Asia on a Business or First Class Award – Best Options!

Asia is far, far away. Spending 12+ hours in an upright position is hard. Literally hard! Fortunately, being able to exchange our hard-earned miles for a lie-flat seat is one of the most fascinating features of our beloved hobby as of today. Tomorrow is another day – so who knows?

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By Andy Shuman

Asia on the U.S. airlines: American, United, Delta

American Airlines AAdvantage

1. FFP Type: Region-Based (for now)
2. One-way redemption at 50%: Yes
3. Miles for Business and First Class Redemption:

• Business
  • 60,000 Asia 1
  • 70,000 Asia 2
• First
  • 80,000 Asia 1
  • 110,000 Asia 2

4. Stopover(s) allowed: No
5. Credit Cards:

• Amex Marriott Bonvoy – Transfer
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy – Transfer
• Citi AAdvantage Cards: Personal, Business, Executive
• Barclays Aviator Cards: Personal, Business

Overview

Here are American airline partners you can redeem for a flight to Asia.

• British Airways (huge fuel surcharges, don’t use)
• Cathay Pacific
• Japan Airlines
• China Southern (moderate fuel surcharge)

In addition to the above airlines, you can use Malaysia Airlines and SriLankan Airlines for connecting flights in Asia, and there are also a few 5^th freedom routes in Asia on Qatar. American itself flies to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The Verdict

Between American and the other two major U.S. players, American miles are the best for Business Class travel to Asia and First Class to Asia 1. But AA availability on its own metal sucks when it comes to premium class awards (sorry, I wish I could tell you something you don’t already know). In addition, the stingy routing rules don’t allow you to cross via a third region on your way to Asia (the only exception is Asia 2 via Asia 1).

United Airlines Mileage Plus

1. FFP Type: Region-Based
2. One-way redemptions at 50%: Yes
3. Miles for Business Class Redemption (for flying before Nov 15, 2019)

• North Asia and Japan
  • Own metal: 70,000
  • Partners: 80,000
• Central Asia
  • Own metal: 75,000
  • Partners: 85,000
• South Asia
  • Own metal: 75,000
  • Partners: 90,000

4. Stopover(s) allowed: Yes, within the same MileagePlus defined region (Excursionist Perk)
5. Credit Cards:

• Amex Marriott Bonvoy – Transfer
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy – Transfer
• Chase Ultimate Rewards Premium Cards – Transfer
• Chase United MileagePlus Cards: Personal, Business, Club

Region definitions

• North Asia: China (Mainland), South Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan
• Central Asia: Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
• South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam

Overview: 4 saving graces of United Airlines

• No fuel surcharges on any carrier
• Huge number of partners
• Extremely flexible routing rules
• Excursionist perk

Not only can you fly to Asia via Europe, but also the Middle East and Africa, over the Atlantic or the Pacific – your choice. And a free stopover is a nice perk too – never mind the stupid name. Let’s hope United won’t bonvoy it in its passionate race to the bottom.

The Verdict

The costs are higher than American’s, but United has excellent Business Class availability to Asia paired with no scamcharges, and that’s worth something.

Yes, I’m purposefully avoiding digging into the possible Nov. 15 calamity. In the end, even Delta offers decent Business-Class redemptions every now and again, so we just need to wait and see. However, if you are contemplating transferring your Chase points to United for post-November 15 premium-class travel – well, don’t, just yet.

Delta Air Lines SkyMiles

1. FFP Type: Region/Revenue/Voodoo-Based
2. One-way redemptions at 50%: Inconsistent
3. Miles for Business Class Redemption one way:

• Own metal: 90,000 miles (including suites)
• Partners: 85,000 miles

4. Stopover(s) allowed: No
5. Credit Cards:

• Amex Marriott Bonvoy – Transfer
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy – Transfer
• Amex Membership Rewards cards Personal and Business: Transfer
• Amex Delta SkyMiles cards: Gold, Platinum, Reserve

Overview

Delta became the first airline that removed its award chart a couple years ago, even though there are still informal “saver” levels it sticks to when it suits its needs. In addition you often have to book a round-trip flight in order to get the best redemption rate, but again, it’s inconsistent. For destinations check the Wiki page for Delta destinations worldwide. Delta’s partners that can take you from the U.S. to Asia are as follows:

• Korean
• China Eastern (moderate surcharges)
• China Airlines (moderate surcharges)
• Xiamen Airlines (moderate surcharges)

You can also use Garuda Indonesia and Vietnam Airlines for connecting flights.

If you’re interested in Delta One suites to Asia, here are the routes:

• Atlanta – Seoul
• Detroit – Tokyo
• Detroit – Seoul
• Detroit – Shanghai
• Detroit – Beijing
• Los Angeles – Tokyo
• Los Angeles – Shanghai
• Seattle – Tokyo
• Seattle – Shanghai
• Seattle – Seoul

The Verdict

As I mentioned last time around, Seattle seems to be the best gateway city for booking Delta One Suites for both Europe and Asia. If you are flexible, you might get lucky, and for 90,000 SkyPesos, Delta One Suite is a decent redemption (never mind how much it hurts to say that).

Alaska Air Mileage Plan

• FFP Type: Region-based, partner-dependent
• One way redemptions at 50%: Yes
• Miles for Business Class Redemption (best options)
  • Cathay Pacific: 50,000 in Business, 70,000 in First
  • Japan Airlines: 60,000-65,000 in Business, 70,000-75,000 in First
• Stopover(s) allowed: Yes in hubs, up to 1 in each direction

Credit Cards:

• Amex Marriott Bonvoy cards Personal and Business – Transfer
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy cards Personal and Business – Transfer
• Bank of America Alaska Mileage Plan card Personal and Business

Overview

Beyond fantastic, especially for the First Class options on either airline with 2 free stopovers.

The Verdict

This is why you can never have too many Alaska miles.

Asia on Foreign Airlines: Avianca, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay Pacific, ANA

Avianca LifeMiles

1. FFP Type: Region-Based
2. One-way redemptions at 50%: Yes
3. Miles for Business Class Redemption to Asia

• Own metal: N/A
• Partners: 75,000-78,000

4. Stopover(s) allowed: No
5. Credit Cards:

• Amex Membership Rewards cards: Personal and Business – Transfer
• Citi ThankYou: Prestige and Premier – Transfer
• Capital One: Venture and Spark Miles – Transfer
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy: Personal and Business – Transfer
• AAmex Marriott Bonvoy: Personal and Business – Transfer
• Banco Popular Avianca Vuelo

Overview

Some diseases are highly contagious, like hiding award charts from a curious flying public. Avianca removed its award chart back in February after converting their plain-looking messy website into an artsy messy website. At first, there were rumors that Avianca was planning on doing something malicious (and who knows, maybe it still is), but its recent mild changes to the domestic U.S. pricing have alleviated this fear – somewhat.

The Verdict

Avianca doesn’t add fuel surcharges to any partners, so if you’re a Chase exile like so many of us are, it’s a decent United alternative.

And keep in mind that Avianca often offers redemption discounts for flying on its Asian partner airlines. During the Citi 25% bonus offering, you could fly to Asia for 48,000 Citi points in Business or 58,0000 miles in First. Something like that is bound to happen again, sometime … hopefully.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

1. FFP Type: Mixed
2. One-way redemptions at 50%: Yes
3. Miles for Business Class Redemption to Europe

• Own metal: Huge fuel surcharges – not recommended
• Delta: 60,000 miles
• ANA (to Japan): 110,000/120,000 (West Coast/East Coast)

4. Stopover(s) allowed: No
5. Credit Cards:

• Amex Membership Rewards cards: Personal and Business – Transfer
• Citi ThankYou: Prestige and Premier – Transfer
• Chase Ultimate Rewards Premium cards – Transfer
• Amex Marriott Bonvoy: Personal and Business – Transfer
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy: Personal and Business – Transfer
• Bank of America Virgin Atlantic

Overview

In my previous installment, I listed the reasons why using Virgin miles on Delta flights to Europe is a no-brainer. Same logic applies to Asia.

• Transfers from 3 major credit card programs
• Virgin often has availability even when Delta doesn’t
• 60,000 miles for a Business Class award seat to/from Asia including Delta One Suites
• No fuel surcharges
• Frequent transfer bonuses from Amex

The negative is that every segment costs extra, so the best way is to fly nonstop. And the Virgin Atlantic website doesn’t list all airports on its website, so when your airport doesn’t show you have to call.

Note: if you fly to Japan, you can get a First Class seat on ANA for only 110,000 per round trip from the West Coast and 120,000 from the East Coast. However, there are 2 downsides to using Virgin Atlantic miles on ANA metal.

• Only round-trip travel is allowed
• Fuel surcharges and taxes currently amount to ~$350

The Verdict

As you can see, Virgin Atlantic miles can work better for Delta than Delta and for ANA than ANA. ’Nuff said.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

1. FFP Type: Distance-based
2. One-way redemptions at 50%: Yes
3. Miles for Business Class Redemptions to Asia

• Own metal: 70,000 miles for 5,001-7,500 miles (GCMAP)
• Oneworld: Varies, from 155,000 per round trip

4. Stopover(s) allowed: Oh yes!

• One partner award – up to 3 stopovers (including the destination) per round trip
• Oneworld award – up to 5 stopovers (including the destination) per round trip

5. Credit Cards:

• Amex Membership Rewards cards: Personal and Business – Transfer
• Citi ThankYou: Prestige and Premier – Transfer
• Capital One: Venture and Spark Miles – Transfer
• Amex Marriott Bonvoy: Personal and Business – Transfer
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy: Personal and Business – Transfer
• Synchrony Cathay Pacific

Overview

After the 2018 devaluation, Asia Miles is not really a bargain anymore. The cheapest Business Class seat costs 70,000 miles one way, and that’s from the West Coast. Add 15,000 miles each way for Chicago, Boston, New York or Washington, DC. Plus there are fuel surcharges on most redemptions.

The Verdict

The only saving grace left about Cathay Pacific miles is its extreme stopover allowance when you use the oneworld Multi-Carrier Award Chart (at least 2 carriers). There is so much you can do with 5 stopovers, 2 layovers (“transits” in CX lingo), 2 open jaws, and very relaxed routing rules that it’s simply mind-blowing. Check this Flyertalk thread if you are creative, don’t mind some fuel surcharges,  and can plan your travel well in advance.

ANA Mileage Club

1. FFP Type: Region-Based
2. One-way redemptions: No
3. Miles for Business Class Redemption round trip:

• Own metal: 75,000-115,000 miles
• Partners: up to 136,000

4. Stopover(s) allowed: Yes
5. Credit Cards:

• Amex Marriott Bonvoy – Transfer
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy – Transfer
• Amex Membership Rewards cards Personal and Business – Transfer

Overview

ANA has 2 serious shortcomings: lack of one-way awards and fuel surcharges on most partners and ANA’s own metal (although in the case of ANA, these surcharges are mostly moderate since they are directly linked to the price of fuel). Other than that, ANA can offer an incredible value. Seriously, 75,000 miles for a Business Class round-trip flight to Japan? Other carriers charge as much (and more!) for one-way travel.

The Verdict

While most of us prefer to deal with one-way redemptions, ANA more than compensates for this inconvenience with redemption values that honestly sound like a blast from the past. Just think how much, or rather how little, it costs to fly in ANA’s Business Class:

• 75,000 to Japan
• 80,000 to Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, or Manila
• 100,000 to Bangkok, Delhi, or Singapore

Honorary mention: Etihad Guest

The only good value on Etihad for flights to Asia is American Airlines. Etihad still uses the old, pre-devaluation American award chart, which is why you can find these incredible redemption values (as long as you manage to find award space).

• Asia 1: 50,000 in Business and 62,500 in First
• Asia 2: 55,000 in Business and 67,500 in First

Etihad is a transfer partner of the Citi ThankYou program.

To Recap

• ANA offers the best value for Business Class awards to Asia, although it does add fuel surcharges to its own flights and most partners except United and Air China.
• Virgin Atlantic is the next best with no fuel surcharges and excellent redemption levels on Delta (especially for Delta One Suites) and ANA (especially in First Class) if you can find a nonstop flight from your city.
• American is not terrible for Business Class redemptions to Asia and First Class to Asia 1.
• United levels are very high, but the sheer number of partners and zero fuel surcharges make MileagePlus a viable option.
• Delta is the most expensive, but if you’re flush with SkyPesos, then 90,000 miles for a Delta One Suite is not an unthinkable redemption.
• Avianca is a viable alternative to United if Chase hates your guts.
• Cathay Pacific is still great for die-hard hobbyists who aren’t shy about booking crazy itineraries that might involve multiple HUCAs.

And here is TBB who leaves you with this patented pic/gif:

TBB
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