Hainan Airlines has released one of the most bizarre Business Class airfare deals we’ve seen for a long time. For a lump sum payment of $33,000, you can get 30 return Hainan Business Class flights from Australia to China to use over 3 years. The Hainan Airlines Australian Diamond Family package also comes with one year of Fortune Wings Club Gold status.
For some people, this could actually be a superb deal. After accounting for taxes, you’d be paying less than $1,300 per round-trip to fly Business Class from Australia to China.
If you regularly travel to China, this probably seems too good to be true. After all, that’s a very good price for Business class on a 5-star Skytrax rated airline. But is it?
As you might expect, there are some terms and conditions attached to this deal. For starters, the taxes aren’t included. So you’ll still need to pay these when redeeming each of your 30 Business class trips. These add on between roughly $150 to $200 per trip. Connecting flights within China are also not included – just the long-haul sectors between Australia and China.
From Brisbane and Cairns, Hainan Airlines flies to Shenzhen. The Chinese cities of Xi’an and Changsha are served from Sydney and Melbourne, and Hainan also operates a Sydney-Haikou route.
You can share the 30 round-trips with up to three beneficiaries who don’t necessarily have to be related to you. These beneficiaries don’t need to travel with the primary passenger. But there is a bizarre rule that at least one of the beneficiaries must be aged either under 22 or over 60 years old.
There are no blackout dates, but you would need to book any travel using the Australian Diamond Family Package at least two weeks in advance. The flights book into “R” class, so availability in this fare class is required. “R” class is the lowest Business Class fare bucket, so seats won’t be available on every flight.
The deal comes with trial Gold status for 1 year with Fortune Wings Club, the frequent flyer program of Hainan Airlines. Beneficiaries also receive this status. However, points are not earned on the flights taken as part of this package.
Once purchased, you’ll have 3 years to book all of the 30 flights. If the Australian Diamond Family Package expires before you’ve had a chance to redeem all of the included Business Class flights, you can use the leftover credit towards full-priced Hainan Airlines flights.
To purchase a Hainan Airlines Australian Diamond Family package, you would need to contact the airline’s Sydney office during business hours.
This offer is quite different to anything we’ve previously seen in Australia, but it’s nice to see a creative promotion from an airline. This deal certainly won’t be for everyone, but it could be worthwhile if you regularly travel from Australia to one of the Chinese cities served by Hainan Airlines. This would be especially useful if you travel as a family of four; the package would get you 7.5 return family trips to China in Business Class over the 3 years.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Hainan Airlines (HU) OZ-China 30 Times
