Getting First Class tickets can be very expensive, and great ticketing strategies are not always as easy to come by. That’s why this quirky deal, to fly on American while booking via Cathay Pacific, can yield huge returns. And the best part is that availability is good for upgrading to First Class.
Use Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles to upgrade on American from heavily discounted Business Class fares to First Class—something that American won’t let AAdvantage members do. This is even better now that Business Class fares have fallen so much. We’ve also found that overall upgrades are plentiful to London from Chicago and Miami in June, July, and August in both directions. Other U.S. departure cities offer good availability to London in April, May, July, August, November, and December.
From New York to London you can upgrade an $1,800 Business Class fare with 60,000 miles; the First Class fare is north of $11,000, and the upgradeable fare on American is $4,962. Los Angeles to London starts at $2,600 (85,000 Asia Miles). American’s own program charges $8,130 plus miles. Los Angeles-Tokyo fares start as low as $5,000 and require 85,000 Asia Miles (the lowest First Class on American starts at $11,064, and the upgradeable fare is $7,643).
Keep in mind that if you transfer the miles from Starwood, you receive a 5,000-mile bonus for every 20,000 miles transferred. So on a NYC- London round-trip upgrade; you need only 50,000 Starpoints rather than 60,000 Asia Miles.
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