Excellent Cathay reward availability and minimal tax – Dusseldorf to Hong Kong

I was originally going to discuss this as part of my Hyatt Regency Dusseldorf review yesterday, but I thought it deserved a wider audience.

Few people know that Cathay Pacific flies from Dusseldorf to Hong Kong.

You may wonder why you need to know this!  The answer is:

availability is amazing

taxes are minimal

I picked a random set of dates in January.  For the outbound, I can see EIGHT business class seats and TWO first class seats available for Avios redemption.

For the return, I can see SEVEN business class seats and TWO first class seats.

Looking at other dates in early 2015, 8 business class seats and 2 first class seats appears to be the standard release.

With a 12.35 departure time from Dusseldorf, you do not even need to stay over the night before as long as you get a very early flight from the UK.

When it comes to tax, you are only paying £92 return in business class.  This compares to well over £500 for a British Airways redemption in Club World – and Cathay Pacific has a substantially better reputation.

The snag ….

The only downside is that you cannot use a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher on Cathay Pacific.

ALL partner rewards are now treated as peak dates with BA.

This means that Dusseldorf to Hong Kong prices at 180,000 Avios + £92 return in Business Class.  Cathay also flies from Amsterdam and Manchester, for completeness.

On British Airways, it would be either 150,000 Avios or 180,000 Avios + £503 depending on whether it was a peak or off-peak day.   Cathay is still a better deal on this basis if you do not have a 2-4-1 voucher.

With a 2-4-1, you would be paying between 150,000 and 180,000 Avios + £1,006 on British Airways compared to 360,000 Avios + £184 with Cathay Pacific, for two people.

Of course, if you can’t get BA availability then it is a mute comparison – although you can usually get something into Chengdu or Kuala Lumpur and pay or redeem on Cathay for a connection to Hong Kong.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)