For a while now there have been rumors of Cathay Pacific launching service to the Maldives, though up until now it has been nothing more than that. Well, Cathay Pacific has finally confirmed the rumors by loading the route into the GDS, as they'll be launching 4x weekly service to Male, Maldives as of October…
Continue reading: Cathay Pacific to launch service to the Maldives as of October 27, 2013
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Ben, what's an ideal threshold in your opinion (I know you will exclusively choose F or J but for someone with limited Avios) - to pick Y over J (to save miles, of course) in terms of flight duration?
This one here is 7+ hours and I think J is preferable, but when does it start mattering to most? At 3 hour mark or 5 or ... ?
May be other readers can also chime in with their opinions!
@ ttt -- While that's what airlineroute.net says, the GDS shows 4x weekly service, so I would assume that's correct.
@ Apurva -- That's a toughie. With Avios it's actually pretty straightforward since awards are priced based on distance. So there aren't flights where you get an "amazing" value and flights where you get a "horrible" value, generally.
In this case it's a 12,500 mile "upcharge" for business class one-way. I'd say that's almost a no brainer for a 6-7 hour flight where you'd get a fully flat bed.
@ ttt -- Whoops, it's way too late for me to be blogging. You're absolutely right, thanks for the heads up. Fixed.
Lucky, wouldn't using AA miles going all the way to CMB (67.5K in first) and then 4500 avios from CMB to MLE with avios with sri lankan airline (after they join 1 World) be the "cheapest" way there? But this route is excellent for Australians only 45K AA miles from SYD to MLE in biz.
@ David -- Yes, excellent point, though you're looking at adding an extra connection, and the HKG-CMB flight isn't well timed for connections. Definitely makes sense under some circumstances, though.
It is my understanding that most resorts will pick you up by seaplane at whatever time your flight arrives, since even the city of Male is on a different island from the airport (and is not anywhere that tourists would typically want to visit). So I don't imagine the inbound flight time would be too much trouble, other than that it requires you to pay for a hotel night without getting any corresponding daylight time before that night.
Another Option is to use Alaska Airline, It offers 30K Eco/50K biz/70K first one way from North america to Asia when you travel via CX.
Great to have this option!
Right now, I"m holding CX RT F to Singapore, and an SQ RT business class RT SIN-MLE using USAIR miles (30k RT).
I'll have to see whether it's worth it to change. I have overnight in SIN each way, but it might be nice to break up the flight their than MLE.
I wish AA didn't have their silly rule regarding regions.
Thanks for posting this Ben! Being currently based in HKG, this is a most welcoming news for me! 50k avios round trip in business, compare to 80k round trip for SQ via UA miles, great deal!!! I will be lookinig into this for my Conrad Rangali visit in August 2014!
flyer708, per the thread on the Conrad Rangali the resort will be closed next summer:
Property will be closed from May 15, 2014 - Aug 14, 2014 for completion of 3rd island which will house staff and infrastructure
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilton-hhonors/776992-conrad-maldives-rangali-island-336.html
If your travel is within this period I would get in touch with them ASAP!
What is the best way to view CP availability.
CP costs $50 to join?
Will BA or AA show all availability
Just booked for January! MLE-HKG-JFK-DCA certainly beats our previous routing of MLE-CMB-KUL-HKG-JFK-DCA! The MLE-HKG flight is really well timed for sleep.
@bob s I was able to see the flight just fine on BA.com ... Lucky's image above also is from BA, so looks like that's the way to go for this flight.
mmmm...I already have CMB-HKG-LAX booked. Ben do you you think it makes sense to change MLE-HKG-LAX with additional miles and fees (I'm AA Exp but not my partner)? MLE-CMB is relative cheap flight but MLE-HKG is fully laid flat and direct without connecting at either BKK or SIN.
@ bob s -- As Justin said, ba.com is probably the best place to view availability.
@ AC -- That's a real roughie. You'd be paying an extra 30,000 miles, so assuming you have a good number of miles and value the convenience I'd probably make the switch. There's something to be said for getting a fully flat product out of the Maldives and skipping an additional connection.
@Phillip, thanks for the reminder. I do follow that thread on FT, and my dates to CR is from Aug 22-Aug 27 2014. Should be alright. Now I just gotta figure out my exact itinerary involvoing AUH, DXB, SIN, and HKG.
Ben,
Perhaps the best way is with Alaska miles, if they allow HKG-MLE to be bookable? JFK-HKG-MLE, stopover in HKG, 62.5k in J, 70k in F!