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- Apr 3, 2022
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I'm currently putting together a RTW award itinerary for Mrs GO and Miss GO. Rather than chance my arm at a OWA, I'm doing it piece-meal, flight-by-flight, given the fluidity of their plans and flexibility with different carriers and award programmes. It's been a fascinating exercise to explore the limits of QFF and its OW partners, VFF and its various partners, and to reconfirm the absolute power of Amex Membership Rewards as a flexible currency.
One of the more recent bookings in the grand itinerary was an overnight flight from New York to London, departing on a Friday night. There were plenty of options in Y but only a handful in J. After a hard week of Miss GO's ballet training in NYC, Dad needed to come up with something in Business. Luckily, a few BA flights fit the bill - Mrs GO and Miss GO settled on BA114, departing JFK-LHR at 21:30 on Friday 11th July.
Here's the award pricing for BA 114 in J across my OW options (per person):
BA = 90,000 Avios + AUD 612.42
QR = 90,000 Avios + USD 1,058.00
QF = 61,200 QFF + USD 1,053.50
AY = Could not return any BA flights
AA = 57,500 AA miles + USD 733.00
CX = 63,000 Asia Miles + HKD 1,739.00 (AUD 373.80)
No prizes for guessing which one I picked!
I've never used my CX Asia Miles account before, so I did a little test transfer of both Marriott Bonvoy and Amex MR points to make sure that it would operate. Marriott Bonvoy took 3 days to credit into Asia Miles, whilst Amex arrived almost instantaneously. One final gulp as I drained my Amex account, sending a big chunk of flexible points across to CX. Once there, BA 114 in J was booked immediately and Mrs and Miss GO were both very happy. Go Dad, go!
I cannot recall where I read this hack about using Asia Miles to reduce the insanely high carrier charges on BA flights but I'm very grateful for that advice. With the AUD lingering where it is, this kind of saving makes a big difference to travel planning, so I thought that I would share my positive experience here with the AFF community. Thank you Cathay Pacific!
One of the more recent bookings in the grand itinerary was an overnight flight from New York to London, departing on a Friday night. There were plenty of options in Y but only a handful in J. After a hard week of Miss GO's ballet training in NYC, Dad needed to come up with something in Business. Luckily, a few BA flights fit the bill - Mrs GO and Miss GO settled on BA114, departing JFK-LHR at 21:30 on Friday 11th July.
Here's the award pricing for BA 114 in J across my OW options (per person):
BA = 90,000 Avios + AUD 612.42
QR = 90,000 Avios + USD 1,058.00
QF = 61,200 QFF + USD 1,053.50
AY = Could not return any BA flights
AA = 57,500 AA miles + USD 733.00
CX = 63,000 Asia Miles + HKD 1,739.00 (AUD 373.80)
No prizes for guessing which one I picked!
I've never used my CX Asia Miles account before, so I did a little test transfer of both Marriott Bonvoy and Amex MR points to make sure that it would operate. Marriott Bonvoy took 3 days to credit into Asia Miles, whilst Amex arrived almost instantaneously. One final gulp as I drained my Amex account, sending a big chunk of flexible points across to CX. Once there, BA 114 in J was booked immediately and Mrs and Miss GO were both very happy. Go Dad, go!
I cannot recall where I read this hack about using Asia Miles to reduce the insanely high carrier charges on BA flights but I'm very grateful for that advice. With the AUD lingering where it is, this kind of saving makes a big difference to travel planning, so I thought that I would share my positive experience here with the AFF community. Thank you Cathay Pacific!
