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British Airways and Virgin Atlantic relaunches Shanghai with great reward availability
After being absent from China’s market for three years and having permanently discontinued Hong Kong, Virgin Atlantic is resuming its daily service between London Heathrow and Shanghai Pudong on the first of May.
Reward availability was released this morning, and you can book literally any single day, although seats over China’s festive periods are selling fast.
Here is a reminder what a one-way ticket in Upper Class costs, and the respective fees from Shanghai / London:
- Economy: 12,500 points + 833 RMB / £208
- Premium Economy: 22,500 points+ 1,565 RMB / £360
- Upper Class: 57,500 points + 1,719 RMB / £411
You need to add another 10,000 points if flying at peak. Shanghai is operated by the older B787 aircrafts, although I think they are less bad compared to the A350 suite.
British Airways on the other hand, is also relaunching Shanghai on April 23rd and Beijing on June 3rd. However Avios seats have been available for quite a while now so it’s not as exciting.
BA’s new RFS pricing wants 200,000 Avios + £550 for a return trip to Shanghai, which is ridiculous. Unless you are looking to book first class with a companion voucher, Virgin Atlantic is the more favourable option by a large margin.
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 😉
My review of Alaska Lounge, Los Angeles Terminal 6
I need to fly to Seattle from Los Angeles, and my original plan was to spend my United Travelbank credit. However, I spotted redemption availability on ba.com for Alaska Air, and it’s really difficult to say no to its attractive price (9,000 Avios + £5).
Travelling on Alaska Air also opens up great opportunities for me to try out the Oneworld lounges at Los Angeles airport, thanks to my British Airways Gold status. From what I understand the following three are the best options:
- American Airlines Flagship Lounge
- Oneworld Business Lounge
- Qantas First Lounge
I didn’t get to visit the Flagship Lounge this time but managed the other two, which are both truly impressive. However, as I’m flying Alaska I decided to give their lounge a chance too.
Alaska uses Terminal 6 of the Los Angeles airport, and the Alaska Lounge is next to Gate 64B which happens to be where my boarding is.
You need to take the lift up to enter the lounge.
Similar to most other (if not all) US airlines, travelling on Alaska Air’s First class or being their elite member doesn’t necessitate lounge access. However, if you hold Emerald or Sapphire status with any other program than Alaska and American (in my case British Airways), then you can access the Alaska Lounge as long as you are travelling on an Oneworld flight.
The lounge is quite small. In fact upon entering I can almost see its entirety.
There are some long sofas as well as semi-private padded seats. They all feature a small table.
A couple of long standing desks suitable as a temporary workstation.
And also a bar.
It’s 10am in the morning. Oatmeal, scrambled eggs and some other breakfast snacks are served.
There’s a pancake machine which from what I heard is a signature of Alaska Air’s lounges.
The lounge is quite busy and I didn’t stay long before moving on. It’s not a terrible place let me be clear, however as long as you have enough time you should definitely use the Oneworld Business Lounge instead which is a totally different level.
My review of Qantas First Lounge, Los Angeles
My Oneworld Emerald (BA Gold) is expiring in a month’s time, and I’m glad to check off another Oneworld first lounge before then. After cruising in the LAX Oneworld Business Lounge, I’m trying out thr Qantas First Lounge which is just about 20 meters away.
As long as your Oneworld Emerald status is not from American or Alaska, you can access the lounge before your flight with any Oneworld airline.
Unlike the business lounge, the first lounge is one big block that’s square-shaped with no apparent segregation between different function areas. There are a few “sunloungers” on the left facing the interior of the building.
On the right-hand side there are arrays of one-seat sofas.
The lounge is fully open-plan, and I feel intimacy and cosiness are missing.
There are a few self-service stations for alcohol. It’s too early to drink so I didn’t pay attention to the wine choices.
The bar, dining zone and kitchen are at the end of the lounge.
Unlike in the business lounge, there’s no buffet here and you order from a menu instead.
I don’t find the menu appealing, and only ordered a pancake. They served it to my adjacent seat by mistake and I didn’t realise until half an hour later…
Lunch is available from 12pm, but my flight won’t wait for me. I searched online for the lunch menu afterwards, and it doesn’t look especially good either.
In contrast with the business lounge, I find the first lounge uninspiring and lacking in its own soul. Unless you really desire a proper dining experience with a menu to order from, I think the business lounge is a better option.
Buy British Airways Silver Card for £600 in their sale
British Airways has announced yet another sale, and as usual it offers an opportunity to earn cheap tier points and thus elite statuses.
The easiest way to view all rates is via their Low Fare Finder. From the tier-point perspective, it’s most cost-efficient to fly Club Europe (short-haul European flights in business class) and here are some headline prices (return trip):
- Belfast £156
- Catania £264
- Dublin £166
- Edinburgh £152
- Glasgow £146
- Istanbul £300
- Luxembourg £136
- Reykjavik £292
- Sofia £240
- Tirana £278
Destinations in bold earn you 80 TP per way, otherwise it’s 40 TP only. Note that there will no longer be any qualification discount in 2023, plus airfares are getting more expensive now so it’s not as cheap to earn status as in the last two years. You can earn BA Silver (Oneworld Sapphire), which requires 600 TP, in four trips to Sofia which will cost you almost a thousand pound.
There’s a way to reduce your cost though, as BA Holidays has extended their double tier points offer till the end of 2023. All flight+hotel and flight+rental bookings earn double tier points, which means you only need two return trips (instead of four) to earn your Silver card.
For a two-night trip to Sofia, the minimum cost is just over £300 pp for two people, which is a great deal. (EDIT: apologies that my calculations were wrong. You need 5 nights minimum to earn double tier points – car rental should be cheaper).
My Gold card is expiring soon but thanks to the soft landing policy I’ll remain Silver for one more year, so I’m not rushing to any mileage run right now. But if you are interested you should considering booking some flights or holidays.
My review of Oneworld Business Lounge, Los Angeles
In my last post I briefly reviewed the Alaska Air Lounge, which as I had suspected had nothing to write home about. In just three minutes I started making my way to the Oneworld Business Lounge, and I’m really excited!
The Oneworld Business Lounge is located inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal. It’s connected to all other terminals airside though so it’s possible to visit it no matter which terminal you fly from. But from Terminal 2 or 3 you need to take a shuttle.
Alaska is based in Terminal 6, and it took me, a fast-walker a good ten minutes to reach the lounge. Terminal 4 is right next to Tom Bradley but all other terminals require a long connection.
It’s the first time I see a lounge named after the Oneworld alliance. You can see the names of Qantas, Cathay Pacific and British Airways inscribed on the wall which presumably are the main sponsors of the lounge. I’m surprised that American Airlines isn’t one of them.
As a reminder, you cannot access the lounge by being an elite member or flying business / first class with American or Alaska, with the exception of select long-haul flights. However, if you are a Sapphire or Emerald member with any other Oneworld airlines (in my case BA), you can enter the lounge as long as you are on a Oneworld flight.
A very long sofa is behind the entrance. On the left-hand side there’s a business area, with armchairs, hot desks and a printer.
The bar shares the same design with the one in Qantas Lounge at Heathrow. You can help yourself to the wines and beers, but champagne is not offered.
A nice, warm circular bar lounge is further down the aisle.
In the dining area there are many dining tables and buffet counters.
It’s about 10am so breakfast is served. In addition to the traditional English breakfast there are some unusual options such as noodles with cheese, red bean curry and ratatouille.
The biggest impression on me is how huge the lounge is. There are a lot of atrium-facing seats available if you fancy more light.
The best Oneworld airline lounge I’ve visited is the Al Mourjan Lounge at Doha, without any doubt. The Oneworld Business Lounge at LAX is probably the (not-so-close) second, beating Cathay’s The Wing at HKG and BA’s Galleries First at LHR.
If you depart from LAX and have sufficient time, skip the Alaska Lounge and Admirals Club and come straight to the Qantas lounge, as it’s at a totally different level!
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.