I have a longtime habit of completing all my award flight & hotel bookings almost a year ahead of time. I was asked by a friend to put together a first time China travel itinerary and a way to use points to book flights for October 2025.
Nonexistent award space from the US to China
China travel does not seem to have recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic effects. I have traveled to China a few times pre-Covid and found plenty of premium cabin award space on Air China and Hainan Airlines. I am not seeing any nonstop availability these days and am forced to connect via Europe, Qatar or Japan.
Nonstop Cathay Pacific Flights from the US to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific releases premium cabin space sparsely and there is no consistent way to predict and book 350 days ahead.
Qatar Avios redemption is the best way to reach Hong Kong from the US a year ahead of time
Qatar Airways releases award space 360 days ahead and it is easy to book using Avios to secure up to two seats (see image below). Choosing flights with a longer connection time will help you relax for a day in Doha before heading to Hong Kong (review).
Qatar Airways flights are scarce to Beijing & Shanghai
I was able to find one connecting flight to Beijing PKX airport (not to PEK airport) for the month of October in 2025 (see image below) and none to Shanghai (PVG) airport via Doha.
Finding Premium Cabin Award Space to China via Europe
You can use Aeroplan points to book Turkish Airlines for long-haul flights and you can break the journey in Istanbul for a few days by utilizing their one-way stopover for 5K miles.
Asia Miles to book premium cabin award space (up to 2 seats) from the US to China 358 days ahead
Option 1: Book Japan Airlines connecting flights
Option 2: Book Cathay Pacific connecting flights
Asia Miles charges reasonable taxes for redemption on their own metal and offers a fantastic premium cabin experience. We were able to find several connecting flights via Hong Kong to travel to either Beijing or Shanghai (see images below).
Asia Miles is releasing award space ONLY for connecting flights via Hong Kong
When I looked for premium cabin award space on Asia Miles, I was able to find plenty of available seats on Cathay Pacific flights from Dallas to Beijing via Hong Kong for October 2025.
See the image below for the October 21st 2025 award space (search done on 10/28/24):
The same connecting flights can be booked with 120K Finnair Avios and the same amount of taxes (1198 DKK or $173 USD).
Why is Cathay Pacific blocking award space for Hong Kong nonstop flights?
Since there are plenty of flights available on October 21st from the search above (DFW to PEK via HKG), I wanted to see if Asia Miles would let me book nonstop to Hong Kong for fewer miles. However, I was surprised to find zero availability from DFW to HKG for the same date. The only available flight for October 21st is via Helsinki on Finnair (see image below).
Finnair charges heavy taxes on connecting flights to China
Finnair releases guaranteed award space 360 days ahead (review) and I was looking to use my Finnair Plus Avios to book a transit flight to China via Helsinki, but the taxes were in excess of 10,000 DKK ($1400 USD). I could not find flights to Beijing, but there was availability for both Shanghai and Hong Kong (see images below).
Booking Finnair flights to China with Alaska Miles to enjoy a free stopover in Helsinki sounds good in theory, but it is hard to find award space by the time Alaska opens up their booking window 30 days later.
Eva Air no longer releasing two premium cabin seats
Eva Air opens award space 360 days ahead of time, but they have only been releasing single premium cabin seats for the last two years.
Conclusion
I have a 10-year multiple entry visa to China and I would like to visit the country again before it expires. Connecting flights are the only reliable way to reach Beijing or Shanghai at this time with miles and points.