Questions and Answers

I have the following itinerary that I booked through aa.com: KA 103 KTM-HKG (1840 miles) in I class, AA 126 HKG-DFW (8100 miles) in R class, and AA 3772 DFW-DAY (860 miles) in J class. I obviously do not want to credit to AAdvantage since this ticket was booked through American and they award miles based on spend. I have no status and my ticket was only $1287 so I would earn at most 6435 miles with AAdvantage. Since a part of that cost includes taxes and surcharges, I’d assume actual earnings would be even lower.

My initial thought was Alaska Mileage Plan, although there are a few reservations I have about that. Alaska partners with Cathay Pacific but I’m not sure if the fact that the flight is operated by Cathay Dragon would affect mileage earning. Also, since I booked my ticket through aa.com that domestic DFW-DAY segment wouldn’t be eligible for mileage accrual. If Cathay Dragon flights DO earn miles with Mileage Plan I’m thinking it may just be worth it to forgo the miles on the final segment and take advantage of the generous earning rates on the first two flights. One more thing I’m not sure about is even if the KA segment can earn miles, would it earn miles based on the rates for CX or AA since it was booked through the latter (my reservation has a KA flight number rather than being an AA codeshare for what it’s worth). I class on Cathay Pacific earns 225% with Mileage Plan whereas I class on American only earns 150%. Does anyone have experience with crediting Cathay Dragon flights to Mileage Plan?

Another option is to credit to a different Oneworld program. Currently, the only other Oneworld FFP account I have is BA Executive Club so I could credit there, or I could open an account in a different program. I was thinking JAL Mileage Bank because of their useful partners and lucrative distance-based chart. My mom is Japanese and I travel there every now and then so having some miles with them could prove useful in the future. Alternatively, I could create a Qantas Frequent Flyer or Asia Miles account because they partner with some transferrable points currencies and I could supplement what I earn on this trip. With Asia Miles, I’m once again confused as to how me having booked through aa.com would affect mileage earning. I understand that Asia Miles awards miles for KA flights based off of what distance “bracket” a flight falls under so if I were earning based off the KA chart the flight would be classified under the “short” (751-2750) bracket and I would earn 2500 miles. If I were earning based off of the AA chart, I would earn 125% of the actual distance flown, so I would end up with 2300 miles. Unfortunately, I’m not very familiar with the ins and outs of JL, QF, and CX’s programs so that may be a reason to stay away from crediting there.

I have to admit I’m really not sure about this one. Hopefully, you all have some useful advice for me.

It’s fine that you booked thru aa.com. Generally wont affect how you earn – it’s all based on the fare class purchased.

You can probably credit the KA and domestic AA flight to AA and credit the Cathay flight to Alaska. It’d require you to tell teh gate agent before boarding each flight which program you want to credit to.

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 61983, member: 29″]It’s fine that you booked thru aa.com. Generally wont affect how you earn – it’s all based on the fare class purchased.[/QUOTE]

I understand that, but some mileage programs (like Alaska) will award miles at different rates for different airlines even if the fare code is the same. My flights in I class would earn 225% based on the rate for CX and 150% based on the rate for AA. What I’m confused about is which accrual rate would be used since the flight was booked through AA but on KA metal with a KA flight number.

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 61983, member: 29″]You can probably credit the KA and domestic AA flight to AA and credit the Cathay flight to Alaska. It’d require you to tell teh gate agent before boarding each flight which program you want to credit to.[/QUOTE]

My HKG-DFW flight is also AA, not CX. However, I suppose it is possible I could just not add a FF# to my reservation and request mileage credit for each flight depending on what fits best.

Based on the wording on AA’s page, AA operated flights purchased on AA earns at the miles per dollar spent. partner operated flights purchased on AA with the partner airline flight number (not AA codeshare) earns at the partner rate – based on distance and fare class. If you’re crediting the KA flight to AA, look at the earning rates for Cathay Pacific – [URL]https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/partner-airlines/cathay-pacific.jsp[/URL]

Cathay Dragon is not included in Alaska’s partnership with Cathay Pacific and you would not earn miles with AS if crediting a KA flight to AS.

Sorry, I somehow thought you were flying CX on the international segment. In this case, find the fare class on the ticket from AA, then look on ALASKA’s webpage to find earning rate [URL]https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/how-to-earn-miles/airline-partners/american-airlines?lid=mileageplan:airline-partner-overview:AA[/URL]

If youre crediting the flight to AA instead, you earn based on the price of the ticket.