Last September I wrote about Cathay Pacific announcing the end of their nonstop flights between JFK and Vancouver. The last flight will be on March 27.
It’s the best flight within North America by a long shot. The flight is operated by a 777 with 4 classes of service, including a first class cabin that is among the best in the world, let alone in North America where true first class fell out of fashion long ago.
Cathay Pacific is known for releasing lots of award space as it gets within 2 weeks of a flight. They increase the amount of award space with each passing day if the flight has seats for sale.
I wrote about our first trip to Vancouver on Cathay Pacific 7.5 years ago here. Mimi and I flew back to Vancouver a few years ago and once again had an amazing trip to the beautiful city, with fantastic Cathay Pacific first class service.
If you want to book an award to Vancouver it just takes 17.5K Alaska miles for coach, 20K for premium economy, 25K for business, or 35K for first class. Note that you need to call to book Cathay awards using Alaska miles. You can use 13K BA miles for coach, 38,750 miles for business, or 51.5K for first class. Note that you need to call to book Cathay awards using BA miles if you want to travel within a week, but you can search for award space using AA or Qantas. You can also use 12.5K AA miles for coach, 32.5K AA miles for business, or 50K AA miles for first class. You can search for space using AA’s advanced search award calendar.
From Vancouver you can drive 2 hours north on the stunning Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler, home to world famous skiing.
Here’s a snapshot of how many first class seats are currently available for travel. If you’re looking for more dates, just wait until closer to the flight when Cathay will release more availability.
JFK to Vancouver First Class partner award space:
January 24: 2 seats
January 26: 2 seats
January 27: 1 seat
January 28: 2 seats
January 29: 2 seats
February 2: 2 seats
February 10: 1 seat
February 11: 1 seat
February 12: 1 seat
Vancouver to JFK First Class partner award space:
January 24: 3 seats
January 25: 2 seats
January 26: 1 seat
January 27: 2 seats
January 28: 1 seat
January 29: 2 seats
January 30: 1 seat
January 31: 1 seat
February 2: 3 seats
February 7: 1 seat
February 9: 1 seat
March 24: 1 seat
Will you fly to Vancouver before Cathay Pacific service ends?
Yes, I definitely want to do so and I have about 70k AA to do it with. I hope I can work it out to go.
How do I go with Amex points?
You can book with any OneWorld airline, BA, Cathay, Qantas, etc.
Any Coronavirus concerns with flying Cathay?
Above my paygrade, any Docs want to chime in?
As a native vancourite living in NYC, this is so devastating. Dan and others, any tips for how to get from NYC to VAN on Amex points now? Thanks!
The only year-round nonstop is Air Canada to EWR after 3/27, which you can book via any Star Alliance airline.
Delta and United fly seasonally nonstop to JFK and EWR, maybe they will pick up some slack and switch to year-round next winter?
If I have the miles to fly first one way and business one way, which order should I do that in?
Flying first from JFK-YVR gets you access to the AA flagship first lounge with kosher meals and a longer flight time in first.
That being said, if first class is open for better dates from YVR-JFK only, then just go with that as it’s not a big difference.
“AA flagship first lounge with kosher meals”
How to you get the kosher meals?
When I was there they whisked me to First Dining, when I told them I keep kosher they looked disappointed but didn’t offer anything.
Should have HUCAd 😀
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I recommend flying first to Vancouver and business to JFK. The to Vancouver flight lands at midnight, so you can enjoy all the food and drink and fun of first without worrying that you should be sleeping. The to JFK flight is a pure red eye, and so you’ll likely want to be sleeping and will miss out of a bunch of the perks of first. Business is still lay down and you can still sleep well. JFK also has the better lounge option.
I flew this flight a couple weeks ago in F on the way to YVR and back in J. You get access to Flagship First Dining at JFK if flying in F which was very good in my opinion. Cathay/AA also allowed me to take a guest who was flying in Y into the Flagship First Dining with me which was a nice additional benefit. Figured I would add this detail in case anyone finds it helpful. Thanks Dan and JJ for all that you do!
The Jewish community in Vancouver is just devastated by this! I’m taking the flight in a couple of days, probably for the last time. We were so fortunate to have that option for so many years.
Such a sad loss.
Yup. Flew it prob 20 times. Always had miles seats. Free luggage. Good service.
Also Cuz it’s a 777 went fast. Once was 4:30 in air.
I rem good days when United flew from jfk-yvr. Was around 730am. Was nice
I have a Chase reserve card and 70k points what should I do/or can to get this deal? Thanks!
Sure, you can transfer to Avios. You will need to call BA to book Cathay Awards within a week of travel though. 1 week+ is bookable on their site.
how much YQ does CX charge on this flight?