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Answers (13)

Cathay Pacific’s oneworld Multi-Carrier Awards for a one year round the world trip

Cathay Pacific’s oneworld Multi-Carrier Awards for a one year round the world trip

  1. milgom New Member

    Hi,

    I’m starting to plan for a one year round the world trip in first class. I have miles through my credit card which can only be converted to Asiamiles or Singapore Airlines.

    Cathay pacific’s multi carrier award seems to be a good solution since it’s 275,000 for a trip between 25,001 and 35,000 miles with max 5 stopovers and 2 transfers.

    One thing that’s stopping me though is if I understand correctly, I wouldn’t be able to change any leg of the trip after I’ve boarded the first flight. Is that correct?

    I also saw Singapore airlines Round The World award which is 360,000 miles (a lot more) but it’s not clear either about the conditions for changes. Does anyone know?

    Also, if I understand correctly, any trip I would book like this would only be possible within one year starting from now since there’s no award availability beyond one year on any of the carrier?

    Thanks

  2. MarkS Member

    [QUOTE=”milgom, post: 27213, member: 1920″]Hi,

    One thing that’s stopping me though is if I understand correctly, I wouldn’t be able to change any leg of the trip after I’ve boarded the first flight. Is that correct?

    I also saw Singapore airlines Round The World award which is 360,000 miles (a lot more) but it’s not clear either about the conditions for changes. Does anyone know?

    Also, if I understand correctly, any trip I would book like this would only be possible within one year starting from now since there’s no award availability beyond one year on any of the carrier?

    Thanks[/QUOTE]

    I suggest calling to get your questions answered properly. While these multi segment rewards look appealing, booking them can be challenging.

    For example you are quoting the first class redemption. The problem is many of the carriers in this alliance don’t have first class on a lot of the routes with BA being one of them meaning big surcharges. First class between Asia and Europe is rare unless between major hubs. So you might end up with half your journey in business class while paying the first rate. I would probably approach it from taking the business class fare.

    Speaking of surcharges you will probably pay them on all but CX metal, even QR. But then again maybe you are ok with much of the trip on CX.

    As far as the year question you are correct. You will have to book the complete journey. My guess is you won’t be able to change once underway, but you need to confirm. The first step is to fill out the multi-carrier form on the Asia Miles then wait for their response. It usually takes a couple days for them to get back to you. Good luck!

    More info on Asia Miles
    [URL]http://www.rewardflying.com/reward-programs-oneworld/2016/2/13/asia-miles[/URL]

  3. milgom New Member

    Thanks MarkS for the detailed answer.

    You are right about first class but I really want to try first class with CX, QF, JAL and QR ๐Ÿ™‚ Even if I only get 2 out of the 4, I still think it might be worse the extra 85,000 miles. Basically my ideal trip would be from Europe to HKG, staying there for a month or two, then Australia (or New Zealand), Japan, South America and back to Europe… staying 1-3 month in each destination…

    It’s going to be tough finding availability… I do have a lot of flexibility so can travel pretty much any time and I’m mostly ok to go to whichever city has availability (it’s a good way as any to decide which country to visit:) I’d expect $1000-2000 surcharge from what I read but haven’t taken a look yet…

    My main issue though is that even if I find availability, it takes 2-10 days to transfer the miles from my credit card (it seems that it’s extremely variable).

  4. MarkS Member

    So it would look like this
    Lhr-hkg on CX in first
    hkg-syd on CX in bus maybe first
    Syd-nrt on Qantas in business
    Nrt-lax on jal in first
    Lax-scl on LAN in business
    Scl-lhr on BA in first, I think they fly 787-9 there. You can also take Latam back to Madrid on their a350

    With the flexibility you have in days traveling because of the long times in each place I would transfer the points. You will have a much easier time dealing with the Asia miles agents.

  5. milgom New Member

    Yep, that would be pretty much it ๐Ÿ™‚ Probably wouldn’t take BA since first on BA is just pretty much business on other airlines (no I’m not annoyed at BA at all :))

    Ok, so transferring makes sense then… The other alternative would be that RTW from singapore airline at 360k miles but it’s more miles… It would have the advantage of allowing me to fly with Lufthansa and Singapore Suites which I’ve always wanted to do (and I wouldn’t mind trying ANA first class either) but not sure if that’s worth the extra 85,000 miles… And from what I gather the surcharges wouldn’t really be less?

    Anyway, thanks a lot MarkS!

  6. MarkS Member

    Lufthansa you have to deal with the 14 day rule. So instead of taking CX down to Australia take Singapore, the 380 goes to syd and Mel. Yes it’s more points, just depends on your goals. And I wouldn’t discount BA as its 787-9 versus 2/2/2 business class out of South America on latam. First on the 787 is supposed to be nice.

  7. milgom New Member

    Oh didn’t know about the 14 days rule for lufthansa, that’s a bit annoying… So basically if I wanted to use that Singapore rtw ticket, I’d probably have to start the trif with lufthansa..

    Good point on having first on 787 ๐Ÿ™‚

  8. freshthoughts New Member

    a fun iteninery would be

    LHR-SYD QTR F
    SYD-HKG QF new J or F as QF do it seasonally.
    HKG- HND CX F
    HND-LAX/JFK JAL F
    JAX/JFK- LHR BA F

    a good tip is that you could change the LHR-SYD to QF F as if you book well in advance there is excellent availability.

  9. milgom New Member

    Thanks Freshthoughts, yeah that would be a fun itinerary too.

    I have a couple more questions:
    1. Should I enroll in Marco Polo Club Green for 100 USD? Would that make it easier to book the awards? Apparently they have a dedicated club service centre, don’t know if that helps when booking the awards..
    2. I see that Expertflyer doesn’t have any awards availability for JAL or CX, what are the best systems to check availability?

    Thanks

  10. MarkS Member

    I’m not familiar with the club. Maybe someone knows better.

    KVSTool has CX availability for both CX metal using Asia Miles as well as partner Oneworld rewards via Qantas or BA. It is a paid service.

    The best way if you don’t want to pay is simply use Asia Miles / Cathay Pacific reward search. But search ONE segment at a time, even if your planning a connection. Their search is ok, just a bit cumbersome.

  11. Gaurav Community Ambassador

    I’m not familiar with the club either but if you choose to go that way and you are eligible for US credit cards you could also sign up for the new Cathay Pacific credit card. Along with the miles bonus I think it also gives you a year of MP Green for the annual fee (~95).

  12. MarkS Member

    Plus 1.5x when spending overseas which it sounds like you will be there for awhile.

  13. milgom New Member

    Yep, saw that but I’m not in the US unfortunately.

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