My $27,000 First Class Weekend Trip to Hong Kong For $140

This is an introduction post to my crazy $27,000 First Class Weekend Trip to Hong Kong! I was looking forward to this trip all year since I really started planning for it in January of 2017. As a points and miles hobbyist, Cathay Pacific first class has been on my bucket list for a while. Every now and then I search for award availability on random days and long weekends and think about taking this trip. One day in January, I found availability from Hong Kong to JFK on Monday October 9th of a long weekend; and I decided to pull the trigger. I planned the rest of the trip around that day and I managed to book my outbound flight from New York a few days before I had to leave.

How I booked My $27,000 First Class Weekend Trip to Hong Kong For $140

New York to Hong Kong on Korean Air First Class

I had received an offer in the mail to apply for the Korean Skypass Visa Signature Card. The offer was for 45,000 miles. With this trip in mind, I jumped on the offer. With the spend requirement, I ended up earning 48,000 Korean Skypass miles. Korean Air charges 80,000 miles plus $64 in fees for a one way firs class flight from New York to Hong Kong. I transferred 32,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Korean Skypass to get the 80,000 total I needed.

This exact flight would normally cost about $9,000 if booked outright.

Free night at Intercontinental Hong Kong

Since I have the IHG Credit Card from Chase, I earn one free night every year on my account anniversary. This is an amazing perk of this card since it has a low $49 annual fee. The great thing about this benefit is that it is not capped at a certain hotel category, you can use it at any IHG hotel that has availability. This free night certificate is good to use within a year from when it’s earned.

A night at the Intercontinental Hong Kong would normally cost about $350 per night.

Free Night at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong

I also have the Hyatt Credit Card from Chase, I also earn one free night every year on my account anniversary. This card has an annual fee of $75 which is still pretty reasonable for the value it provides. The free night from the Hyatt Card is capped at a category 4 Hyatt hotel.

A night at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong would normally cost about $200 per night.

Hong Kong to New York on Cathay Pacific First class

I’ve opened a few Alaska Airlines Bank of America Credit Cards that at the time had a sign-up bonus offer of 25,000 miles (now they offer 30,000 miles). Also, Alaska Airlines is a transfer partner of Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG). I have the Personal American Express SPG credit card as well as the Business American Express SPG card.

Alaska Airlines charges 70,000 miles plus ~ $76 in fees for a one-way First Class flight from Hong Kong to New York on their partner airline Cathay Pacific.

This exact flight would normally cost about $18,000 if booked outright.

Bottom Line:

This is by far the craziest, funnest most amazing travel experience I ever had in terms of flights and lounges. I will have full reviews of every aspect of this trip coming soon. Make sure to subscribe to my mailing list to get updates from me. Also, I’d really appreciate it if you subscribe to my “new” youtube channel as I will upload more fun comprehensive reviews of the individual flights in addition to the weekend recap I already uploaded.

Thank you!!

If you have any questions, comment below or tweet me @pointspointers or email me at ramy@pointspointers.com

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