The most underrated Oneworld program

Good morning from beautiful Boston!

It’s been a busy few days of new points and miles news, so we have no time to waste before diving in:

• 🌎 The most underrated Oneworld points program

• 💳 20% transfer bonus to British Airways

• 🍪 Tasty Travel Tidbits

🌎 The most underrated Oneworld points program

The world is full of points programs… most of which you’ll never hear about.

We put a lot of emphasis on bigger programs and U.S.-based programs because they are easier to use, easier to earn miles with, and more relevant to us as U.S.-based travelers.

But sometimes, it’s healthy to broaden our horizons - especially with underrated programs that offer more value than you think they do.

So today, I want to tell you more about Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles. And don’t run away - I guarantee this program will apply to ALL of you.

The best way to use AsiaMiles is, of course, on Cathay Pacific itself.

Cathay is a Hong Kong-based airline and one of my personal favorites. It’s one of those airlines where economy class feels close to other airlines’ premium economy class.

They have also been retrofitting many of their planes to include some of the best business-class seats ever seen on planes, including the brand-new Aria Suites. 👇

But here’s why I love AsiaMiles…

They have, by FAR, the best ultra-long haul economy class awards out there.

As you can see below, their award chart tops out at 38,000 miles for economy tickets. That means that no matter how far you fly, your flight will not cost more than 38,000 miles.

If you flew from New York to Hong Kong to Dubai on Cathay (not that you should), you’d fly 12,000 miles for dozens of hours for just 38,000 miles.

If you live on the West Coast, you can also fly from cities like San Francisco or Los Angeles to Asia for just 27,000 Cathay Miles, which is fantastic.

Okay, great. You can fly on Cathay and travel around Asia, blah blah blah.

But what if you don’t want to go to Asia at all?

Well, first of all… you should go to Asia. 😉

Second of all, Cathay miles can come in handy even when booking business class awards from the U.S. to Europe.

For example, you can fly from New York to London on British Airways, in business class, for just 63,000 Cathay miles.

It’s not the lowest business-class award to Europe, but British Airways itself charges 80,000 miles for the same route and over $150 more in taxes, fees, and surcharges than Cathay.

Even if you’re booking domestic flights in the U.S., you can use Cathay miles to fly on American Airlines.

For example, flights from New York to Charlotte can cost as few as 10,000 miles one-way. If AA is charging more than that through its own program, this is a great alternative.

And if you think Cathay is an obscure program, think again…

We can easily transfer points from multiple U.S. bank programs, including ThankYou Points, MR Points, Capital One Miles, and Bilt, all at a 1:1 ratio.

This makes them one of the easier points currencies to accumulate, especially when there’s a transfer bonus.

Oh, by the way, there’s a BRAND NEW transfer bonus to Cathay Pacific that just launched yesterday. 😎

Until the end of November, you’ll get a 15% bonus when transferring MR Points to Cathay.

So, that 63,000-point business-class award from earlier? That’s just 55,000 points.

27,000 points to Hong Kong from the U.S.? That’s just 23,000 MR Points now, which is the cheapest way to fly to Asia by FAR.

So here’s the bottom line:

AsiaMiles is far from some kind of “slam dunk” program… It doesn’t have the best deals in every scenario.

But for the right scenario, it DOES have the best deal and can save you a lot of money AND miles for thinking a little outside the box.

Of course, if there’s a transfer bonus to other Oneworld programs like British Airways, you’ll want to look there first.

Oh… speaking of that… 👇

💳 20% transfer bonus to British Airways

For the third month in a row, a new bank has launched a transfer bonus to British Airways Avios ONE DAY after the previous one ended…

Are these banks talking to each other and planning this stuff?

I don’t care… just keep it up, guys. 👍

This time around, we’ve got a less exciting 20% bonus from Capital One Miles.

The last two months have included two 30% transfer bonuses, so this is obviously a little more “meh.”

Still, if you’ve got a stash of Capital One miles and missed out on those other ones, you could lock in some really good deals.

For example, you could fly from the U.S. to Scotland with a stopover in London for just 25,000 Avios and $100 in fees.

With the 20% transfer bonus, that’s just under 21,000 Capital One miles to hit two cities in the U.K. with minimal cash fees.

That’s pretty darn good.

But don’t forget that you can also freely transfer Avios between programs like BA, Qatar, Iberia, and Finnair.

That means you could transfer 28,000 Capital One miles to BA, transfer those to Iberia, and book a business-class, lie-flat seat to Europe on Iberia, which is one of the best deals in the biz.

So here’s the bottom line:

This bonus isn’t as good as the ones we’ve been spoiled with for the last couple of months, but it still opens up some fantastic deals.

If you recently signed up for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card like I did, this is a great way to put those new miles to use for outsize value.

🍪 Tasty Travel Tidbits

✈️ United just announced some big changes to qualifying for elite status, set to take effect in 2025…. They’re not terrible, considering it’s been five years since their last update. But it’s still kinda sad.

🏨 You can officially book Marriott’s latest brand, Sonder by Marriott, with points! You’ll also earn Marriott elite nights and points on paid stays. The one big catch? No fifth-night free perk… 😡

🗳️ Voting tomorrow? Check out this article to learn how to get discounted or free rides to the polls using apps like Uber and Lyft.

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That’s all for today, folks! I hope you enjoyed today’s tips for leveraging international airline programs, and I look forward to seeing you bright and early tomorrow.

Cheers,

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