[stevescoots]

I am BA Gold but maybe only fly them once a year. I use Avios as my OneWorld points bank. I use my Points in Asia almost exclusively on CX metal however I cannot remember last time I flew CX that was not on Avios.

So, my question is, has anyone looked at what’s the best value for the type of travel I do. Stick with Avios and burn them on CX, or join CX and load my OW points onto CX?

Is there an easy reference app or site?

[CathayLoyalist2]

stevescoots, I guess the question is are you looking for the best deal or the best experience? If it is the latter then CX wins hands down i.e. product, service etc plus other reasons articulated in many posts over the years. Being a CX ‘lifer’ I’ve found it difficult to get redemption tickets on BA or any other OW airline yet I believe CX is the most generous of the OW airlines in accommodating other OW frequent fliers. CX’s app has come in for a lot of stick albeit I do not use it so can’t help you there

[Tom Otley]

I think one of our advertisers offers something like this (30K)

[peter19]

Conveniently the advert is just to my right as i type!

If you live in the UK then the ‘home’ airline loyalty can often be more beneficial based on credit cards, Day to day collecting of avios etc and also domestic connecting flights.

I would say the same as CL2 – the question is does product rate higher than overall gains of sticking to a home loyalty scheme. Maybe since you still fly CX metal and have gold its working well or you.

[MartynSinclair]

I use both BA and CX but as I’m UK based and take frequent advantage of frequent avios European flights I would stick with BA.

For you though, if CX inter Asian avios flights are as easy to obtain as I obtain European avios flights… I would switch to CX.

[IanFromHKG]

As many on here know I am also (or at least I have been) a “CX lifer”, albeit one who has become increasingly disenchanted with Cathay (although I was quite excited to work out, yesterday, that during my current membership year and based on my current bookings I will not only requalify as Diamond (= BA Gold) but also qualify for both sets of “mid-tier benefits”, i.e. two First Class Lounge passes and four single-sector bookable upgrades.

Bearing in mind that everyone’s priorities and travel patterns are different, here are my thoughts (in no particular order – and apologies if some of this is what you already know):

Given that each airline has a “tiered” approach to miles-earning based on class of ticket and on which partner, you need to work out whether your planned “paid” trips will allow you to obtain equivalent status. My own research based on my own travel patterns (which I suspect are different to yours!) suggest it is harder to earn CX Diamond than its equivalent (BA Gold) even when flying their own metal. YMMV!!

In addition to working out status-earning value, you also need to work out earning-and-burning value. That is to say, how much each mile costs you to “earn” (through miles-earning flights, credit cards and so forth, bearing in mind the different cost of flights, different credit card earning rates and so forth) and how much value you get when you “burn” that mile. The baseline I use is that with my credit card I can buy 1,000 Asia Miles for HK$180. I use that to attribute a rough value what I earn, and what I burn. When you figure out what it costs you to earn-and-burn on Avios and Asia Miles, and what you spend those on, you should get an idea of how much value to attribute to the potential Avios and/or Asia Miles you earn.

Consider also what the fringe benefits are. As I said above, I have become somewhat disenchanted with the Marco Polo Club. This is partly because the undisclosed significant benefits (e.g. on-the-spot upgrades, which I used to get quite frequently) have disappeared (I have had one long-haul upgrade in about ten years, I used to get them more than half the time) and partly for other reasons. I was particularly annoyed after the latest restructuring to the Club when it became apparent that someone earning 1,000 points would get four bookable medium-haul upgrades which as a Diamond member earning 1,200+ points I wouldn’t receive.

I have genuinely been considering a switch to Malaysian Airlines’ programme. My achievement of mid-tier benefits on Marco Polo in the next membership year is questionable, so the “fringe” benefits over and above basic oneworld emerald benefits would be minimal. I understand on-the-spot upgrades with MH are very rare, but IME (recently) the same is true for CX – so no change there. However, it is easier to qualify for top-tier status in MH, which would give me most of the same benefits that I now enjoy, AND the Memsahib would be given emerald status as well. Given that we nearly always travel separately on long-haul (she isn’t working, I have to worry about using up my leave!) this would be a huge benefit for her.

One last point – as a CX Diamond one of the biggest perks is that it is very easy (although not a slam-dunk) to get redemption flights on CX metal using Asia Miles. We get the flights we want probably 9 times out of 10. That may also be important to you.

Apologies if I have told you nothing that you don’t already know, but despite that I do hope this post helps!

[ASEANTraveller]

Steve. Just to add a couple more points to what Ian has just said (all of which I agree with by the way). Please bear in mind though that it is difficult to give more detailed advice without knowing what your priorities are (status vs earning / burning), what class you typically fly (paid and miles) and on what metal you do most of your paid trips to qualify for BA Gold, amongst other things. So these are some general observations only.

– Qualifying for CX Diamond is significantly more difficult than BA Gold, almost under any scenario of SH/LH flying and class of travel. In particular since MP Club changed the rules last April.
– More often than not, you will earn the same amount of Avios / AsiaMiles in the premium classes irrespective of OW carrier, but the rates vary quite significantly for Y and PE. So this is something for you to look into and work out based on your travel patterns. BA does give Gold Avios bonuses when flying BA metal, but this does not seem to apply to you here given your lack of BA flying.
– In terms of spending miles, in general I find that Avios are better for short haul (J and Y) and AsiaMiles better for long haul in J or F. For example, KUL to LHR return is 180K Avios (Peak) vs 120K AM in J on BA metal. Conversely, KUL to HKG return is 20K Avios vs 30K AM in Y on CX or MH metal. Also, one-way flights are priced at 50% of the return miles with Avios but more like 60-70% with AM. So again it all depends how you are looking to spend your miles. Plus as others have said, European SH Avios redemptions are typically a bargain and widely available.
– Cancelling a miles booking is cheaper with Avios (GBP 35, or less if your taxes are lower) whilst it is US$120 (or a stupid amount of miles) for AM bookings.
– Finally MP Club does not have a household earnings account (at least it did not until last April, things may have changed now), so BA makes it easier to pool and spend Avios.

On balance I would recommend you stick with BA / Avios, with the added benefit of earning extra miles with the BA Amex cards etc (I am assuming you are UK based).

Hope the above is helpful and apologies if I have made any incorrect assumptions.

[stevescoots]

Thanks for all the details everyone. just to add some more details I almost never use Avios outside Asia. My home base is UK, I dont have a BA Amex. judging from above re availability of reward flights and status building on CX then it looks like staying as is with BA as my OW bank is the better option

[midorosan2]

Agree with other posts, BA first HKG to LHR is so much cheaper than CX therefore ease of reaching Gold/Emerald is much greater. CX staff always recognise Gold especially in China when it comes to snagging seats on earlier departing flights.
I use Avios for regional travel but pay for long haul, recently flew Qatar to London 560 tier points plus excellent service.

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