I will be flying 4 london to cairns return trips a year, which reward program would be more beneficial, qantas or cathay pacific?

I will be flying 4 london to cairns return trips a year, which reward program would be more beneficial, qantas or cathay pacific?

Which cabin will you be flying in?

Where are you normally domiciled?

What is your travel pattern like the rest of the year?

What is your frequent flyer objective? i.e. Status, mileage/points for flight redemption?

Economy/premium economy, UK, couple of trips in Europe , status

If you were flying Premium Economy and want status I would suggest AA instead? 4 round trips in Premium Economy would almost certainly put you within grasp of Aadvantage Platinum (Oneworld Sapphire). But this would only work if you do the following:

1) Fly Premium Economy on Qantas (if you're flying Economy on the long haul then this option will not work for you)

2) For one of your return trips to London/Europe fly with AA via the US. This is because you need 4 segments with an AA code to qualify.

Reply to this post if you need more advice on this option.

Agreed TRB is right on and they have aditional benifits. 

If I were in your position, I would go CX, granted CX does not go to CNS, you can always still book from an Aust airport to CNS with QF, but give your CX FF number.

Though QF has now a tie in with EK, the thing is that to earn QF SC, you must make a booking for the QF flight, or EK flight, under a QF flight code, MUST.

EK is not in OW, so if for some reason, you forgot to make 100% sure you book with QF and not EK, you loose out on earning SC.

Since Jul this year, flying on anything except QF earns less QFFF and less QF SC.

If you really want to earn max QF FF and QF SC all the way, then you must book all the flights with QF.

But they do say Asian airlines are better than QF.

Ultimately, its of course your choice, but if I were in your shoes, I would go and join CX's program.

CX does not go to cairns? ok

Have to agree/say, though... there is a downside to flying CX, on some days, the CX booking system puts a person to fly via SYD, flying CNS to SYD is on JQ some days, QF on others.

Coming down from HKG to CNS, there are direct flights, but going "home", its more troublesome to have to watch who is the operating airline.

OP, JQ (Jetstar) while it will get from A to B, is not as good as QF, cheaper, but not as good.

I stand corrected, CX does fly direct from HKG to CNS!

+++ I think.

CX 103 HKG - CNS - you're right.

BA Avios could actually be best - 75k Avios throughout the LHR - HKG - CNS (assuming you're sticking to BA or CX in Premium Economy) route without fuel surtaxes. Status is hard to get, but...

Between QF and CX, QF LHR - HKG - CNS is 78k (Y - for some reason I can't calculate W fare) without fuel taxes. I'm not sure about QF status though. CX LHR - HKG - CNS is 126k.

BAEC has some ridiculous surcharges on redemptions, though.

I thought those could be paid in miles, but 1. I stand corrected 2. I'm not sure about BA vs QF but in terms of the program they're both definitely better than CX

The only good thing about CX's program is that their oneworld ruby tier, i.e. Silver, grants lounge access while flying CX metal. This is a good thing to have if you fly with them because no other oneworld carrier offers lounge access at that tier (and the one Qantas Club invitation does not count!).

CNS to HKG is only a 7 hour direct flight.