Cathay Pacific offers 30% discount on flight redemptions with Asia Miles

I know it has been a Cathay kind of day. Cathay Pacific is offering a 30% discount of miles required on redemption bookings on Asia Miles for travel on Cathay Pacific/DragonAir to India, HK, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Australia and select European ports (USA is excluded). Essentially, the following airports are excluded: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Amsterdam, London, Moscow, Rome, and Auckland.

The promotion is valid for reservations till March 31, 2013 and travel till June 2013 in the economy cabin. What drives me crazy, is that the only way to do this is to call Cathay Pacific or fill up the form online (and the disclaimer in red is taking most of the announcement space). There is no way to make a online instant redemption.

Had Cathay made this a little broader, in terms of allowing all airports on the list, I might have considered sending some miles to Cathay for redemption, but this one I will pass. I hope it is of use to some of you.

The important T&C are enclosed below:

Only applicable to flights marketed and operated by Cathay Pacific or Dragonair and mixed-carrier itineraries on Cathay Pacific and Dragonair (excluding upgrade awards).
Open jaw itinerary is allowed.
Not applicable to flights between Hong Kong and the following cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Amsterdam, London, Moscow, Rome, and Auckland.
Eligible award types:
- One-way and round-trip Standard Awards in Economy Class
- Priority Awards
- One-way and round-trip Upgrade Awards (except upgrades to First Class)
Blackout period: 23 March – 8 April 2013, the promotional discount does not apply during the blackout period.
For this promotional discount to apply to any subsequent changes, changes must be made within the booking period (26 February to 31 March 2013).

Here is my Cathay Pacific Economy Trip Report on BOM-BKK last summer.

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