fly in
2. Where do you want to redeem your miles to go
3. What class do you want your award redemptions to be in

Just going by what you initially asked, I will assume you normally fly in full Y (compromise between "fullish" Y and J) and go between HKG and LHR. I will also assume you want the same award and want to fly in J. It also appears you don't have status.

With Asiamiles, you will receive 100% of your miles flown, which is about 12,000 miles a trip. Without any other bonuses, it will take 8.33 trips (100k/12k) to earn enough miles to get a trip in business class.

With BAEC, you will also receive 100% so 12,000 miles per trip. Without any other bonuses, it would take you 13.33 trips (160k/12k) for the biz award.

But these are very basic assumptions. BAEC gives a 50% bonus for flying paid business class whereas AM only 25%. And you can earn status on BA that provides a tier bonus (25%/50%) whereas I believe that AM doesn't give bonuses given that the status is actually with the Marco Polo Club and not AM itself. But BAEC has absurdly high redemption rates for premium classes whereas AM is more reasonable. So you can see as the variables change that the value of your miles changes quite dramatically.

You should also consider joing AAdvantage. You will receive 100% for "fullish" Y (Y,B,H) and 125% for business class, you get more miles with your elite bonuses (25%/100%/100%), and redemption is lower than BAEC for preferred cabin awards. You can also do an elite challenge to initially get status more quickly. See the AA board for details on the requirements.

Darren,

Cheers for that - so it looks (for me anyway) like either CX or AA - but I already have AC SE (* gold) so maybe go with MPC.

My major whinge with CX/AM is that rewards in J HKG-LHR seem to be hen's teeth-like (Ok, with status, maybe book 1 month ahead) but I guess I've been spoiled with AC/* where I'm used to 3 or 4 days.

Meercat - other than the (presumabley) odd OP upgrade and lounge access anything useful (unpublished?) with CX diamond?

The elite bonuses are the one thing that might attract me to AA...

As Jerry asked- anyone know is there anything like the * top tier comparison chart kicking around for OW ?

Two big unofficial perks of DM for me:

1. As I'm sure you're aware, redemption seats are extremely limited on any given flight (on any carrier). As a DM member, you are allowed to use miles to redeem a revenue seat on CX rather than just a redemption one. There are exeptions, although the only one I'm aware of at the moment is the direct HKG-JFK flight.

2. Seat blocking. If a cabin's not full, nine times out of ten I can get a seat blocked next to me - in J usually just one, in Y, two. A flight with an empty seat or two next to you is a good flight!

Other, more minor, perks include free buggy at HKIA if your gate is at the far end of the airport, and the senior FA welcoming you onboard. The latter is cool especially in Y, because whenever (s)he asks if there is anything she could do to make the flight more comfortable and I say "Well actually, I would love a glass or two of the Pouilly-Fusee you're serving in J..."

Meerkat,

Thanks for that - mmmm...sounds like I should put some effort into getting diamond.

AC also converts revenue into awards for top tier members - it's a pretty good perk. Seat blocking is nice also (something AC doesn't do but AC does give out upgrade certs!)

Found a good BKKxHKG-LHR return in C for 2300 USD, so maybe kick it off with that...

Asiamiles are worth considerably more than BAEC miles (at least 50% more and maybe 100% more for some uses). Diamond is also hard to earn in a year (it takes 210,000 miles as the counter resets when you reach a level); also no "soft landing", if you don't qualify next year you drop to whatever level you did reach by flying. However Diamond is the most valuable of the OW statuses and often has unpublished specials. The revenue seat benefit is not converting into an award seat but rather selling a sold-out fare class to you (so you can buy H or K when only Y is available). Unfortunately for business class that only applies to full J and not any discounted fare.

Yeah DM is fantastic - often cited as the best top-tier level within OW. Addictive though...I'll be off on a 95k mile MR probably next month as my biz travel has all but died this year and I can't bear to lose my status yet!

Your BKK-LHR deal sounds good value. Remember to check the rules for whether you're allowed to stopover in HK, unless you're not bothered by doing it all in one go. I did TPE-HKG-FCO in I this year and was only allowed a stop on the way back.

Also probably worth reminding you to check the CX international websites (most have English versions) for deals on a regular basis. Taiwan had a great I class sale on this spring and others have said that they'll do another one in the autumn.

I knew that was the case for last-minute guaranteed paid seats for a DM, but was not aware it was the case for award redemption. Apologies if I posted inaccurate info. Have to say that I never redeem entire flights, only upgrades (much, much better value - I'm one of those sad geeks that's constructed a spreadsheet to compare redemption value!), and I've never been turned down since I attained DM. I may have just been lucky though.

Just to be strictly accurate, 24 hours notice is required for a DM to be certain of getting a seat in any published Economy fare class, so not quite "last minute".

Presume then it's probably easier to try and get DM over a couple of years ? (Doing 210K on top of my 130ish K star miles would be a bit of a killer!)

Also Meerkat - ah..a spreadsheet for comparison - yep, been there, doing that :) Where (and how much?) for a 95K MR - that's some MR...

Nothing to Diamond took me 14 months. Remember that the CX membership year is not the calendar year - it is 12 months from when you joined or changed status.

Yeah, I did the usual get-Silver-maintain-get-Gold-maintain-get Diamond-er panic-to-remain-Diamond route!

So far (and there will be tweaks), my '05 AONE4 route looks like:

CMB-HKG-NRT-HKG-JFK-SJU-LAX-DFW-SJO-DFW-SFO-LHR-DXB
-LHR-SYD-PER-MEL-AKL-SYD-HKG-CMB

With the additional HKG-CMB return to buy the ticket I make it about 95k, but I could be wrong!

Would be happy to discuss over a PM/beer (prefer the latter)... ;)