We explained how Cathay Pacific’s great redemption scheme and liberal routing rules allow folks to see more places on the same ticket. And until December 31, 2016, you can get a 30% Asia Miles bonus for transferring your hotel points.
Specifically, folks with Starwood points can do very well! Because you can transfer Starwood points to Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific) at a good ratio.
Cathay Pacific Has Great Options for Seeing Multiple Places on the Same Award Ticket
Many folks have complained about how hard it is to redeem a Cathay Pacific award. So Million Mile Secrets contributor Andy set out on a mission to find out if Cathay Pacific deserves this reputation.
Redeeming Cathay Pacific Miles
Link: Why This Obscure 30% Transfer Bonus = Big Travel (Valid until December 31, 2016)
Link: The Amazing Value of 5 Free Stopovers & 2 Open Jaws With Cathay Pacific Award Flights!
Andy: The Asia Miles program is amazing. It lets you have up to 5 stopovers for the same mile price as a simple round-trip flight. Of course, it will add taxes and fees as you fly more airlines and visit more cities. But it’ll still cost you much less than flying to each place separately. And it’ll save you a huge amount of flying.
This is not my first time dealing with Cathay Pacific, as I’ve successfully used their miles before. There are 3 ways of booking a Cathay Pacific award flight. And each has its own advantages.
1. Go to AsiaMiles.com
If you have a simple flight in mind, such as a one-way or round-trip journey, you can redeem online for these airlines:
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Dragon
Alaska Airlines
British Airways
Finnair
Iberia
Qantas Airways
Qatar Airways
Just log on to the Asia Miles Booking Site and enter your travel information.
The Cheapest Flights Are on Cathay Pacific
After you click “Search,” you’ll see available flights.
See Available Seats a Week at a Time
Choose the flights with the cheapest cash outlay. In our case it will be 1,172 Hong Kong Dollars or ~$150. Other flights are more expensive because they have segments on partners hungry for fuel surcharges, such as British Airways.
British Airways Adds Huge Fuel Surcharges on Long Hauls
After you click “Continue,” you’ll be taken to the next screen to finalize your booking.
Booking a simple flight on a partner airline is equally easy. Here is a result of requesting a flight to Doha on Qatar.
You Can Book a Partner’s Flight Online, Too, for Example, Qatar Airways
However, you can NOT book your flight online if:
The airline is not one of the Cathay Pacific partners bookable online
You request any itinerary other than a simple one-way or round-trip flight
If that’s the case, there is another option…filling out an online form.
2. Complete an Online Airline Award Request Form
The Airline Award Request Form Is a Great Way to Redeem Cathay Pacific Miles
You can redeem your award via an online form. It’s very easy, and Cathay Pacific is actually great at getting back to you, usually on the next day (this is true for phone calls, as well).
It’ll work great if the award you want is more complex than the online booking allows – yet not so complex that it would require a telephone call.
Go to the Asia Miles website and log-in, then hover your mouse over “Redeem Miles” and click “Flight Awards” in the drop-down menu.
You Must Be Logged-In to Use the Award Request Form
Scroll down until you see “Flight Awards — Redeem through Airline Award Request Form” and click the link inside.
You Can Request an Award If You Have at Least 70% of the Miles
The next page gives you an option to send its request to Cathay Pacific.
Filling the Form Is Easy, and Cathay Pacific Agents Will Get Back to You Next Day
I wouldn’t risk using the Request Form for a flight with a Business or First Class long-haul request, because award seats may disappear at any moment. Because this is exactly what happened with my request (luckily, it was just a test booking).
Whether you call or use the online Request Form, you have to do your homework. First, find available seats. If you don’t have ExpertFlyer, the most accurate way to gauge available oneworld award seats is the British Airways website. It’s very important to record all the information including the flight numbers and departure times.
This is my Request Form.
Make a Screenshot and Keep the Form for Your Records
You don’t have to write down the airline codes. You also don’t need to fill out both flight number and departure time. Use either one. I just wanted to keep this screenshot for my records.
If you don’t find available seats first, and Cathay Pacific agents don’t find the alternatives, you will have to send email messages back and forth with no end in sight. So, it’s very important to find the award seats first, then send in the form.
Because I didn’t have the miles anyway, this is the response I received (and it was predictable).
Dear ___,
Thank you for contacting The Marco Polo Club Service Centre.
This is to let you know that your preferred itinerary Los Angeles – Hong Kong – Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur – Narita – Los Angeles requires 135,000 Asia Miles per person for a oneworld Multi-Carrier Awards (zone 9) Business Class award ticket.
Unfortunately you do not currently have at least 70% of the required mileage to top up your account in order to redeem this award. Therefore, we are sorry that we are unable to process your request.
There are 2 important takeaways from this response.
They correctly calculated the mileage
They had no objections to the award’s validity
But I also needed to know the cash component. So, I responded asking for more information.
Hi,
I’ve been trying to figure out the validity and cost of this route. I have hundreds of thousands of American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou points that I’m ready to transfer to Asia Miles immediately.
I just need to know two things:
Is the routing and the number of stopovers in my itinerary valid for a oneworld award?
What’s the cost in miles and cash for taxes and fees?
Sincerely
Along with this email, I also contacted Asia Miles Member Services with a separate email. I used the online form, but I think a simple email would get there too.
Sending an Email Is Another Way to Redeem Cathay Pacific Miles
In that message, I copied the text above and enclosed the screenshot of my itinerary. Good thing I did, because the only response I received was from Member Services, and it was longer and more detailed.
In the first part of the message they explained the difference between the Asia Miles chart and oneworld chart. In the second part, they gave me the information I requested. I’m leaving out some non-essential parts.
Thank you for contacting the Asia Miles Service Centre. We also acknowledged the receipt of your previous email.
Regarding your award request, there are no award seats currently available on your preferred flights and dates and our partner airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Japan Airlines, do not operate a waiting list for award seats. I have also checked alternative flights and dates close to those you have requested (+/- 2days) but could not find anything suitable.
Meanwhile, we would like to explain that the award tickets need to be issued immediately once bookings are confirmed. Although we understand you will transfer your credit card points to your Asia Miles account, you do not currently have sufficient miles in your account to redeem a Round trip Business Class ticket for route Los Angeles – Hong Kong – Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur – Tokyo – Los Angeles. This requires 135,000 Asia Miles per person.
For your information, payment of approximately HKD 3,080 per person for the airport and security taxes as well as for the fuel surcharge would be required for a Round trip Business Class award ticket for route Los Angeles – Hong Kong – Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur – Tokyo – Los Angeles.
There are 3 important takeaways from this email.
The Member Services correctly calculated the mileage cost of the itinerary
The cost outlay for this ticket is 3,080 Hong Kong Dollars or ~$397 – quite reasonable for a Business Class award ticket that includes 4 stopovers
2 segments became unavailable in 1 day – Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo on Malaysia Airlines and Tokyo to Los Angeles on Japan Airlines
3. Call Cathay Pacific
If you have a complex or time-sensitive itinerary that includes Business and First Class long-haul travel, you’re better off redeeming your award on the phone. While using the online form is easier, award seats can disappear before the agent in Hong Kong starts to work on your itinerary.
There have been a lot of data points about redeeming miles on the phone with Cathay Pacific agents on Flyertalk. I also had less than stellar experiences with them in the past.
But either they’ve upped their game, or maybe I asked the right questions, because out of 4 calls, I only had one semi-clueless agent, and even that was a win, because I managed to turn him around.
I wanted to check the numbers I received via their Members Services first, so I tried 2 Cathay Pacific numbers:
Hong Kong: +852-2747-3838
US: 866-892-2598
Note: If you call the Hong Kong office, the best bet is to dial from the landline phone (add 011) or cellphone (add “+”). If you use a calling card, you might not be able to choose the selection (the system prompts you to press “1” to speak English, and this function may not work with a calling card). Calling the Hong Kong number appeared to be free for me when dialed from my T-Mobile cellphone, but YMMV.
I’d recommend trying the US number first, as it may work for you just fine.
A. This Call Almost Went Awry
I hadn’t been very successful with the Cathay Pacific US Call Center in the past, so I started with the Hong Kong Center. Perhaps it wasn’t a good time, because after listening to nice music for half an hour, I gave up and dialed the US number. This time I didn’t have to wait at all.
I gave the agent my itinerary with dates and flight numbers: Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo and back to Los Angeles with stopovers in each city. He stopped me at “Kuala Lumpur” and said it couldn’t be done because only 2 stopovers were allowed.
I knew right away that he was quoting the “Single or Mixed 2 Carrier Awards Chart” rules instead of the “oneworld Multi-Carrier Awards Chart” rules and asked him to try and check the oneworld chart. He repeated that only 2 stopovers were allowed. He was very polite, so even if he’d been annoyed with me – I wouldn’t have known. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/72x72/1f642.png" alt="