Asian Miles.

[Dee Thom]

A friend has mentioned that Asian Miles are a better bet for award seats than normal Airline ones. Said that the number of points needed for redeeming flights in J are about two thirds of say QF etc., How true is this? I presume that sc's and lounge access are not included, plus the usual metal class cards are not applicable.
Is anyone a member of this group? And if so is it easier to redeem seats than normal alliances?

Cheers,
Dee.

 

[deadfish]

They do have much lower redemption rates than QF, but whether you get more value out of the program depends on your flying/spending patterns.

For example, CX don't award any miles on deep-discount economy tickets (lower than V class) - even on their own flights. They also don't have a minimum points guarantee. I wouldn't bother if you fly a lot of short domestic hops.

If your flights are mostly long haul and on high revenue tickets, Asia Miles/Marco Polo could offer better value. Also, be aware that it is much more difficult to attain status with Cathay.

 

[Joshua]

Yes it really depends on flying patterns.

For instance crediting QF flights to Asia Miles, you will only get 50% of the miles flown if booked into B, H, K, L, M or V i.e. you have to book a 'Flexi Saver', anything cheaper will earn nothing. You would only earn ~220 points SYD-MEL, and there are no bonuses for any status which can make a huge difference on long haul routes.

So it's highly dependent on one's situation but your friend may be doing themselves a disservice - rather like comparing prices and not unit pricing at the super market.

 

[Foreigner]

I seldom fly CX but I hoard Asia Miles by transferring some of my Amex MR points to Asia Miles account. Currently 1:1. So, you can gather miles if you have Amex account, or by other credit cards that allow transfer of points to Asia Miles.

I agree that Asia Miles is cheaper than QF for redemption. And their business product is as good as if not better than QF.

 

[amaroo]

I've enjoyed a stack of flights with CX - majority being classic awards via QF.

I'm very close to hitting LTG & I'm thinking about crossing over to Asia Miles when achieved. AA is also in the ring however, I'm not a big fan of the old USA and rarely travel there.......

BTW we did a paid whY HKG-HND....NRT-HKG last week - cost just under $3K for 4 and delivered <1000 points & 20SC each for a 3.5 & 4.2 hour flights.

 

[Foreigner]

Marco Polo Club gold, courtesy of Amex platinum charge card is beneficial. Just noticed expiry had been rolled over for another 12 months to end Sep 2013.

 

[Isochronous]

There's also no lifetime status in the CX programme from what I understand.

 

[samh004]

There's also no lifetime status in the CX programme from what I understand.

There used to be, and those members are now Diamond Invitational. Or something to that effect if I have the name slightly wrong.

Of course, for the purposes of joining a new program, there's no longer a path to this.

Asia Miles is essentially the bank for Marco Polo Club, which is more about status. It's free to join Asia Miles, costs USD$50 to join Marco Polo (and keeps the same number). You could earn millions of miles with Asia Miles to spend on thing, but never have any status until you also bought Marco Polo membership.

Also worth nothing if you join Marco Polo from the bottom, each time you hit a new level, your year resets and you start at zero. Not so much an issue if you're at the top, but from Green to Diamond it's 30k miles to Silver, reset, another 60k to Gold, reset, and a further 120k to Diamond. That's 210,000 miles to get to the top, and then another 120,000 once you've got there to renew.




 

[Dee Thom]

Asia Miles is essentially the bank for Marco Polo Club, which is more about status. It's free to join Asia Miles, costs USD$50 to join Marco Polo (and keeps the same number). You could earn millions of miles with Asia Miles to spend on thing, but never have any status until you also bought Marco Polo membership.


Sam, I'm not really into status, and lounge access is not a problem when I fly J, so it gets back to the basic 'is it a better program for redeeming points on long haul in J,' or do I stay with TG and VA?

I have a large number of points with Amex plat, but only transfer when I need to.

Look forward to your reply,

Cheers,
Dee.

 

[yohy?!]

If you are australia based and mostly doing domestic flying on discount economy tickets then probably better to credit to qantas with the minimum points guarantee. Also if you have any Qantas Silver/Gold/Plat status then your points bonus helps also.

Where its now getting interested is credit card spend like Amex going to 1:1 for Asia Miles, 1 way in J SYD-HKG CX is 40,000pts or 30,000pts to upgrade from K Class economy ticket so substantially less than QF (Taxes are cheaper too I think).

 

[Dee Thom]

Where its now getting interested is credit card spend like Amex going to 1:1 for Asia Miles, 1 way in J SYD-HKG CX is 40,000pts or 30,000pts to upgrade from K Class economy ticket so substantially less than QF (Taxes are cheaper too I think).

Thanks yohy?!, that sounds like a far better deal than QF or VA/SIA offer, and a J on CX to LAX is 120,000 return I note. It will also make it easier to go to NRT out of BNE, instead of heading down to OOL, and try out CX's new Y plus offering.

Cheers,
Dee.

 

[Ricardo]

Thanks yohy?!, that sounds like a far better deal than QF or VA/SIA offer, and a J on CX to LAX is 120,000 return I note. It will also make it easier to go to NRT out of BNE, instead of heading down to OOL, and try out CX's new Y plus offering.

Cheers,
Dee.

I also noted the above as I have recently got my Asia Miles/CX Gold thru Plat Charge, also less points to HK/Asia. Is it easy to redeem Asia miles for flights on Qantas ??

 

[Dee Thom]

I also noted the above as I have recently got my Asia Miles/CX Gold thru Plat Charge, also less points to HK/Asia. Is it easy to redeem Asia miles for flights on Qantas ??

I looked up a QF flight from BNE to LAX return in J, same as CX or JA------ 120,000 points on all three using Asia Miles.

Way to go!

Cheers,
Dave.

 

[Ricardo]

I looked up a QF flight from BNE to LAX return in J, same as CX or JA------ 120,000 points on all three using Asia Miles.

Way to go!

Cheers,
Dave.

Nice thanks Dave, I am going to put an enquiry with CX Asia Miles for redemption on QF to LAX for mid next year, and check on taxes etc.

Will let you know how I get on.

R

 

[samh004]

Sam, I'm not really into status, and lounge access is not a problem when I fly J, so it gets back to the basic 'is it a better program for redeeming points on long haul in J,' or do I stay with TG and VA?

I have a large number of points with Amex plat, but only transfer when I need to.

Look forward to your reply,

Cheers,
Dee.

I know the most useful thing for you would be confirmed upgrades at time of booking, say book J and upgrade to F, and I believe the amount of points for that is better but don't really know specifics. Also worth noting, even if status isn't needed, as a MPC Diamond flying J, you'll get looked after very well and should expect quite a few upgrades anyway...

 

[JOC469]

We just redeemed 2 oneworld Multi-Carrier Awards in First Class Zone 12 (25,001-35,000 miles) for 550,000 Asia Miles (courtesy of AMEX 1:1 transfer). The same amount of points would have gotten us close to 2 business redemptions with Qantas. Taxes came to around $3200 for the two tickets.

The only downside is dealing with the Asia Miles bookings - whilst you can see availability through the Qantas website, the load management software and the operator you are speaking to may not feel like releasing any award seating - even for Marco Polo Diamonds. Very frustrating.