Melbourne to Hong Kong Business class questions

[simplenet]

Hi,

I travel to Hong Kong a fair bit for business (economy) and was just wondering what is the best deals around for business class seats? I always travel with my family so it is 2 adults and 1 child and 1 infant.

Is it best to book directly with the airlines? or through something like webjet.com.au

Is qantas or cathay better in regards to business class seats and services?

Also I am a member of Qantas FF and Asia Miles which is the better program, most rewarding?

thanks

 

[simongr]

One option for J to HKG might be a circle Asia fare (fare basis DAS13) - you would have to have a stopover somehwere else in Asia as well but I use these a lot to get to HKG. I fky SYD-NRT-HKG-SYD - and we pay for one night in NRT. Works out cheaper than QF.

 

[simplenet]

thank you for your reply

what is the approx cost? direct flights are $6.2k per adult with Qantas

who do you use to book the flights?

 

[NM]

I did a DAS13 in November 2007, routing BNE-ADL-SIN-KUL-HKG-NRT-BNE. This was booked through out corporate travel agent and issued by Qantas. Cost was $5078.50 including taxes and fuel fines, plus a $99 booking fee charged by the TA.

 

[simongr]

I booked syd-nrt-pvg-hkg-syd last week for about A$5000 plus $50 booking fee through QF - they were not overly aware of the fare basis but not as big a drama as booking the around the world tickets through QF

 

[HardieBoys]

Simplenet,

If you travel to Hong Kong regularly, it's worth applying for a Hong Kong International Airport Frequent Visitors card, unless you have an APEC card.

The card is free, and to qualify, requires that you have visited HK three times within 12 months. It allows you to use a specific queue, which only ever has one or two people in it. I've posted about this before, but saw your initial post and thought it might be worth mentioning it.

And here's the link:

Hong Kong International Airport - Passenger Guide - HKIA Frequent Visitor Card

 

[Evan]

I booked syd-nrt-pvg-hkg-syd last week for about A$5000 plus $50 booking fee through QF - they were not overly aware of the fare basis but not as big a drama as booking the around the world tickets through QF

I asked to book some flights (circle asia), first they took a list of all the flights and dates.... then they asked me what sort of fare i thought it was, answer DAS13, off to the pricing desk since i was in Singapore and the normal operators cannot price Singapore fares and sure enough no problems sir it is a DAS13, all done.
Mine cost a little less than $5k AUD since it was ex SIN, but not a lot less, i think about $200 less from memory.

E

 

[simplenet]

thank you all for your replies but I am really just after a direct flight Melb to HKG?

any ideas where i could go to get the best business class flights?

and your thoughs on Asia miles vs QFF would be great?

flyg in Feb and April

 

[simongr]

Checking the ITA trip planner the only options are CX and QF flying up on a Sunday and back on a Friday in late Feb - both over 7K

Going with a stop MH fly via KUL for about $4700 or SQ via SIN for a similar price.

 

[simplenet]

Checking the ITA trip planner the only options are CX and QF flying up on a Sunday and back on a Friday in late Feb - both over 7K

Going with a stop MH fly via KUL for about $4700 or SQ via SIN for a similar price.

thank you very much for your help, do you know if with SIN or MH flights you can actually stay for a few days then fly on to HKG? just curious as may do this in the future?

also do you have any feedback on the FF programs of Qantas and Cathay? maybe you can point me to another post?

thanks again this is a big help

 

[simongr]

thank you very much for your help, do you know if with SIN or MH flights you can actually stay for a few days then fly on to HKG? just curious as may do this in the future?

If you wanted to do that then I would seriously consider the DAS13 fare above - obviously you can't go syd-sin-hkg-sin-syd but you could go syd-sin-hkg-syd

also do you have any feedback on the FF programs of Qantas and Cathay? maybe you can point me to another post?

thanks again this is a big help

A tricky one - asia miles does not get much of a mention here - the key advantage being that if you are a BAEC member I believe that you can earn miles in Asia Miles and earn status in BA - this is a fairly unique situation.

The choice of programs depends on a multitude of different levers that you need to pull in terms of what you want from teh program and how you input to the program - a few considerations below:

- Do you want status - i.e. access to lounges, F check in etc. - remember though if flying paid J you get this sort of thing already
- Do you earn a lot of points through credit cards - different programs are harder to get CC points into
- Do you want cheaper flights in terms of points redemption or do you want to be able to access QF flights on the day they are released and don't care about the points cost

Unfortunately none of the programs let you pull all three levers at once:

QF - expensive for redemptions but cheap for premium pax to get status
AA - cheap for redemptions but expensive for premium pax to get status and hard to get points from CCs
CX - hard to get status

If you are able to reasonably forecast your travel patterns and CC spending for the next year you can make a much more informed judgement. I missed out on top tier with AA by not planning things right in 2006. This year I am juggling two programs and aiming for tier in both - and that satisfies my needs irrespective of whether it is the most "effective" approach based on other people's criteria.

It really is a case of horses for courses.

 

[simplenet]

If you wanted to do that then I would seriously consider the DAS13 fare above - obviously you can't go syd-sin-hkg-sin-syd but you could go syd-sin-hkg-syd



A tricky one - asia miles does not get much of a mention here - the key advantage being that if you are a BAEC member I believe that you can earn miles in Asia Miles and earn status in BA - this is a fairly unique situation.

The choice of programs depends on a multitude of different levers that you need to pull in terms of what you want from teh program and how you input to the program - a few considerations below:

- Do you want status - i.e. access to lounges, F check in etc. - remember though if flying paid J you get this sort of thing already
- Do you earn a lot of points through credit cards - different programs are harder to get CC points into
- Do you want cheaper flights in terms of points redemption or do you want to be able to access QF flights on the day they are released and don't care about the points cost

Unfortunately none of the programs let you pull all three levers at once:

QF - expensive for redemptions but cheap for premium pax to get status
AA - cheap for redemptions but expensive for premium pax to get status and hard to get points from CCs
CX - hard to get status

If you are able to reasonably forecast your travel patterns and CC spending for the next year you can make a much more informed judgement. I missed out on top tier with AA by not planning things right in 2006. This year I am juggling two programs and aiming for tier in both - and that satisfies my needs irrespective of whether it is the most "effective" approach based on other people's criteria.

It really is a case of horses for courses.

fantastic info, if i may just a few other questions:

1. MELB to HKG are the points awards even? does this make sense? basically do you earn the same in value for the same flight or is one better than the other in regards to points
2. I find it very difficult to find business class flights with Qantas using points, what about with AA is it better to get flights from Cathay or the same? or are upgrades better, i hate the waiting for checkin system with qantas.
3. I believe with AA the points expire is this true?

thanks again

 

[simongr]

Not sure what you mean in terms of Q1 - MEL-HKG are the points the same? DO mean is it the same points on the AA or QF schemes? Quite different and you have to factor in your status with the airline as well - as a AA Plat (equivalent to QF Gold) you earn more points in the AA scheme.

MEL-HKG award flights in J - these are not easy to find. You can't book CX fligths online with QF (in fact with AA you cant book any partner flights online). If you are trying to find QF J awards to HKG then you are better off with QF as you get access to availability earlier.

In terms of upgrades using points - if you are in AA yuo cant upgrade QF flights using points at all.

Yes AA points do expire. if you have no activity on your accont for 18 months your points do expire. Just pay attention to online specials where you can eanr a small number of points for filling in surveys etc. just to keep things alive.

 

[simplenet]

sorry i hope i am not being a pain, last set of questions

in regards to Q1 what i mean is if you fly Cathay Busienss they give you 11401 points approx if you fly qants what do you get? are they pretty much even in regards to their value

also i was aksing in regards to working with Aisa Miles and Cathay pacific, do you find that it is easier to get flights using Asia Miles on Cathay routes and or upgrades?

thanks for your help

 

[garyjohn951]

If you have status with qantas, ie silver gold etc, you get 25% 50% or 100% increase in number of points on a QF flight.

Therefore J on Mel-HGK will give 120 status credits [ 160 if u go via sydney], so for 4 flights = 480 [560]

 

[JohnK]

also i was aksing in regards to working with Aisa Miles and Cathay pacific, do you find that it is easier to get flights using Asia Miles on Cathay routes and or upgrades?

As simongr mentioned there are not many Asia miles members able to answer that question here. Your best bet would be flyertalk or cathaytalk to get those answers.