Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of my favorite days of the year. I say that seriously, but I’m not after consumer goods on those days. Instead I love Black Friday and Cyber Monday because airlines typically have decent sales too. Airlines typically have especially good sales on premium cabin airfare. In years past I’ve seen some ridiculously good sales, but sadly 2018 hasn’t proved as generous as in the past.
I’m guessing the airfare sales this year weren’t as strong for a few reasons. The first reason is that airlines’ margins are deteriorating already. With the increase in supply and costs airlines’ margins are extremely depressed compared to years past. Given the decrease in margins I doubt airlines are looking to give away a ton of discounted tickets right now.
Another reason I suspect we didn’t see as many sales this year is because the seats are selling already. I can’t tell you the last time I was on a plane with more than a few open seats in any cabin. Internationally demand for airfare is at all time highs so I’m guessing airlines didn’t feel the need to have huge sales as they’ve done in the past.
While we didn’t see as many sales as we’ve seen in the past we did again see a sale that seems to come back year after year. Specifically we saw the return of Cathay Pacific’s Black Friday sale which actually lasted about a week this year. I took advantage of this sale last year and ended up doubling down on it again this year. With that I wanted to share with you the two trips I’ve booked this week and why.
Trip #1: Cathay Pacific Premium Economy San Francisco To Hong Kong
Last year I booked a single Cathay Pacific Premium Economy fare from Chicago to Hong Kong with a return to Los Angeles. That trip early in the year gave me a good footing with to again qualify for Executive Platinum in 2018. So, after last years success I decided to mirror that same trip again this year.
This time I’ll be flying from San Francisco to Hong Kong with a return to San Francisco. I’m excited about this particular trip because my origin and destination are actually New York. With this trip I’ll hopefully be able to once again review American’s A321T business class when getting to and from San Francisco. Once in San Francisco I’ll hopefully have enough time to review both the American Airlines Admirals Club and the Cathay Pacific Business Class lounge.
From there I’ll catch a ride on Cathay’s new Airbus A350-1000 in Premium Economy to Hong Kong. I’m excited to review PE on the A350-1000 as until now I’ve only flown on Cathay’s 777. Additionally this will be the first time I’ve ever flown on Airbus’ stretched A350.
For this first trip I’ll spend another two nights in Hong Kong before returning back to San Francisco. Before heading back to the US I’ll hopefully have enough time to visit a few Cathay Pacific lounges in Hong Kong. Specifically I hope to visit Cathay’s The Bridge and The Deck, two lounges I’ve never visited before.
After that I’ll once again catch a ride on Cathay’s 777 back to San Francisco.
Trip #2: Cathay Pacific Premium Economy San Francisco To Hong Kong
Um, yeah, you read that right. For my second trip I purchased, well, um, the same exact trip. The second trip is slightly different from the first though. For the second trip I’ll be flying United with my girlfriend from New York to San Francisco. This should give me a chance to view United’s transcon service, a United lounge or two, and the American Express Centurion Lounge in SFO.
After doing all that we’ll board an Airbus A350-900 and fly from SFO to Hong Kong. What’s different about this trip is that we’ll end up with just under a week in Hong Kong. We don’t have a plan yet, but we will most likely explore Hong Kong for a few days and then I think we’ll fly somewhere else for a few nights before returning home.
Finally, we’ll make our way back to Hong Kong, visit a lounge or two, and board another Cathay Pacific 777 with Premium Economy service from Hong Kong to San Francisco.
Why Did I Book The Same Trip Twice
Well, the first trip is more of a mileage run while the second is more of a vacation, but hey back off… The reason I booked two of these trips is because they represented incredible value. Each of these round trip fares cost just over $800. For that I’ll earn a ton of American Airlines AAdvantage elite mileage accrual!
Each round trip ticket yields at least 13,500 flown miles. Because I’m traveling in Premium Economy I’ll earn about 20,250 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM), $2,700 Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQD), and 30,000 award miles. Since I purchased two trips I’ll earn double those totals or 40,000 EQM, $5,400 EQD, and 60,000 award miles. For all of that I’ve only spent $1,600 out of my own pocket. Considering the award miles are worth about $900 I’m really only paying about $700 for this trip. To me, that represents incredible value.
Final Thoughts
I’m excited that going into 2019 I already have 40% of my EQM and 36% of my EQD accounted for. With American increasing the EQD requirement in 2019 I’m not sure that I’ll reach Executive Platinum status again, but these flights help make it a possibility.
Also, I’m excited to take another big trip with my girlfriend in 2019. We recently completed an incredible trip to Sydney and Auckland and have been looking to book another big trip in early 2019. I haven’t had time to write about that trip yet, but those reviews should be starting to see the light of day later this week. On our last trip we were lucky enough to have both of our Transpacific upgrades clear, hopefully we are once again lucky in 2019.
