Buying Airline Miles

All-Asia Pass: Good Deal or Not?

Cathay Pacific announced this year's version of All-Asia Pass: Buy one ticket, fly to Hong Kong and visit up to four other regional Asian destinations for a fixed price. The travel press usually picks this up and features it as a good deal, but is it really? The answer is, "sometimes yes, sometimes no."

Here's the base deal: Fly to Hong from any of Cathay Pacific's four U.S. gateways, then fly out and back to up to four cities in eastern and southeastern Asia. The Pass price to visit Hong Kong plus two other cities from Los Angeles, New York, or San Francisco is the same—at $1,880—and, on a limited basis, $1,329 from Cathay's newest Gateway at Chicago. Add a third city and a fourth for an extra $351 each and complete travel within 21 days. The pass includes 40 "basic" cities from Sapporo in northern Japan to Beijing and Chengdu in China to Bangkok, Singapore, and Bali to the south.

Flights are on Cathay or its affiliate, Dragonair. Base pass prices apply to midweek trans-pacific flights; add-ons are available from other U.S. cities and for weekend travel, extended stays, and flights to additional Asian destinations as far away as Dubai. Depart the U.S. between August 16 and November 29. Buy flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco, or New York until seat allocations are filled (no specific date); flights earn some frequent flyer mileage. The $1,329 Chicago price, however, is available for purchase only through July 31; it applies to just two additional cities, and does not earn frequent flyer miles.

The basic idea is attractive: As long as you're flying as far as Hong Kong, you'd hate to miss out on such exotic destinations as Bali, Bangkok, Beijing, Osaka, Penang, and Seoul. The downside is that you'd spend a lot of time on planes, flying from Hong Kong to each additional city and back, then out again to the next one.

But the real question is whether the All-Asia Pass is the best way to ticket a multi-city Asian trip. To check, I compared two possible pass itineraries with buying a base ticket to Hong Kong, then direct flights to the outlying cities. I based my test trips from Los Angeles; Cathay's fares to Hong Kong from the other gateways are a bit lower:

Los Angeles/Hong Kong plus a side trip to Bangkok and Bali. The pass would cost $1,880, including the two extra cities.

Travel Hacks to Earn More Airline Miles | Nick's Travel Blog

Here is what we came up with to maximize the credit card points you can earn through a variety of hacks & every day tips:

Buy Coins from the Government – you can order $1,000 worth of coins every 10 days, so that’s (on average), $3,000 worth of free airline miles or credit card rewards each month Monthly Bills – obviously, any monthly bills you can pay by credit card (rent, cable, electricity, water), you should just to earn the points Discover Cash Over – with Discover’s Cash Over program , you can basically use your credit card like an ATM machine, getting cash back with your purchases. It all shows as one purchase, so if you bought $40 with of groceries and got $40 cash back, it will show as one $80 charge. You can then deposit the $40 back in your account to pay off the bill, racking up Discover points pretty quickly. Offer to Pay the Bill for the Group – if on business travel, offer to pick up the bill for the entire group if it is reimbursable – you then get reimbursed by your company for the group and get much more miles/reward points for it. This also works in casual/social gatherings, where your friends would pay normally pay cash – take the cash and then charge the entire thing on your card for the points. Buy EVERYTHING on your Credit Card – charge everything you can, the dollars all add up! Pay via Credit Card on PayPal – another easy one, but when buying something through PayPal, change the funding source to your credit card so you earn the points. Never use your PayPal balance, instead withdraw any balance to your bank account to use to pay off credit cards. Take Advantage of Mail In Rebates: anything with a mail in rebate is a great way to earn extra points – you pay the money up front, then the manufacturer sends you a check for the rebate. Often times you can find things for free or close to it with a mail in rebate, allowing you to rack up points while getting reimbursed. Mail In Rebates are great for earning credit card points. Gift Cards or Membership Cards: if a place offers a promotion for gift cards (e.g. buy a $40 gift card, get an extra $10), go for it! Buy the gift card on your credit card, and you’re essentially getting free money.

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