Linda marshall
Level 2 Member
I’m hoping for some advice regarding my choice of award options for an upcoming trip to Thailand my husband and I plan to take early next year. We are hoping to fly Cathay Pacific Business class. I understand that typically Alaska miles are the best option (50K) for this flight, however, in order to access 50K Alaska miles, I would first need to transfer Amex points to SPG points before transferring those to Alaska. Given that I lose 2/3 of the miles in the amex to SPG transfer, I’m not sure going this route is the best choice.
Other options include transferring points directly from Amex to Cathay (isn’t there an option here to make additional stops along the way?) I also have Citi Thank You points available to do this, or, I could use AA miles. I will list my current points balance below (as well as my husbands) if anyone wants to make any suggestions about the best options I would be grateful!
Also, I know how booking awards works for AA and have booked tickets to Europe a few times using my miles. That said, how do I add segments using Cathay Pacific? For example, I have found available award space when looking at AwardNexus for SFO-BKK, but I would need to add segments from PDX to SFO and from BKK to HKT or CNX? Do these require additional award miles or like AA are they added to the ticket for the same amount of miles?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!!
Linda
My Current Point Balances
trans amex to spg spg to Alaska Total
Amex MR points: 189141 63000 63000 + 15K bonus 78000
SPG Points 55166 55166 +10K bonus 65166
Marriott Points 20388 20388 + 5K bonus 25388
Alaska Points 8313 8313
Total Alaska Miles 176701 miles available
My Husbands Points
Amex MR points 62151 20717 20717 + 5K bonus 25717
SPG points 40150 40150 + 10K bonus 50150
Alaska Miles 44916 44916
Total Alaska Miles 120783 miles available
My Citi Thank You 129288
My AA Miles 182830
Husband's AA Miles: 268446
Other options include transferring points directly from Amex to Cathay (isn’t there an option here to make additional stops along the way?) I also have Citi Thank You points available to do this, or, I could use AA miles. I will list my current points balance below (as well as my husbands) if anyone wants to make any suggestions about the best options I would be grateful!
Also, I know how booking awards works for AA and have booked tickets to Europe a few times using my miles. That said, how do I add segments using Cathay Pacific? For example, I have found available award space when looking at AwardNexus for SFO-BKK, but I would need to add segments from PDX to SFO and from BKK to HKT or CNX? Do these require additional award miles or like AA are they added to the ticket for the same amount of miles?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!!
Linda
My Current Point Balances
trans amex to spg spg to Alaska Total
Amex MR points: 189141 63000 63000 + 15K bonus 78000
SPG Points 55166 55166 +10K bonus 65166
Marriott Points 20388 20388 + 5K bonus 25388
Alaska Points 8313 8313
Total Alaska Miles 176701 miles available
My Husbands Points
Amex MR points 62151 20717 20717 + 5K bonus 25717
SPG points 40150 40150 + 10K bonus 50150
Alaska Miles 44916 44916
Total Alaska Miles 120783 miles available
My Citi Thank You 129288
My AA Miles 182830
Husband's AA Miles: 268446