[marcuslai]

Originally Posted by jaetee

How do you get this type of deal? Is it just on the CX website?

you don't. first off, while CX $4000 fares r/t to LHR exist, they are uncommon and typically only offered in response to BA/VS/SQ promotions. thus they are limited in supply and do not last for long (currently, this fare is valid for departures 03May06-15May06, and available for purchase for the next 18 hrs only -- http://www.cathaypacific.com/hk/offe...73695,00.html).

second, even if u manage to want to fly during this period and book it within the booking window, they are non-mileage accruing and therefore ** non-upgradable ** using miles.

third, even if you got a fare that was upgradable, bear in mind that flight rewards are very limited. 3 out of 5 CX flights to LHR do not have upgrade inventory. and even if u manage to score one for urself, ur spouse will likely have to stay at the back.

fourth and most important of all, CX prioritizes their redemption waitlists by frequent-flyer status, and there are many of elite flyers on flights to LHR. simply put, if you're not a CX frequent-flyer (maybe u racked up ur miles by purchases) you actually have extremely poor chances of redeeming anything even if u have sufficient miles.

i am not trying to discredit what PDLM has said, but if u're signing up for a particular CC becuase you hope to get free flights or upgrades faster with it, u'll very likely be disappointed.

lastly, if u do want to go down this road, Citibank co-branded CX visa cards are in fact very poor value, offering a mile for $8 and requiring a $800-1,600 annual fee. Sign up for a DBS Black Amex or a Standard Chartered Amex instead, which gives a mile for each $3 spent and which has no annual fees.

[andante]

Originally Posted by mattstewart

yeah....i didnt realize that its an ongoing thing as long as you are a cardholder.

i am used to having it as a promotion only for the first 12 months of account opening. But this seems a lot better that at anytime i can buy something and not pay interest.

how do the companies make money then? usually they only make money from interest and late fees...but if 450 merchants have no interest...they dont really make much on you....right?

or is there hidden costs?

Any merchants with a VISA machine has to pay a installation charge and a per usage charge..this might look less profitable coz they have to pay a certain % of their sales but in actual fact, it boost spending. Consumers tend to think of that "extra" credit as a psychological push to purchase more & payback later.

& this works especially well for the more expensive products that can often be seen to be tagged to some credit cards for instalment payments. Dun think anyone can and will wanna carry over 10k to go buy a furniture set or a laptop?

NOt forgetting, credit cards, with their customer base, helps the merchant to advertise. If u have a promo.. extend it to the credit card custoemrs, u get free promotion advertisements to a larger base of (better-off individuals - since there is a minimum spending for the cards) free of charge. It's definitely a mutually beneficial collaboration.

Merchants do not get interest. From wat i understand, VISA pays on behalf of the customer to the merchant pretty timely. If the card holder defaults on payment, they owe VISA.. not the merchant.

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by marcuslai

you don't.{...long rant...}

Yes, HKG-LHR is a hard route to get award redemption on if you have no flexibility on flights, but it's not impossibleand it's just one of many that CX fly. The other European and some other destinations are much easier.

The cheapest regular mileage-accruing (and therefore upgradeable) fare to London is HK$5650+taxes, but there are sometimes mileage-earning deals that are lower than that. Sydney would have been a better example - CX has a published mileage-earning fare of HK$3830+taxes; again, +60000 miles for business.

As we discussed abouve, the Citi CX card has no annual fees provided that you either maintain CX Silver status or spend more than HK$150,000 per year on it.

And the Amex cards have quite low limits (HK$300K per year I think) on those extra-miles offers, and they have a fee every time you actually want to convert your points to AsiaMiles. And it's an Amex not a Visa, so not so widely accepted.

There isn't a clear-cut answer to what is best - it depends how much you spend, how much is overseas, how often and where you fly, and so on.

[freeier]

does the Citibank CX selected preferred card or something that name gives you automatic status into marco polo club ?

i fly often and it would be nice to have access to the lounges when i need to check emails or grab some free coffee...

or do i have to chalk up sufficient asia mileage to get the MP club status.. hmmm....

[PDLM]

It doesn't get access to the CX lounge, but the Platinum Slect Preferred (and perhaps the Platinum Select - not sure) do give you free access to the Plaza Premium lounge. Not sure what the net facilities are there, but I'm sure there's free coffee. It also gets you a free coffee and croissant (or something like that) at the airside branch of Cafe Deco before 11am with no purchase necessary...

But if you fly a lot why don't you have MPC status anyway?

[freeier]

ic. so essentially that's not the full marco polo club priveledges.

i fly for 1. work, 2. personal home visits.

1. for work, usually to japan. not sure how many trips i need to fly before i get my MPC status. even with biz class. the requirement is 70k miles right ? and i am not sure how they compute the biz class mileages.

2. for home visits, back to singapore, generally pick the cheapest ticket that doesn't accrue mileage. or sometimes i sneak into SQ flights if i have the time flexibility (instead of taking the 8pm friday flight).

so i probably need at least another half a year before i get MPC status i'd think. and meanwhile i'm trying to see how to sneak up to use the facilities and the early check ins...

[PDLM]

No - to get to Silver status (which gets you business lounge access when flying CX) you need 30K miles - That's 8 round trips to Tokyo in business. (25% extra for business).

Don't understand the "early check-ins" comment - I'm not aware that check-in rules are different for MPC status except in the counters you can use...

[freeier]

ic. if its just 30k miles then it sounds achievable soon. 8-P
i thought tokyo is 4k miles (actual) per round trip, so i need 6 in total. plus the odd mileage accrue ticket back home.

as in, u can use the biz class check in counter instead of waiting forever for the econs one

[PDLM]

HKG-NRT is 1860 miles or thereabouts.

Remember that you do have to join MPC - you don't get status just through an AsiaMiles account. The Citi CX cards come with free MPC membership, otherwise there's a one-time US$50 joining fee.

If you only have carry-on bags you can also check in online and then just get your boarding card (nd lounge invitation if applicable) via the automatic terminals at the airport express or airport...

[freeier]

hi. now i am confused.
i thought you mentioned that the Citi CX card doesn't come with full MPC priviledges ?
i know my boss was given the mpc membership free becuase he flew so much. was it 70k miles ? even though he was just using asiamiles.