Just like clockwork, Cathay Pacific’s historically incredible Black Friday sale is live again! Now, I know what you’re thinking… airfare, on Black Friday? Yes! Every year airlines typically offer fantastic sales around Black Friday and Cyber Monday on long-haul travel. Now, keep in mind these are scheduled sales, not mistake fares. So, the deals are great, but not $1,300 for First Class great. Instead, you can typically get anywhere in the world in Premium Economy or Economy for about half of what you’d usually pay. Business class seats are typically about 25% off.
While many airlines offer deals on Black Friday, I’m typically focused on one airline, Cathay Pacific. I focus on Cathay Pacific because the airline typically offers great deals on long-haul trips from the US to Asia in Premium Economy. While Premium Economy is hardly glamorous, it allows me to earn a ton of miles and elite status accruals from a single trip. That’s because trips in Premium Economy fares earn AAdvantage Elite Qualifying Miles and Elite Qualifying Dollars based on the distance traveled. Specifically, trips in Premium Economy (E fare class), earn 20% EQD per mile flown and 1.5 EQM per mile flown.
This means that a weekend hop to Asia could get you to nearly Gold Status with American Airlines. A few of these trips could easily get to you Executive Platinum status at a huge discount to the $15,000 American wants you to spend. Because of this opportunity to earn miles quickly, I turn to this sale each year to get a jump start on earning elite status with American for another year.
Prior Cathay Pacific Black Friday Deals
In 2017 I booked a single trip with Cathay Pacific from Chicago to Hong Kong. I had never visited Hong Kong properly before and this was a great opportunity to visit a city I’ve fallen in love with. That trip was great because it also gave me the change to review Cathay Pacific Premium Economy on the Boeing 777-300ER. The flight from Chicago to Hong Kong was on a very dated 777 with the old interior. The flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles was on an updated 777 which proved much more comfortable.
That first trip I booked was a ton of fun and left me wanting more. In 2018 I ended up booking two Black Friday trips, again with Cathay Pacific. Yes, it was a bit odd that I booked the same itinerary twice, but it served a purpose. For starters, the first trip was a true mileage run. It was a quick weekend trip to Hong Kong. The outbound leg, from San Francisco, was on the new Airbus A350-1000. The return was again on a dated 77W. The second trip I booked was an actual vacation for my girlfriend and I to visit Asia. I booked that trip to Hong Kong with no idea where we would go in Asia, but it seemed like a great way for us to get there. We ended up visiting Phuket Thailand and loved it!
My 2019 Cathay Pacific Black Friday Sale Purchase
The Black Friday sale from Cathay Pacific this year isn’t as exciting as years past. Trips from the US to Asia in Premium Economy are just over $1,000 which is a bit more than last year. Additionally, after playing around with Google Flights, the dates appear a bit more limited than I’ve seen in the past. Cathay Pacific outlines the details of the 2019 Black Friday sale on their website here. On the top of the page, change your origin to see a complete listing a city pairings.
So, although the sale is a bit lackluster compared to the past two years, I did find a deal that I loved and I’ve booked it. Earlier today I booked New York to Cape Town via Hong Kong in Premium Economy with Cathay Pacific for around $1,600. Sure, that is a bit pricy, but for that, I’ll fly around 30,000 miles and earn over $6,000 AAdvantage Elite Qualifying Dollars. I’ll also earn over 45,000 AAdvantage Elite Qualifying Miles. This trip alone gets me very close to qualifying for AAdvantage Platinum for the 2021 calendar year. That is a great start to the qualifying year.
On top of all of that, the real reason that I’m excited is that I’ve booked this trip with my girlfriend, so we’re going to be taking a proper vacation in Cape Town. Neither of us have been to the continent of Africa so we are both extremely excited.
Final Thoughts
Overall I’m a bit disappointed by the Cathay Pacific Black Friday sale this year. On the one hand I’m thrilled to have booked a flight to Cape Town. I’m also thrilled to once again visit the incredible lounges in the Hong Kong Airport. However, at $1,600 this trip was fairly expensive and I’m sad not to see any ~$800 deals as I’ve seen in prior years.
Even so, the sale continues until December 3, 2019. I’m going to check back in over the next few days to see if a long weekend trip to Singapore or another city in Asia makes sense. The only thing I’m trying to avoid is overdoing it. Last year I booked two of these trips and ended up booking a mistake fare on Cathay Pacific. That meant nearly 100% of my travel was to Asia on Cathay Pacific. It didn’t leave any time for me to visit Europe or Australia as I’d hoped. It also didn’t give me many chances to try out any other OneWorld airlines or visit any new lounges.
So, as much as I want to book another trip, I’ll most likely hold off. You never know what sales will pop up in the coming days.
