Avoid British Airways Fuel Surcharges With Cathay Pacific Miles

Excellent information! I have 360K in my Asia Miles account from a cancelled trip on CX from NY to Bali. I had planned to rebook this trip soon. However, since earlier this morning I read about the cohabitation laws being passed in Indonesia, I have zero interest in going. I'll happily use those miles to fly BA and have a great time breaking all of Indonesia's ridiculous laws in London.

Aw man, seeing this just a week after I booked directly with BA. At least I got the 20% Capitol One transfer bonus, but I would rather have the extra cash. Now I know for next time...

Sweet spot of Asia miles exposed! And while it may not be easy to earn Asia miles in the US, it is very easy to accumulate them with a fee-free credit card product in Hong Kong, effectively in a rate of 1 Asia miles for every 0.22 USD spending.

waldorf astoria amsterdam is closed permanently

I have had my Asia Miles account hacked 3 times. They never give any sort of compensation for this and it seems a regular Occurrence. Nearly all accounts were hacked approximately 4 years ago. I no longer use them for the reason that they seem so relaxed and unapologetic about the privacy and data breaches. Messaging them on WhatsApp is robotic and then when an agent comes many hours later they do not respond to queries but immediately end the opened conversation. I used to love Cathay Pacific but please be very careful.

No it isn't

Hopefully Asia Miles has fixed their new "elevated" website. At least a month back it was impossible to book much via the website without using some hacked code off of FT or calling in (and the wait times are crazy). I have used AM a lot to book BA in the past but it has recently been a real pain.

It is actually quite easy to earn AM in US as they are a transfer partner from a number of credit card reward currencies. I have burned upper six figurers of AM over the last five or so years.

Is there a way to check the taxes and fees without miles in your account?

@ Happy -- Yep, you don't need a mileage balance, you just need an account.

@ MIchelle -- Do you have a source? That's news to me...

That code is definitely a lifesaver, the CX website is still super buggy and doesn't show a lot of BA space that should be bookable. FYI their Whatsapp customer service is relatively quick and knowledgeable based on the few times i've used it lately

Nice tip!

What's the mileage comparison LAX-LHR in J?

Asia miles is an underrated program. It’s the easiest program to get to Australia with in business class. Only 90k with $200 in taxes and fees on JAL through Tokyo. Considering they often have transfer bonuses (both on their side and from Amex), it’s one of my go to bookings, especially since there is generally decent award availability which is almost impossible with other programs to Australia.

Unless this changed recently, I don't think Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards.

it can be a better deal but at a cost if you end up modifying or canceling your ticket it will cost you and i'ts also very complicated you need to contact them by email or phone and they're hyper irresponsive.

Thanks for the response Ben. The issue is that when I select the flight, it shows me the amount of miles excluding taxes and fees. When I click "Next", it says "You do not have enough miles to complete the booking" and gives options to get miles. I can't proceed any further. As such, I never get to see the taxes and fees needed (which is the whole benefit of going this route).. I'll need to see them before feeling comfortable transferring points to the program. Maybe calling is an option though?

The new website seems even worse than the old if that is even possible.

I find the taxes and fees listed at the bottom of the page next to the miles total before clicking on the "next" button.

What about the fees eastbound out of London?
Are they still much lower?

Also...on the Europe to US journey, originating in non-LHR location may help to lower the airport fees / taxes associated with LHR.

For example, co-payments compared (using QF points on first class):

USD680 for LHR-IAD
USD400 for CDG-LHR-IAD

When I searched via microsoft bing, it popped up on the right as permanently closed, and when I click into the official waldorf astoria website to book a night in march or april/ beyond it says no rooms are available.

However, when I searched via google.com it shows waldorf as open. Very strange...

Checked further - I think it's just closed in March and first half of April

It would be interesting to find the break even point for buying some miles from the tax savings in order to make up any lack of sufficient air miles for a trip.

Do the math - this is a no-brainer if free cancellation isn't a huge deal for your booking. I can use 57,500 AAdvantage miles + $730 or 61,000 Asia Miles + 247 for the same J flight from US east coast to London; or, put differently, I'm getting a value of 13.8 cents/mile from the incremental 3,500 redeemed miles.

Thanks for the tip!

Its not a co-pay.

BA charge fees to get cash.

Even using the FT code I was unable to get the site to work beyond two or three simple one ways searches. Then I’d get an error message. All browsers. All times of the day. Finally gave up.

Is this article still accurate? I'm seeing only American, Iberia, and Qatar in the airline drop-down, despite the route being serviced by British Airways.

Just a note. I didn't see anyone mention but if you do not have status British charges the hefty fee for seat selection in business class. So be ready to add ~$120-200 to fuel surcharges. Ben, how much they charge in first class?

For first class it's free.

Amazingly helpful!!!