Cathay Pacific Mileage

[Monde]

I have never had a problem booking a ticket on SAA using my miles. Whether I am a full paying fare or miles fare. As long as a ticket is available then I can get the ticket.

Moving up to business class is something completely different though.

[PDLM]

with AA, when you reach a certain status, you get bonus miles for every flight, making it much easier for you to maintain a status once you get it.

The first part is true; the second part is absolutely wrong. The bonus miles you get for being Plat or EXP on AA do not count towards status.

What AA does have is "soft landings" - if you don't earn enough status miles to maintain your current level you only drop by one level a year, even if you don't credit any miles at all. On CX/Marco Polo you can go from Diamond to Green overnight.

But one big advantage of CX Gold & Diamond is guaranteed access to the cheapest published fares at 24 (for Diamond) or 72 (for Gold) hours notice. That has saved me a lot of money on regional flights. No other OW scheme has that benefit. Moreover as a Diamond I find CX doing all sorts of little things for me that I have no right to expect but make life a bit better.

[Submariner]

Freeier,

I highly doubt that it is so much easier to acquire Asia Miles miles that that program has many more frequent flyers wanting to redeem miles than any other major carriers (awkward sentence, I know).

Btw, one nice thing about AA is their current challenge. If you can rack up 10k miles flying within a 3 month period, you automatically get Elite Platinum status. One transpacific rt should do it.

[PDLM]

It is actually far easier to earn points on the US based programs... stuff like mortgages and half a million other silly things can accrue points.

I have a savings plan which is earning me AsiaMiles through my Citibank/CX co-brand card. Currently I get about 120,000 miles a year from flying and about 100,000 from other sources (almost entirely my Citi/CX card, but also some restaurants, PCCW expenditure, etc.)

[PDLM]

Btw, one nice thing about AA is their current challenge. If you can rack up 10k miles flying within a 3 month period, you automatically get Elite Platinum status. One transpacific rt should do it.

Well yes, and that's how I got started on AA. But as from 1 Jan 2007, only flights on AA metal can be used for the challenge, so much less useful for HK-based people.

[Submariner]

PDLM,

Based on what I read on AA's website, what you say is true about using status to earn miles more quickly. However, last week, my wife insisted I call them to clarify, and they told me that the bonus miles from status do count towards maintaining status. Go figure.

Btw, aren't there some websites that allow you to exchange miles between different airlines, even if they are part of different alliances? Might be worth checking out.

[Submariner]

Well yes, and that's how I got started on AA. But as from 1 Jan 2007, only flights on AA metal can be used for the challenge, so much less useful for HK-based people.

That's actually not true. After this recent rule change, AA will only allow flights with an AA booking code to count towards the challenge. Due to lack of AA aircraft in Hong Kong, if you book an AA flight out of HK, it will actually seat you on an AA flight "operated by Cathay Pacific". So even if you are flying on CX metal, as long as you booked through AA, your miles still get included in the challenge.

We actually have a few trips to the US scheduled over the next month, booked through AA but on CX aircraft. AA confirmed to us that these flights will be counted towards the challenge.

[PDLM]

they told me that the bonus miles from status do count towards maintaining status. Go figure.

Btw, aren't there some websites that allow you to exchange miles between different airlines, even if they are part of different alliances?

The agent was wrong. They count towards lifetime status (1MM from all sources for Gold, 2MM for Platinum) but not the renewal of your annual status.

http://www.points.com but you lose 70-95% of the value when doing so.

[PDLM]

AA confirmed to us that these flights will be counted towards the challenge.

I hope you have that in writing. Reports over at Flyertalk (*) are that different agents are giving different answers on this. I hope you're not disappointed (not least since AA-coded CX flights tend to be more expensive than CX-coded ones).

(*) For example: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...postcount=1262

[Submariner]

Yes, getting these different stories from different agents is a bit disturbing. Well, we'll know soon enough. At least we're not paying for these flights - business class was over 7000USD even a month in advance.