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HK Express Full Miles offer, redemption from 2,000 Cathay miles
Hong Kong Express, a budget airline which is now a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, has a regular-ish promotion named Full Miles, where you can redeem award tickets at a very low cost.
A new iteration just came live:
- Valid between Hong Kong and Beijing / Ningbo (China)
- One-way redemption costs 3,500 miles / 2,000 miles respectively
- Book by February 22
- Travel between March 12 and July 11
You’ll need to pay ~400 HKD in fees per way. Availability is decent:
To book, create a new HK express account by linking your Cathay Pacific account, so that it has access to your Cathay miles.
It is not a continuous promotion, and I’m not sure when the next round will start, but probably in one or two months. If I remember correctly they included some routes to Southeast Asia (Thailand?) last time.
The catch is, as it’s a budget airline no baggage allowance is included. Your Oneworld benefits also won’t apply.
Big Avios devaluation on CX/JL redemptions
Over the last five years or so, British Airways’ Avios program was one that devalued most frequently and probably to the largest extent. Sadly it just took another hit overnight, and redemptions on Cathay Pacific / Japan Airlines have got a lot more expensive.
Note that British Airways no longer publishes a redemption chart, and they removed the Avios cost calculator too, to avoid to awkwardness when they run no-notice devaluation like this. As of today the chart above still holds for most of their partners, except for Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines.
Here are the before/after charts for Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific respectively (H/T FlyAsia):
Tokyo – Osaka (269 miles) now costs 10,500 Avios / 17,500 Avios per way:
Hong Kong – Shanghai (779 miles) now costs 12,000 Avios / 30,000 Avios per way:
Hong Kong – Beijing (1,234 miles) now costs 14,300 Avios / 32,500 Avios per way.
Tokyo – Ho Chi Minh City (2,685 miles) now costs 15,600 Avios / 46,500 Avios per way.
It is without a doubt horrendous news and Avios is no longer the best, or even a good way to travel within Asia, at least not if you aim to book business or first class. There isn’t any change to long-haul bands over 3,000 miles, but they were hardly good value anyway.
From the very limited data points I saw Iberia seems to have adopted the same pricing swiftly, and their partners awards are non-refundable so you wouldn’t want to book through them anyway. Qatar Airways however, is still showing BA’s old pricing for now.
Therefore it could make a LOT of sense to transfer your Avios to QRPC first and book there. Your tickets won’t be issued immediately though – you can only fill out a request form and their ticketing team needs to issue your ticket manually.
Up to 55% conversion bonus from hotel points to Cathay Pacific miles
Cathay Pacific has launched a conversion bonus promotion for select hotel programs, and you can view the details here.
Until May 15th, you will earn a bonus when converting points from participating hotel programs to Asia Miles, including but not limited to:
- Shangri-la: 30% (1000 : 1300)
- IHG: 25% (10000 : 2500)
- Accor: 15% (4000 : 2300)
- Hilton: 15% (10000 : 1150)
- Hyatt: 15% (5000 : 2300)
If you have never converted any points between April 1, 2022 and April 11, 2023, you will earn an additional 25% bonus when converting Shangri-la and IHG points.
The bottom line is, even after factoring in the bonus the conversion still loses a lot of value in most cases. IHG may be the only outlier here, where you get 3,000 miles for 10,000 points if you meet the qualification criterion.
As you can buy IHG points at 0.5 cent during their sales, you are essentially paying 1.67c per mile under this promotion, which is not great but a lot cheaper than the official rate. If you have a stash of IHG points and need to top up your Asia miles account to redeem a flight, this offer may be useful.
My review of Cathay Pacific A350’s business class
Cathay Pacific is probably one of the most renowned airline in the world, and being from China I should have had a lot of chances of flying with them. Strange enough but I haven’t though, and my only experience was with Cathay Dragon, a subsidiary through acquisition that mainly focuses on short-haul routes.
Going back home for the first time since 2020, I finally got the opportunity to fly the “real” Cathay by redeeming my Asiamiles. Cathay Pacific is located at Heathrow’s Terminal 3, like most other Oneworld carriers.
The lane is already very long when check-in starts four hours before departure. Fortunately I can use the priority counter which has no queue.
Fast track is available to premium passengers. If you are a frequent Oneworld flyer from T3, you know it is a lounge paradise – there are Cathay Pacific, Qantas, American Airlines and British Airways to choose from! You can also access the Centurion Lounge if you have the Amex Platinum or Centurion card, but it can be very busy at peak hours.
I am very familiar with the Cathay Pacific Lounge, and it is my favourite out of the four Oneworld lounges. The days of my BA Gold are numbered, after which I won’t be able to come back for a while…
My flight departs from Gate 40, which is farthest in the terminal. I remember being here when I flew Philippine Airlines a few years back (on an error fare).
Cathay’s A350 fleet have both A350-900 and A350-1000 aircrafts. I’m on the latter this time, but I don’t think they differ much in terms of cabin design.
Business class seats are arranged in the herringbone fashion, with a total number of 48. The middle seats:
As you can imagine, window seats are much more private:
There is a small storage cupboard next to the control panel, with a socket inside.
And a much larger storage box below which can fit a pair of shoes.
The amenity bag is nothing to write home about, and the content is minimal. You won’t find earplugs or socks in it.
IFE:
Surprisingly there are two live TV channels – BBC and CCN. It is a world cup night between England and Wales, and US and Iran. Unfortunately the matches are not being broadcasted.
And the menu:
Cathay Delight is one of their signature cocktails. However I was told it’s not available so went with their recommendation instead and got a Lemon Tease.
The cauliflower soup is passable:
Followed by the wonton noodles which was a total disaster. I’m not a big fan of Cantonese cuisine, but you can’t blame me for disliking it – the noodles on top are clearly burnt probably due to overheating, and the soup tastes really weird, worse than what you’d expect from instant noodles.
Remember to pick your breakfast choice before going to sleep. The congee is much better, although somehow my shitake mushrooms became ginger slices.
And the lie-flat bed:
The bed is a tad narrow, but you can lift up a pad on the side to compensate.
Well I don’t know what more to say. It is certainly not a terrible experience, aside from the really bad wonton noodles, but I can’t really say anything positive about the flight either. I had high expectations – it is an Asian carrier after call – which Cathay failed to meet, and I probably need to try their first class some day.
500 miles and prize draw for Cathay Pacific new sign-ups
Cathay Pacific ran a campaign that gave away 1,500 miles for new sign-ups recently. If you missed it, there’s now a new initiative which isn’t bad either.
- Sign up as a new Cathay Pacific member by January 31st
- During registration, enter your referrer’s membership number on the referral page
- Both the referrer and referee will earn 500 miles, plus one entry into the prize draw
If lucky enough, you will win between 5,000 and 500,000 miles and the result is announced on February 15th. Nonetheless you are guaranteed 500 miles which isn’t too bad. For your information, my membership number is 1683490941 😉
Cathay Pacific 1,500 miles sign-up bonus
Cathay Pacific has joined Aegean in giving away free miles, although it’s available to new sign-ups only.
You can view the offer details here. Simply create your account between December 14 and 31 to earn the 1,500 welcome miles, no flight required. It’s limited to the first 15,000 sign-ups but I don’t expect it to fill up anytime soon.
If you travel to Asia from time to time you have a decent chance of flying Cathay, although my recent trip with them in business class failed to impress. They are a conversion partner of American Express Membership Rewards.
Compared to booking an award ticket with Avios, Cathay’s inventory is much better and pricing also a lot lower.
Batch search Cathay Pacific’s award availability
Cathay Pacific is a reputable airline and Hong Kong is an important hub when people visit Asia from Europe or the States. As Cathay is an Oneworld member, you can book their award tickets using BA Avios or Alaska miles, but as with most airlines the availability is much thinner compared to booking with Cathay directly.
Having been laid off by Twitter, I suddenly have a lot of free time to kill, and decided to go back to China despite the still ongoing quarantine policy. Transiting via Hong Kong is the most economical choice, and in terms of direct flight only Cathay Pacific is operating at the moment.
I still have 200k+ Avios surplus in my account but finding Cathay availability especially in business class is very difficult. Therefore I’m switching to Cathay instead, as they are an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner and I have a lot of points to spend too!
Cathay Pacific upgraded their website recently and searching for award availability is no longer trivial, as there isn’t a straightforward calendar view of some sort. To facilitate your search, I recommend using a Chrome add-on developed by @jaytw from Taiwan, as it has helped me a lot for booking my flight ticket.
@jaytw has explained his work in this flyertalk post. If it’s still unclear, here are the steps:
- Download the Tampermonkey Chrome plugin which allows you to run client-side scripts
- Install Cathay Award Search Fixer
- Visit Cathay’s award search page and log in
- You’ll see an Unelevated Award Search box
Using this new tool, you can batch search award availability for a 20-day window, and different cabin / transit options are all displayed.
It is a lot easier than having to click through various dates or even perform multiple searches.
I found my LHR-HKG flight and transferred my US Amex MR points to Cathay which arrived instantly. UK Amex MR is also a partner but if I remember correctly the transfer takes a few days.
Here’s a reminder how much Cathay’s LHR-HKG in business class costs:
- Cathay Pacific: 65,000 miles + £360
- BA Avios: 92,500 Avios + £360
- Alaska Mileage Plan: 42,500 miles + $298
Alaska’s cost is the lowest, but it’s not an Amex MR transfer partner, and its access to Cathay’s award inventory is limited just like BA.
My review of Cathay Pacific First Lounge, London Heathrow Terminal 3
After returning to the Qantas Lounge after more than two years, I spent the most of my afternoon in the Cathay Pacific Lounge, since I could only enter the American Express Centurion Lounge from three hours before my flight departure.
Cathay’s Lounge is coded Lounge C, situated to the left of the Qantas Lounge. I have been here quite a few times, and it’s probably my favourite lounge at Heathrow.
Thanks to my BA Gold status, I could access its First Class Lounge. They share the same entrance, but once you are in you either head straight for Business, or turn right for First.
The lounge itself is, to be honest, quite compact.
With a selection of snacks and drinks on the counters.
The actual thing that stands out is its restaurant service, which isn’t available in the Business Class Lounge.
If you fancy sitting down for a proper dinner, it’s a good place to be at. There are a bit more food choices here than in the Business Class Lounge, but not significant.
I’m quite impressed by its wine list, which I forgot to take a photo of.
After lunch, I quickly moved myself to the Business Class Lounge for the rest of the afternoon. To be honest I favour it heavily over the First Class Lounge, as it’s much more spacious, plus has a proper bar and multi-purpose seating areas. If you only have access to the Business Class Lounge – don’t worry, you haven’t missed much.