ricktassie

Has anyone successfully managed to purchase this of late? I'm trying to depart from JFK on a Thursday or Friday evening (tried a few of these days from mid may to end of June) with an immediate turn in MLE.

fares from google flights come up to the standard 1937$ but when I click on orbitz/Expedia they are unable to find any flight.

also, trying to book on the CX website shows a price of over $3K.

tried the same from EWR and same results.

For those who booked via the Amex IAP, did you just call in and provide your routing/class/dates and the agent was able to confirm its the same fare? (pre discount)

swingaling

There's often a disconnect between what you see on GF versus what you see on CX's website. You may need to add a stopover in MLE to get the pricing you're looking for.

Go to CX and do a flexible date search. It will show you the dates that fare is available. For the first week of June, the fastest trip departs June 8 and returns June 10, requiring a 24hr stay in MLE.

ricktassie

thanks a ton! works like a charm!! Will now call IAP to hopefully get a discount!

wolfeman27

Very curious to hear what % you get from IAP, if you don't mind reporting back ^

Gino Troian

Try SIN instead of MLE - or CGK,KUL,AKL, etc

https://www.expedia.com/Details?piid...-ddf54eff46ce&

the sin run, leave thursday night rertun sunday night
$1984 a/i
28,978 eqm
3,868 eqd
42,501 rdm (aa exp)

margarita girl

Thanks for this info. I applied for a US Plat Amex to be able to book this and not only is the agent not able to find this fare (pricing at $8000), but she said there was no IAP discount being applied.

I am trying to book JFK-YVR-HKG-MLE (same routing for the return) to maximize my mileage. I need 34K EQMs to get me to EXP and this will just get me there. The four short segments all book into biz class (I) and the two long segments in PE (R), but I'm thinking I might try to upgrade those with Asia Miles.

I tried the other suggested destinations (SIN, KUL, CGK, BKK, MNL). AKL didn't work. The only one that doesn't book all in PE is KUL and it was about $500 more, not to mention that the other routes don't get me enough EQMs.

Does anyone know why the short segments book into biz class? Seems odd since PE is offered on all those flights.

Anyhow, if I decide to pull the trigger, looks like it will have to be with Priceline (via ITA and Power Tools).

ricktassie

I haven't booked this yet but was able to price it the same as any OTA using amex travel. It showed all PE, no J luck. Haven't had the chance to call IAP yes but will definitely report back with results.

pbd456

what price do u get?

margarita girl

$1966. I had to tweak my dates to make sure I get biz class on all 4 short segments. Looks like YVR-HKG can be upgraded for 20K Asia miles each way. Has anyone attempted this? I don't even have an Asia miles account yet so this is new to me.

ricktassie

So the original cost was 2300 and Amex IAP got it down to 1966?

For Asia Miles you can xfer from SPG (and Amex membership rewards too I believe) or apply for the new Cathay pacific credit card that has a 50k bonus.

swingaling

Just keep in mind that in order to get credit for the JFK-YVR legs, you'll need to have a 24hr stopover in each direction. JFK-YVR-HKG is a single flight number, so you'd earn based on JFK-HKG. The stop only counts if you stopover.

If there's availability for upgrades, you can transfer AMEX MR points to your Asia Miles account at 1:1. Takes 2 days to transfer. Call Asia Miles to confirm upgrade inventory for the dates in question.

margarita girl

No. $1966 is the Priceline price. Amex said there was no IAP discount, plus their price was higher to start with. With my 2 connections through YVR, best the agent could give me was $8000. Online, price I'm getting is $2700 so Priceline seems to be the way to go!

I am aware that 2 flights with same flight number counts as a direct flight. However, I think I can afford to use the same flight number on the outbound and still be OK. I could do a 10 hr layover in YVR to get a different flight number but would prefer to spend that time in HKG! However, if I book JFK-YVR-HKG as 2 separate flights, I do get biz class for JFK-YVR. If I book it as JFK-HKG, I get PE the entire way. This is what I'm looking at:

JFK-YVR CX889 biz class
YVR-HKG CX889 PE (or I could do CX859)
HKG-MLE CX601 biz class
MLE-HKG CX602 biz class
HKG-YVR CX838 PE
YVR-JFK CX888 biz class

If my math is right, JFK-HKG-MLE-HKG-YVR-JFK is ~22,800 miles or 34,200 EQMs. I need 33,800 EQMs. Is that cutting it a little too close? LOL

I have the Canadian Amex MR points and the transfer ratio is 1000 to 750. But I do have a lot of SPG points. I think I am going to do this whether or not I get the upgrade. Obviously, the upgrade would be awesome!

margarita girl

Wait a minute! I just re-read this. Are you saying that having a different flight number isn't enough? My stopover in YVR on the return is only 10 hrs.

With Star Alliance, all you need is a different flight number.

pbd456

i think you are safe if the flight number is different.

a lot of people forget that there are multiple yvr hkg flights per day

swingaling

Separate fight number should do it, I believe.