I’ve been inspired to start exploring countries in Asia, as some of you may remember from my previous post. Of course, I’d love to spend a few weeks exploring multiple destinations. But, due to my family’s schedule, I’m going to compromise with a shorter trip with just me and my daughter next fall. To maximize our productivity during our short trip, my goal is to fly over to Asia in business class seats so that we can sleep during the flight and hit the ground running after we land.
My family normally flies in economy, except for our two recent trips to Europe when we splurged on business class and premium economy. The reality is that flying to Asia in business class takes a lot of points and miles, and it’s incredibly difficult to find award availability in business for more than one person.
Air France Flying Blue for the Win!
One program that consistently has business class award availability to Asia is Air France/KLM Flying Blue program on its partner China Airlines between San Francisco and Taipei, Taiwan. This route normally has 4 business class seats available every day at 88,500 miles + $106.10 in taxes per person:
The same route is also available from LAX and Ontario, CA airports for slightly more miles and usually just 2 business class seats available:
China Airlines flies to several other locations in Asia after connecting in Taipei. So, adding a leg to Hong Kong in business is an additional 14,500 miles + $52.80.
Yes, 107,500 miles is a ton of miles to spend for one flight for one person. However, right now, Chase has a 25% transfer bonus to Air France Flying Blue program (which ends this Thursday 11/30/23). That takes the price from LAX to Hong Kong down to 86,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points.
Oof, that’s still a lot of points. But, I decided to go big, and I booked two business class seats for me and my daughter all the way to Hong Kong. I picked the flight from Ontario airport since it’s much smaller than LAX. We will fly to Ontario the night before to position ourselves for this flight.
I depleted my entire stash of Chase points, many of which were from my welcome bonus from the Chase Ink Business Preferred card I opened earlier this year (see this post).
Total cost for 2 business class tickets from LA to Hong Kong: 173,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards + $317.80.
The cash price for this flight without using award miles for 2 people in business class is $7330. Of course, I would never pay over $7000 for our flights.
Strategy for Return Flight
I don’t have our return flight booked yet. Ideally, I’d like to fly home in a premium economy seat or business class seat. However, the flight back home is a bit faster, and we can catch up on sleep after we get home. So, sleeping on the flight isn’t as important.
Even though I just spent a huge chunk of points, I still have other currencies on hand including Capital One miles, Lufthansa miles, Alaska Air miles, AA miles and TAP Air Portugal miles. Plus, I still have 50k Amex Membership Rewards coming my way soon (see this post).
My top choices for a return flight are a nonstop on Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to SFO or LAX, or EVA Air nonstop from Taipei to Houston.
I have plenty of time to figure out the logistics of the rest of our trip. But for now, I’m just excited that I’m going to Hong Kong!
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Nice! EVA is pretty amazing, particularly in business class on their 777’s if you can find the space.
@Christian EVA seems to be stingy on their awards with partners. I can only ever find one seat in business.
Congrats! You did well. Snagging business class to Asia is incredibly difficult right now, especially if you are not flexible on dates. I would look into premium economy on JAL from Japan to US via Alaska miles for the way back. But flying in economy is not the end of the world. Tokyo-Seattle is 8.5 hours, similar to flying to Europe.
Thanks, Leana! JAL has a nonstop flight from Tokyo to Dallas, which would be a great option in Premium Economy.
So happy for you. I lived in Hong Kong for nearly 20 years until recently. Not such a great place to live anymore, but it is a great place to visit.
Food is great, not just Chinese cuisine but great Western food and Asian food (from all over). None of this five-Asian-cuisines-under-one-roof crap that you find in US cities. There must be over 200, rather 500, pizza places in the city, and the best ones would rival any in Italy (check this site out: https://profdrpizza.com/). For good affordable conveyor belt sushi, try Senryo, a chain but already better than most sushi available in the States. And no expectations of a 20% tip on top of 10% sales tax. A 10% service charge is pretty standard everywhere and there is no sales tax. Locals still tip for exceptional service but it is not expected outside of hotels (bellboys, etc.). The best dim sum is usually found at the high end hotels such as Four Seasons, but you’ve probably heard of Tim Ho Wan, a now-global chain that was once considered the cheapest Michelin star experience in the world. https://www.localiiz.com/post/food-drink-best-michelin-recommended-cheap-eats-hong-kong
Hong Kong also has one of the best public transport systems in the world, and possibly the cheapest one of any major developed/tourist city. You don’t need to stay somewhere “central” since you’re basically 30-45 minutes from almost anywhere a tourist might want to go (does not apply if you’re staying in the northern New Territories and away from a main train line).
And, believe it or not, Hong Kong also has some of the best hiking in the world. Some are paved fire access roads and others are just lots of steps, but most of Hong Kong is actually mountainous, which is why the place is so dense. It can be suffocating for some. But you’re never too far from a hiking trail, as you can see if you wanted to walk up from Central/Admiralty/Kennedy Town to Victoria Peak. Hikes I would recommend on Hong Kong Island include: Dragons Back (everyone suggests this one), the Twins and Violet Hill, High West, and Victoria Peak. If you want to see all of the hikes available in Hong Kong, check out the Hong Kong Hiking Meetup group or visit this site: https://peakmaster.top/hk
Feel free to message me if you have any other questions!
@TW Thank you for all the info! Do you know if most food there contains MSG? That’s my biggest concern about eating there, as I’ve had bad reactions to MSG in Japan. I’ve been looking at some of the hikes there, and the scenery looks spectacular! Not sure how I’ll decide which one(s) to go on, but it’s nice having options.
Good question! No-MSG is not really a “thing” in Asia. I think MSG was invented by a Japanese company and is widely used in Asia, but some argue that it is also naturally occurring in food. Anyway, if you want to avoid MSG, then it might be tough at fast casual type places (if the entree is less than HKD 50 than it’s probably a fast casual place), of which there are many and where food is made in batches, but at better restaurants you can probably ask the waiter to request no MSG on your a la carte order. Communicating this to your waiter might be the toughest part. Typically, steamed food and BBQ roast meats shouldn’t have MSG in it.
Hong Kong is not just about Chinese food though, so there should be plenty of options to eat good Western food, besides sushi, that in theory doesn’t have MSG added. Hong Kong also has great Indian food, better than what you would find in New York. And, you need to go to KFC and try the Portuguese egg tarts (they acquired the recipe from a Macanese pastry shop) and Jollibee fried chicken (arguably better than any fried chicken fast food chain in the States). Last tip: If you usually frequent any Asian grocery store in your area for Asian snacks, then bring an empty suitcase because your snacks will cost a lot less than in Hong Kong.
@TW Thanks for the tips! We will definitely need to bring an empty bag for the return.
TW: I came here to the comments to post Hong Kong tips (love that city, hate what has happened to it), but you have already posted so many good ones! Your restaurant comment made me laugh, thinking of a webcomic I once saw that you might enjoy: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/asian_food
Nancy: I will add just two other quick tips since this is a travel with daughter trip:
1) Yum Cha for dumplings; not the highest-quality, necessarily, but still good and the cute shapes might appeal (if you look at the stars and reviews, a funny guide: https://www.tiktok.com/@rocketjump/video/7142660978868489515?lang=en).
2) Doing a cooking class with a local; usually this involves egg tarts to start, a visit to a market or two, and then making delicious food for sharing. My teens loved this in HK (as well as other places, of course).
@mechteach Thanks for the recommendations! 3.5 stars, who knew???!?!?
Sounds great. I took my son to Japan for his senior year spring break. Good memories.
I reluctantly spent some Chase URs yesterday for an Air France return from Papeete to LAX for 70k so 56k after bonus (was 104k day before and last night).
The new Alaska program change in March will allow oneway on Korean (got my eye on that given nonstops from DFW).
@Peter Glad you got to take advantage of the transfer bonus for your flight!