Batch search Cathay Pacific’s award availability

Cathay Pacific is a reputable airline and Hong Kong is an important hub when people visit Asia from Europe or the States. As Cathay is an Oneworld member, you can book their award tickets using BA Avios or Alaska miles, but as with most airlines the availability is much thinner compared to booking with Cathay directly.

Having been laid off by Twitter, I suddenly have a lot of free time to kill, and decided to go back to China despite the still ongoing quarantine policy. Transiting via Hong Kong is the most economical choice, and in terms of direct flight only Cathay Pacific is operating at the moment.

I still have 200k+ Avios surplus in my account but finding Cathay availability especially in business class is very difficult. Therefore I’m switching to Cathay instead, as they are an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner and I have a lot of points to spend too!

Cathay Pacific upgraded their website recently and searching for award availability is no longer trivial, as there isn’t a straightforward calendar view of some sort. To facilitate your search, I recommend using a Chrome add-on developed by @jaytw from Taiwan, as it has helped me a lot for booking my flight ticket.

@jaytw has explained his work in this flyertalk post. If it’s still unclear, here are the steps:

Using this new tool, you can batch search award availability for a 20-day window, and different cabin / transit options are all displayed.

It is a lot easier than having to click through various dates or even perform multiple searches.

I found my LHR-HKG flight and transferred my US Amex MR points to Cathay which arrived instantly. UK Amex MR is also a partner but if I remember correctly the transfer takes a few days.

Here’s a reminder how much Cathay’s LHR-HKG in business class costs:

  • Cathay Pacific: 65,000 miles + £360
  • BA Avios: 92,500 Avios + £360
  • Alaska Mileage Plan: 42,500 miles + $298

Alaska’s cost is the lowest, but it’s not an Amex MR transfer partner, and its access to Cathay’s award inventory is limited just like BA.

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