Best U.S. Programs for Business and First Class Travel to Asia

Flying in a premium class seat to Asia might be one of the best ways to redeem your miles. Being able to enjoy a comfortable seat that turns into a bed can make a world of difference. Of course, airlines know that people are willing to pay more to avoid being miserable on such a long flight and price their premium class flights accordingly. Still, good values are to be had if you know where to look for them.

Logistics of an Award: Availability, Mile Cost, Cash Outlay, Routing Rules

Availability

	Availability
	Good if you can plan ahead
	Very Good
	Average to Good
	Varies

WINNER: United Airlines

Explanation

American has very few flights to Asia on its own aircraft.

• Dallas to: Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong
• Chicago to: Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo
• LA to: Shanghai, Tokyo

However, American has two terrific oneworld partners: Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines. You can find good- to-excellent business or first class availability if you book ahead.

United has excellent availability, but like American, mostly on the partners rather than its own metal. That’s less than fortunate – as you will see below, you’ll pay considerably more for a partner’s flight than for United own award ticket. That’s why you should try and book United metal whenever possible. United flies to Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou, X’ian (seasonal), Ho Chi Minh (until Oct 29, 2016), Manila (via Guam), Nagoya (via Guam), Sapporo (via Guam), Tokyo (Narita, Haneda), Osaka, Sendai, Seoul, Singapore and Taipei.

Delta has good availability too, and it has a decent presence in Asia, although it flies to a handful of them via its hub at Narita Airport in Tokyo. Delta flies to Tokyo (Naruta, Haneda), Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Chubu (Japan), Bangkok (via Tokyo), Manila (vial Tokyo), Taipei (via Tokyo), Singapore (vial Tokyo) and Osaka (via Guam, Honolulu and Tokyo). Finding a Delta premium class award to Asia is an adventure, but it usually has decent to good availability on Korean Air and one of the two Chinese SkyTeam members: China Eastern or/and China Southern.

Alaska miles can be used on American, Delta, Cathay Pacific, Hainan, Korean Air, and Emirates. Availability vary widely among the airlines and destinations, from pretty bad to excellent. Note that the Alaska website doesn’t display award availability for Cathay Pacific, so you’ll have to call.

Miles Cost for a Roundtrip

	Business Class	First Class
	120,000-140,000	160,000-220,000
	130,000-180,000	150,000-280,000
	140,000	Not available
	100,000-210,000	140,000-360,000

WINNER: Alaska Airlines

Explanation

While there is one value in the United chart that’s better than American (150,000 miles vs. 160,000) it’s only for flights to Japan. American beats every other level in this chart. Besides, American doesn’t have different rates for its own planes and the partners’ on these routes.

Summing up Alaska mileage cost is not that easy, since Alaska has different charts for every partner, but there are some enormous bargains in these charts. Here are some examples.

Redeeming for American. Alaska uses the old, pre-devaluation AA award chart, so provided you can find AA availability, you can save tens of thousands of miles vs. using AAdvantage miles.

Redeeming for Delta. Alaska is using the same levels as Delta, so you won’t find any bargains there. Besides, you will pay the same amount of miles (140,000 miles) whether you redeem for one-way or round-trip travel.

Redeeming for Cathay Pacific. Redeeming a Cathay Pacific business or first class with Alaska miles is such a great value, it’s probably the ultimate way to fly to Asia. The problem is, availability is hard to come by, and you have to look for it elsewhere (search for it on BA.com), since the Alaska website doesn’t display it. Some reports also show that Alaska agents may not see Cathay availability even if some other partners have it (like American or British).

Hainan Airlines usually has excellent business class availability for flights to China and a great redemption rate (100,000 per roundtrip, half for one way).

Redeeming for Korean Air. You will pay the same amount of miles for one-way and round-trip flights (and you can’t redeem for first), but the values are terrific.

Redeeming for Emirates. To be avoided. The recent Alaska devaluation has made Emirates redemptions prohibitively expensive (210,000 miles for business, 360,000 for first).

WINNER: Alaska Airlines

Cash Cost

	The Cost
	Taxes only, no surcharges
	Taxes only, no surcharges
	Mild to moderate surcharges on the Chinese partner airlines
	Moderate surcharges on Hainan Airlines

Explanation

Delta SkyMiles adds some fuel surcharges to Asia. There are not huge; the most you would pay in taxes and fees for a roundtrip ticket is around $400 on China Eastern. Alaska is a similar story, it only adds surcharges to Hainan, and they are moderate too (about $350 for China) – however, if you use American and United, you don’t need to worry about surcharges.

Routing Rules

	Rule
	Oneway travel is allowed, no third region (with one exception), the shortest routing possible, no free stopover
	Oneway travel is allowed, one free stopover, up to two open jaws
	Oneway travel is allowed, no free stopovers, up to one open jaw
	One stopover is allowed each way

Explanation

American has very strict routing rules, which don’t allow you to cross the third region when you fly between two. However, American makes one exception for flights to Asia where you can fly via Asia 1 Region (Japan and Korea) to Asia 2 region (every other country in Asia). Still, American routing rules aren’t good compared to United or Delta, which sallow all kinds of connections. And unlike others, United allows you to have a free stopover on a round-trip ticket.  

But there is nothing like Alaska that not only allows you oneway travel at 50% miles (on most partners) but also lets you have a free stopover on both outbound and inbound flights. This is an incredible benefit, as you can visit three places instead on one on the same ticket.  

OVERALL WINNER: Alaska Airlines

There might be issues with somewhat reduced availability from Cathay Pacific, but Alaska has the best redemption rates, the best routing rules and decent availability on several partners.   

How to Get Alaska Mileage Plan Miles

You can use the following credit cards to earn Alaska miles quickly and easily.

BofA Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card

• Sign-up bonus: 30,000 miles.
• Spending requirement: First purchase.
• Annual fee: $75.
• Earning rate: three miles per dollar spent on Alaska, one mile on everything else

BofA Alaska Airlines Visa Business Card

• Sign-up bonus: 30,000 miles.
• Spending requirement: First purchase.
• Annual fee: $75.
  • $50 per company, $25 per card (Business Level Earning Plan)
  • $0 per company, $75 per card (Individual Level Earning Plan)

Please note that you can have more than one BofA Alaska card and you will receive your sign-up bonus with each new approved application.
You can also get Alaska miles by earning points in the SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) program and transferring miles to the Alaska Mileage Plan. If you transfer more than 20,000 points, you will get a 25% bonus.

Here are two credit cards that can give you quite a boost (annual fees are waived for the first year):

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express:

• Sign up bonus: 75,000 points (90 000 miles when transferred)
• Spending requirement: $3,000 in three months
• Earning rate: Six points for each dollar at SPG hotels and  two points for all other purchases

Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express:

• Sign up bonus: 100,000 points (125 000 miles when transferred)
• Spending requirement: $5,000 in three months
• Earning rate: Six points for each dollar at SPG hotels and two points for all other purchases

In addition to credit card bonuses, Alaska often runs special mile sales with up to 100% bonuses, so it’s not that hard to load up on Alaska miles, and focusing on earning Alaska miles might make perfect sense if you want to pursue premium class travel.