Questions and Answers

Hey guys so I have a question for you guys. Lucky posted today a great Cathay business class deal from Chicago to Mumbai for $2500 r/t about. Well After searching for dates that I liked, I was about to click the book button, but using google flights I also found many star alliance carriers to have roundtrip fares of just $100 more at $2600 r/t that originate in ORD just like the CX fare. That includes flights in UA Polaris business through EWR, flights in LH business through FRA, flights in LX business through ZRH, and flights in AC business through YYZ.

Im conflicted which I should choose. Based on Ben’s reviews, all of the above seem like meh to decent business class products though nothing outstanding. I’ve been on UA Polaris and Swiss business and can agree with Lucky but I can’t speak for CX business and LH business. I should note that I’m loyal to Alaska and United so that makes this choice even tougher given that I would earn hoards of miles through both with this fare.

I’m trying to requalify for star alliance gold again this year, but at the same time, the amount of Alaska miles earned for this relatively low price for a business class ticket with CX is also something that can’t be ignored. What do you guys think? Now being based in LA I’ll generate positioning flights to get to and from ORD, but what do you guys think is the best course of action from ORD?

Thanks and cheers all !

If you really want *A gold and your other planned travel wont get you there, go with the *A option. Otherwise, CX credited to alaska.

If I were you, I would fly Swiss and then credit the flights to MileagePlus. You get 200% of miles flown for PMQs and depending on booking class, 150%-200% for award miles.

I have had consistently great experiences with Swiss and mixed on Cathay, United and Lufthansa.

-Alex

[QUOTE=”Alexander Favero, post: 52670, member: 4167″]If I were you, I would fly Swiss and then credit the flights to MileagePlus. You get 200% of miles flown for PMQs and depending on booking class, 150%-200% for award miles.

I have had consistently great experiences with Swiss and mixed on Cathay, United and Lufthansa.

-Alex[/QUOTE]
Star alliance was the obvious option initially, but after calculating total miles earned, heres where its at:

With the Star carriers, I earn roughly earn 13,000 redeemable miles, and 34,000 PQMs. Whereas with CX for alaska for the same price, I get about 50K redeemable miles and about 27,000 elite qualifying miles. So that definitely makes me think a little more.