Over the Pacific on Cathay: Introduction/Preface

Over the Pacific on Cathay

a.       Introduction/Preface

b.      The Club at DFW and Admiral’s Club DFW Terminal D

c.       Domestic First Class on American DFW-SFO

d.      Admiral’s Club SFO

e.      Cathay Pacific First & Business Class Lounge at SFO

f.       First Class on Cathay Pacific SFO-HKG

g.      Cathay Pacific The Cabin HKG

h.      Business Class on Dragon Air HKG-CAN

i.        China Hotel, A Marriott Hotel, Guangzhou &  Exploring Guangzhou

j.        Business Class on Dragon Air to HKG

k.      Cathay Pacific Lounges HKG

l.        Business Class on Cathay Pacific HKG-YVR

m.    Business Class on Cathay Pacific YVR-JFK

n.      American Airlines Flagship Lounge JFK 

o.      Domestic First on American JFK-DFW plus Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Introduction/Preface

This is the first part in an installment of a Trip Report on OneWorld airlines using American Airlines miles to China via San Francisco and Hong Kong on the outbound and Hong Kong, Vancouver, New York and Washington D.C. on the return.  The carriers consist of American Airlines for the US domestic portions, Cathay Pacific for the longhaul intercontinental and Dragon Air for the China regional routes.   

The redemption rates for this trip includes: First Class on the outbound costing 67,500 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles, while the return in Business Class required 55,000 miles.  For the 2 nights in Guangzhou, I will be staying at the China Hotel, A Marriott Hotel, Guangzhou. This Marriott stay redemption came from my Fall 2011 MegaBonus 2 free night certificates at a Category 1-4 hotel.  China Hotel, A Marriott Hotel, Guangzhou is a Category 3 hotel with a standard Marriott Rewards redemption rate of 15,000 points per night.  The hotel paid rate per night for the dates I wanted was about $200 a night.

For more details about the trip planning process on the flights please see previous posts on the trip routing, and about booking the 747 in FIRST Class from SFO.