UpTheFront
Junior Member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2005
- Posts
- 22
Hi, I'm a Gold Qantas ff and this is my first post on the site. The latest changes to the scheme are the final straw. I'm leaving Qantas :cry:
I've done all my reseach and conclude that Cathay's AsiaMiles is the most generous and appropriate program. I'm not yet a member, and I notice they've got a refer-a-member-and-get-free-points promotion at the moment. The new member gets points too. Does anyone want to get a group together and refer each other, to rack up some free points? The only condition is that the new member needs to earn (or transfer from their credit card rewards program) 500 points by April 6th. Similarly, if anyone is already a member of AsiaMiles, contact me and you should be able to get free miles too.
Here's the lowdown on AsiaMiles, for those who aren't sure: Cathay is part of OneWorld, so you still earn miles on domestic Qantas flights. You also earn full points on BA, instead of Qantas's ridiculous on-again-off-again one-quarter-of-a-point per mile in BA's discount economy. Their service is exceptional (including angled flat-beds in business) and their prices to Europe are much more competitive now that Qantas has launched its Sydney-to-London-via-Hong Kong service (Cathay has responded with Europe for $1,572).
But what I love most about AsiaMiles is that it's the only program I'm aware of that permits you to use points to upgrade on partner airlines. You can't use Qantas points to upgrade on BA, for example (indeed, after May 25th you won't even be able to confirm an upgrade on Qantas flights either -- it becomes a lucky-dip, hence my decision to tell them to get stuffed.) But you can use AsiaMiles to upgrade very cheaply on BA and AA as well as on Cathay itself.
Moreover, you can transfer your Amex points to Cathay, admittedly at a 2-to-1 ratio. And lastly, you earn full AsiaMiles on an airline we don't hear much of, Royal Brunei... which has the most competitive business class in the world. They've almost finished refitting their fleet with angled lie-flat sleeper seats in business, yet their fares are cheaper than competitors who still have old bucket seats. (Yesterday I booked SYD-BKK-FRA-surface-LHR-SYD in business class, flat bed all the way, in peak season, for $3,910. Their service is apparently good, although for religious reasons they don't serve booze... but you can BYO
) And with the cabin bonus that'll earn me nearly 27k points.
So if anyone's interested in the AsiaMiles promotion, whether you're a member or not, let me know and we'll work out how best we can all take advantage of it.
Cheers
J
I've done all my reseach and conclude that Cathay's AsiaMiles is the most generous and appropriate program. I'm not yet a member, and I notice they've got a refer-a-member-and-get-free-points promotion at the moment. The new member gets points too. Does anyone want to get a group together and refer each other, to rack up some free points? The only condition is that the new member needs to earn (or transfer from their credit card rewards program) 500 points by April 6th. Similarly, if anyone is already a member of AsiaMiles, contact me and you should be able to get free miles too.
Here's the lowdown on AsiaMiles, for those who aren't sure: Cathay is part of OneWorld, so you still earn miles on domestic Qantas flights. You also earn full points on BA, instead of Qantas's ridiculous on-again-off-again one-quarter-of-a-point per mile in BA's discount economy. Their service is exceptional (including angled flat-beds in business) and their prices to Europe are much more competitive now that Qantas has launched its Sydney-to-London-via-Hong Kong service (Cathay has responded with Europe for $1,572).
But what I love most about AsiaMiles is that it's the only program I'm aware of that permits you to use points to upgrade on partner airlines. You can't use Qantas points to upgrade on BA, for example (indeed, after May 25th you won't even be able to confirm an upgrade on Qantas flights either -- it becomes a lucky-dip, hence my decision to tell them to get stuffed.) But you can use AsiaMiles to upgrade very cheaply on BA and AA as well as on Cathay itself.
Moreover, you can transfer your Amex points to Cathay, admittedly at a 2-to-1 ratio. And lastly, you earn full AsiaMiles on an airline we don't hear much of, Royal Brunei... which has the most competitive business class in the world. They've almost finished refitting their fleet with angled lie-flat sleeper seats in business, yet their fares are cheaper than competitors who still have old bucket seats. (Yesterday I booked SYD-BKK-FRA-surface-LHR-SYD in business class, flat bed all the way, in peak season, for $3,910. Their service is apparently good, although for religious reasons they don't serve booze... but you can BYO
) And with the cabin bonus that'll earn me nearly 27k points.So if anyone's interested in the AsiaMiles promotion, whether you're a member or not, let me know and we'll work out how best we can all take advantage of it.
Cheers
J
