Last June, the Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific launched a 4-weekly service to Dublin.
I haven’t looked at Cathay Pacific redemptions since this service launched, so I thought it was worth another look at how you can make substantial tax savings when flying to Hong Kong on Cathay.
From Dublin, a return Avios ticket in Business Class incurs just £160 of taxes and charges. This makes it the cheapest starting point of any of Cathay’s European destinations.
Remember that you can’t use a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher on Cathay Pacific so this strategy is better for the solo traveller or someone who has already used their annual voucher.
Cathay Pacific is a fellow member of the oneworld alliance, alongside BA, so you can redeem your Avios for their flights. Availablity is generally good outside London but note that only some routes have First Class. Availability seems better 2-3 months before departure than further out. The new Dublin route is a three-class service with Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class.
Let’s look at British Airways redemptions first
When booking redemptions to Hong Kong on BA there is one vital fact to remember. Until recently, by law, there were NO surcharges allowed on flights originating in Hong Kong. This did not apply to return legs of flights starting outside Hong Kong.
My understanding is that this rule has now been dropped, but BA has still to implement the change and you can still benefit for lower surcharges.
What this means is that you MUST book Hong Kong BA redemptions as 2 x one-way flights if you want to save money. If you do this, there will be no surcharge on the inbound flight. If you book it as a return flight you will pay a surcharge on the inbound flight.
The snag, of course, is that by booking 2 x one-ways you cannot use your British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher ….
The impact of booking 2 x one-way redemptions on British Airways:
British Airways business class RETURN flight, London to Hong Kong – 180,000 Avios + £582
Or when booked separately:
BA outbound – 90,000 Avios + £383
BA inbound – 90,000 Avios + £34
Total – 180,000 + £417, saving £165
These numbers are based on peak day redemptions.
Save a little tax when you fly Cathay Pacific from London
If you choose to fly Cathay Pacific instead of British Airways from London, you will make a further saving:
Cathay Pacific business class (London to Hong Kong): 180,000 Avios + £353
This is £64 cheaper than redeeming on British Airways, based on a peak day redemption, and for a superior business class product.
Ex-Europe is even more interesting!
Cathay also flies to Hong Kong from various other European starting points. Dublin is the newest route, but there are plenty of other options.
Cathay Pacific also flies directly from Manchester which, whilst not offering a huge saving on taxes, will be more convenient than Heathrow or Gatwick for many readers.
The tax numbers are very good, as low as £160 return.
Amsterdam to Hong Kong: 180,000 Avios + £171
Brussels to Hong Kong: 180,000 Avios + £177
Dublin to Hong Kong: 180,000 Avios + £160
Frankfurt to Hong Kong: 180,000 Avios + £225
Madrid to Hong Kong: 210,000 Avios + £173
Manchester to Hong Kong: 180,000 Avios + £320
Milan to Hong Kong: 180,000 Avios + £175
Paris to Hong Kong: 180,000 Avios + £233
Rome to Hong Kong: 180,000 Avios + £188
Zurich to Hong Kong: 180,000 Avios + £177
There is no saving if you book Cathay Pacific tickets as 2 x one-ways or as a return. If there is a risk of cancelling, booking a return will save you money on cancellation charges as there will only be one £35 fee to pay.
As you can see, there are some big savings to be made here compared to the British Airways surcharges of £417. You need to factor in the cost of getting to and from your departure airport, of course.
The snag …. off-peak pricing
There is one thing which may make you think twice about Cathay Pacific.
If you book on a peak day there is no difference in the Avios required whether you fly BA or Cathay – it is 180,000 Avios return, apart from Madrid (30,000 additional Avios).
Fly on a British Airways off-peak day and the Avios required falls to 150,000 per person, return, in Business Class. This offsets the saving in taxes and charges.
There are other factors to consider as well. You will obviously need to get to your starting point which will incur additional costs. Depending on the flight times, you may also need an overnight stay. The Dublin flight currently departs at 11am, changing to 11.55am in the Summer, which is pushing it if you want to connect from the UK on the same day whilst building in a big enough buffer in case your first flight is delayed.
Cathay Pacific, of course, has arguably a far superior product as a look at online reviews will show. If you are looking to travel off-peak you need to focus on the better overall experience rather than any cash or Avios saving.
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About Head for Points
Any ideas for a hotel for one night stay in Hong Kong to make the most of our time there. Looking at the Intercontinental but don’t know if it’s worth it for 1 night?
What time are you arriving and leaving?
Arrive 12 noon on Friday leave 12 noon the next day.
Hotel Icon has consistently been good for us. Compare direct rates with booking.com. The latter is sometimes cheaper, at least as a “Genius”. Not cheap, but cheaper than big names for the same or better service
Hotel Jen (part of Shangri-La) brand is okay too in HK if just one night
+1 view from my room was great and drinks in Lounge were excellent
I stayed at the Cordis hotel great club lounge rooftop swimming pool the views were amazing. Right next to the train station and easy to get around.
Also worth mentioning the flight can be booked in business for 42,500 Alaska miles one way. I believe that would even include a free stopover and connection.
I thought the free stopover was only within the same region? Therefore didn’t apply Europe to Asia? I hope I’m wrong!
Alaska changed some of their rules late 2017/early 2018 I believe – the reward chart now specifically says Europe to Hong Kong, so don’t think you can get the free onward flight.
Annoying especially when you look and the US option is ‘to Asia’ so would get the free onward connection.
Oh well. Still much cheaper than Avios.
The chatter about BA adding surcharges on HKG-LHR o/w seems incorrect.
Dummy booking in CW for Nov 75k Avios + £34 which is mainly Taxes
I booked one way HKG-LHR for £35 in taxes a couple of weeks ago.
OT redemption ticket cancellation.
I’m thinking of booking GRU-LHR-GRU for December using points.
Am I right in thinking that, should I wish to cancel:
-I could do so, up to 24 hours before the first flight?
-I would only have to pay 35GBP cancellation fee?
Thanks!
Correct
Cheers!
Why are there so many surcharges on BA? Would Brexit allow this to be reduced or is this just a UK thing? It seems we get the worst deals in the world!
Because people pay them. I refuse to pay those, so I choose to redeem on other carriers, like IB, CX, American from Spain,…
They quote a price; you decide whether to pay it.
Brexit has absolutely nothing to do with it. The bulk of the charges is because BA decides it can still sell tickets with the charges at that level. I.e. they are charging what they believe the market can take.
Your larger point around the UK seeing the worst deals in the world is true in some cases, false in others. Higher prices in one market than another is driven by competition (lack of), willingness to pay, capacity/alternatives, restrictions to market access etc etc.
Also, somehow the 2×1 needs to be subsidised…. you are not getting a 2×1 for nothing.
Agreed, BA long haul redemptions are generally only now worth it if using a 2 4 1.
Or are flying to an expensive destination, or can take advantage of these surcharge laws. Note that onward flights on the same booking generally have their surcharges dropped too – I.e. my last two flights have been HKG-LHR-SCL (with a 2 month stay in London and an EU flight added to drop the APD) and GIG-LHR-SIN (with a 4 month stay in London and an EU flight added to drop the APD) in CW – both cost around £100 in taxes and charges.
So once again us single travellers get st*ffed? It’s bad enough with hotels without airlines optimising for Noah’s ark (2x) only
I’m a single traveller…
It also makes perfect sense for hotels to be optimised for couples given a couple doesn’t take up twice the space/resources as a single person.
Not if I’m paying the same price for 1 Person by as 2 people are together paying for 2, @Callum.
I take up less space in public areas, wear carpets, beds, sheets, towels down less, etc. And yet in most places I travel I pay the same room rate as a couple.
If travelling with OH, family or a friend, fly BA on a 241. If travelling solo, take the opportunity to pay the lower taxes/fees/surcharges and sample the vastly superior product offered by several OW carriers.
Lady London when you stay in a hotel, mostly you’re paying for the hire of your room for the night (rather than wear and tear on carpets). That room takes up the same proportion of the space in the hotel whether you’re travelling with someone else or not. It really sucks when travelling solo, but that’s the way it is. I should add that I sympathise – most of my travels are solo (as my other half has less than half of the annual leave that I get, and he’s less prone to itchy feet). The hotel thing is quite annoying – I often find myself gazing longingly at hotels I could justify staying in if I doubled my budget. WRT flights, vote with your feet and fly with carriers that don’t overcharge in order to subsidise the 241 that you’re not beholden to. Honestly what my OH says that he wants to spend a week camping in the lake district for our summer holiday (rather than flying on our 241 to the US), I find myself getting quite excited about the adventures I can have on Cathay, Qatar or Iberia with the miles I would have used, when he’s back at work!
BA First is nice, but you can do better!
Most people don’t spend much time in the public areas of the hotel. As to your wear and tear on the carpets and sheets, you can’t be serious? That’s one of the most absurd arguments I’ve ever heard!
As said, you’re taking up the exact same space in the room as a couple would, and the rental of the room is the overwhelming majority of what constitutes a stay in a hotel.
More small single rooms would be nice though I agree.
ESP if you can get F…
Lady London, def would do the 2 prong booking LH, as a solo traveller. Better chance of getting your return added, and save on tax that way! If chasing one ticket. But you got to get going on that churning, we discussed a while back on here…
How has Brexit anything to do with it? That would imply these were EU surchargesn when they’re clearly just profit centres for BA.
On our way to HKG now in Concorde lounge atm.. food much improved since last visit, last Year! Champagne flowing….my oh doesn’t drink, wasted on Him! Will be in CX lounge Sunday on way to Bali.. can’t wait… will def look at ex dub at some point in future…cheers.
Put the kettle on
Ah, what’s the harm in being squiffy all the way to HKG?
Have fun Polly!
Tnx, it’s cold here! But warmth awaits us in Bali. The flight was superb, must say. So silent, hardly felt we were in the air at all. Crew v friendly and efficient…seats nice and private, must say, arranged very well.
I redeemed 70,000 AS miles for a one-way first class flight from London to Hong Kong during Christmas. Business one-way should cost 40,000. The tax payable was US$300. I think AS has better value than BA in terms of redeeming with CX.
Hi Rob, how much is a single one way from London to HK with CAthay (miles and charged). Thx
Do a dummy booking on ba.com and it will pop up, you don’t need the miles in your account.
OT:
If you book a cash fare for you and partner on BA & your partner does not have a BAEC account, do all the TP’s for both fares go to you or just one set and your partners fare do not get credited anywhere?
Latter. Only tickets in your name earn TPs for you.
Just yours.
Thanks, looks like I will add the wife’s BAEC account in now. So we would be earning TP’s at the same rate.
Flew this leg just over a month ago for the first time. Was really nice.
Though I used Alaska miles instead of Avios to get a better deal : 42,500 AS miles + $41 in T/Fs