an airplane seat with a seat belt
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On a 9+ hour flight, it’s tough to beat a glass of champagne and a bed…

There’s no doubt Cathay Pacific business class is a wonderful way to travel. With fully flat beds, new planes and great lounges, the entire journey is a breeze. Like most of the greatest travel experiences, Cathay Pacific business class is unfortunately quite expensive, putting it out of reach for most travelers. Enter: frequent flyer miles, and a limited time sale to buy them. Anyone, even if they’ve never flown before, can score up to 10 hours of business class for just $660 between Australia and Asia in either direction. People have paid far more to fly economy..

a large white airplane flying in the skyWhat

Alaska Airlines offers amazing rates for travel using their points on partner airlines like Cathay Pacific. Using Alaska Airlines MileagePlan Miles, you’ll only need 30,000 points for any flight between Asia and Australia. You could instantly buy the points needed for just $660. If you don’t have Alaska miles or want to buy them, but do have Citi, Amex Or AsiaMiles points you could alternatively book these flights for 45,000 points and virtually no cash using any of those points currencies.

Where

This is an awesome opportunity to use a relatively small amount of points or cash to score major comfort on a long flight. You can use these points for any flight Cathay Pacific flies between Asia and Australia in either direction, provided there are seats using points available. Many flights can last up to 10 hours, with even the shortest flights well over 7! That’s longer than many US to Europe flights! For just 30,000-45,000 points! Cathay Pacific flies their state of the art Airbus A350 between Hong Kong and Melbourne or Perth.

a room with chairs and tablesHow

The most important step is finding availability in business class using points. The easiest way to accomplish that is by using British Airways search tool for finding availability. Once on the page, click “book a reward flight”. Simply enter your desired route, such as HKG-SYD, dates, cabin and search. You’ll see Cathay Pacific seat availability listed below any British Airways availability, so be sure to scroll down a bit. Once you find availability on the British Airways site (and ignore their rates) – you can call Alaska Airlines to try and book for 30,000 points. If you’d prefer to use Amex, Citi or AsiaMiles points, you can use the AsiaMiles site to confirm the seats are available, then transfer points from Amex, Citi or SPG into AsiaMiles to book online.

No Points?

Even if you don’t have any points, you can accomplish this magic for about $660. Alaska Airlines is offering a 40% off sale on their points, making the cost to buy all the points you need just $660 for 30,000 points one way. Round trip, is even cheaper. Round trip using points would cost $1182 for 60,000. You can buy points here. These flights retail for over $2500 round trip, or $1800 one way making this a great way to save. Of course, if you can use points you’ve already earned to take these flights for free, even better. There are virtually no surcharges added to these tickets and either 30,000 via Alaska or 45,000 points via Amex, Citi or AsiaMiles for this much time in business class is a total steal. Enjoy!

HT: MonkeyMiles

Gilbert Ott

Gilbert Ott is an ever curious traveler and one of the world's leading travel experts. His adventures take him all over the globe, often spanning over 200,000 miles a year and his travel exploits are regularly...

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5 Comments

  1. I struggle to keep Alaska’s rules straight. So intra Asia Cathay Pacific, there is no need to touch the US?

  2. Yaay, BA do have one useful service that works… access to OneWorld partners services… Says it all really 🙂
    Fab deal, thanks

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