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Hi all,
I’m looking for advice on alternative frequent flyer programs to Avios, specifically for using miles to book business class flights to Asia.
I’m a reasonably big miles earner, accumulating around 1 million miles per year, primarily through business expenses as well as a bit of personal credit card spend. Historically, about 80% of my miles have come from my Capital On Tap card, with the remaining 20% split evenly between my BA Amex and HSBC World Elite card.
Up until now, Avios has been my main loyalty program. However, recently some of my business suppliers have started accepting Amex, which means I can now start earning a few hundred thousand Amex Membership Rewards points each year.
My question to the forum is: if I want to make the most of my HSBC WE and Amex MR points, which alternative frequent flyer programs or loyalty clubs should I consider joining for better business class redemption options, particularly to Asia?
Looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions!
Thanks in advance,
Stick to HSBC and use Singapore Airlines assuming you’re going to the far east. For rest of Asia may depend on where you want to go
You can look at Asia Miles too for Cathay Pacific, they often have good availability (and market leading lounges). I’d split between SQ and Cathay.
You can look at Asia Miles too for Cathay Pacific, they often have good availability (and market leading lounges). I’d split between SQ and Cathay.
Thanks for that, i used to book CX quite a bit via BA, but dont see much availibility on the BA site these days, is it better/ different when using Cathay miles directly?
QR redemptions in Business or 1st are good value so Qatar Priv Club would be my first port or call and link to your BA account for flexibility – and you can use AVIOS collected with your branded cards or just transfer from your AMEX MRs instantly – as you can do to Emirates or Etihad but the cost of their redemptions is now sky high so I would stick with the AVIOS and the AMEX MRs personally so you have choices.
I like the BA AMEX card for 1.5 AVIOS per £ but I would never EVER fly with BA and I just use on Qatar. If I want another carrier I stick it on AMEX Gold.
You can look at Asia Miles too for Cathay Pacific, they often have good availability (and market leading lounges). I’d split between SQ and Cathay.
Thanks for that, i used to book CX quite a bit via BA, but dont see much availibility on the BA site these days, is it better/ different when using Cathay miles directly?
Yes, the redemptions via Asia Miles are usually quite a bit better in my experience. Depends on the routes you’re looking for, so do some dummy searching to see if it would be useful
I know this thread is a bit old but I have found it far easier to book Business class reward flights UK->Singapore on Swiss and Lufthansa than on Oneworld.
I know this thread is a bit old but I have found it far easier to book Business class reward flights UK->Singapore on Swiss and Lufthansa than on Oneworld.
Only for 2 more months when the dynamic pricing goes live.
If you are earning 1 million a year you can diversify. I’d be looking at Singapore as a new primary instead of Avios; use Avios on Qatar (or maybe Finnair/Maylasia) if you need to and Singapore where possible. Singapore has excellent availability, and the redemption process is slick. They also do waitlisting which is handy. The supporting customer service is spot on. The downsides are a poor transfer rate from Amex (HSBC is the better earning route) and the miles expire after three years. Assuming you can clock up one chunky redemption every 24 months or so, I’d go with them, as you can avoid the expiry issue.
There is also the British Airways business card. If you are eligible then spend on this has an excellent return for the first £60,000 of 120,000 Avios. That’s an unbeatable return on a UK card, excluding sign up bonuses.
Cathay is charging a lot more for redemptions than they used to, and the taxes/fees/charges are high. There is better availability on their own flights than is offered to Avios partners, however. If you really want to fly with Cathay then their miles are better than Avios.
One leftfield suggestion: don’t focus on collecting MRs (maybe dip into Platinum when there is a huge sign up bonus). Put lots of spend through HSBC, and the Marriott Amex card. Marriott can be transferred to pretty much any airline. Although there is a substantial ‘loss’ in the transfer versus a hotel stay, you can be selective about to which airline, and when, you transfer. This makes schemes like Alaksa and AA available, which have low redemption rates and interesting partners. The saving on points for a given route between different airlines in the same alliance can be considerable, making up a lot of the apparent loss when you are sending over you Marriott points. And if you need a hotel, you have the points for that ready too.
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