Questions and Answers

we are looking to go to tokyo and hong kong and want to see best use of miles for first or bus class between these airlines. my reading was that cathay pacific offered lower miles for first and bus class than singapore. i thought it shows 180k RT on asia miles and singapoe was 160 one way. what are the miles to tokyo and or hong kong on all 3 of these and which is the best carrier. we have never flown cathay. we have citi and ultimate awards and amex points to transfer. thanks.

Scott over at Travel Codex has created a great tool called the [URL=’https://www.travelcodex.com/award-maximizer/’]Award Maximizer[/URL]. It will show you how many miles it takes across various programs between the origin and destination you enter. It does have some limitations: for example, if your award currency charges on a segment-by-segment basis (like BA) and you have to make a connection, that is not included in the price quoted. If your currency only allows a certain number of stops (like Asia Miles, only one stop each way for a total of 4 segments) that is not included either. But it will give you an idea of how many miles you’ll need.

As for which is the “best” carrier, that is subjective. I’d first look at what routes are reasonable for you to fly and then you can see if the carrier even offers First on those flights. Of course you’ll also need to see which routes have seats available for the days you want to fly.

Any of those three are going to be a fantastic experience – your decision might come down to which airline has award seats available on a date that works for you