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Cathay Pacific launches Dusseldorf to Hong Kong flights – a new Avios option

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Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific has announced a new service from Dusseldorf starting on September 1st.

The service will initially operate four days a week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  The outbound leaves Dusseldorf at 12.35pm which would make it possible to connect the same day if you took a very early British Airways flight.  Coming back, it lands in Germany at 7.15am which is very convenient for a hop back to the UK.

Cathay business class

It will use a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a four class configuration.  First Class contains just six suites.  Business Class contains 53 seats in a herringbone layout.

As a oneworld alliance member, you can redeem your Avios points on Cathay.  Writing a post on them is on my to-do list because they do not add fuel surcharges.

The Dusseldorf flights were not showing on ba.com yesterday.  For comparison, though, Amsterdam to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific costs 120,000 Avios plus just £91 return in Business Class.   Dusseldorf will also be 120,000 Avios return as the distance is almost identical (5730 vs 5773 miles).

You can find more details on the Cathay Pacific website here.

PS.  Remember that Cathay Pacific recently launched a Manchester to Hong Kong service as well.  A full review of all oneworld flights from the UK is coming up soon.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

Cathay Pacific and Asia Miles

Comments (20)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • CV3V says:
    4 Feb4 February 10:25

    I travelled in CX business last year. This year I had the option of travelling in first class but wasn’t convinced given how much I enjoyed Business class, which is so well thought out. In the end I booked (redeemed!) in first class and it was 13 hours of perfection – excellent seat/bed, food, service. This included serving Amour de Deutz 2005 vintage champagne for pre flight drinks, followed by Krug during the flight!

    Rob – i have plenty of pics of the neverending food service if needed for any future CX article!

    Once the avios changes come into force it will make it much harder to redeem in any class but if you still have a chance I do recommend trying their first class service just the once! Once the avios changes kick in then it looks like I will be forced to use BA (less points for redemptions and improved BA availability), which is likely to lead to disappointment when compared to CX.

  • Points Hunter says:
    4 Feb4 February 14:39

    I assume that the 30k Club Miles accrual required to keep Marco Polo Gold after 31st August cannot be attained via transfer from Membership Rewards? That would too simple!

    Does anyone know if all has to come from flights (any airline?) or can it come from other partners (e.g. Economist subscriptions).

    • Dgittings says:
      4 Feb4 February 15:25

      Membership Rewards and other credit card transfers will only get you Asiamiles (Cathay’s equivalent of Avios) not Club Miles (Cathay’s equivalent of tier points). The only way to get 30K Club Miles is through flights with Cathay or other Oneworld airlines (or, I think, Air New Zealand on one route).

  • needroos says:
    4 Feb4 February 16:02

    Great timing! I booked MAN-HKG last night, though I was previously booked on BA First LHR-HKG. Saved £582 cancelling BA First for CX after reading the reviews that BA First was not worth it.

  • YL says:
    5 Feb5 February 01:48

    Unless I am using the 2-4-1, for the Avios that is required, I will take CX Business Class over BA First any day.

    The reverse herringbone seat on CX business class is really comfortable, the service is solid. Even if your destination is not HK, connecting through HKG is also really convenient and the CX lounges in HKG are all super in different ways!

    I personally just don’ t feel that BA’s F is worth that extra Avios, unless you can use the 2-4-1. Not even mention the surcharges on BA.
    I am really annoyed that after 28th April BA will charge peak time for redeem on partner’s flight…

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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