oneworld member Cathay Pacific is sponsoring a new sweepstakes promotion that offers the winner a mini-vacation for two in Hong Kong:

Hong Kong is famous for its extravagant display of lights, especially during the holiday season. This winter, Cathay Pacific has partnered with our friends at Mr & Mrs Smith and Saks Fifth Avenue to send two lucky globetrotters on our new Premium Economy Class to explore the Winter Wonderland in our home town, complete with a 4-night hotel stay at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental and a $1,000 shopping spree at Saks Fifth Avenue.

On top of the luxurious prizes, the grand prize winner and two lucky winners will also receive Asia Miles. With our loyalty program, Asia Miles can be used to redeem for almost anything, from flights and hotels to Trek Bikes and iPads.

Prize list:

Grand Prize:

Two (2) Cathay Pacific roundtrip Premium Economy Class tickets from any of our US Gateways (San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago) to Hong Kong
4 Nights Hotel Stay at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, courtesy of Mr & Mrs Smith
A $1,000 shopping spree on Saks.com, provided by Saks Fifth Avenue
100,000 Asia Miles

Second Prize:

75,000 Asia Miles

Third Prize:

60,000 Asia Miles

To enter:

Submit the registration, including your name and a valid email address, to receive one (1) entry into the Sweepstakes.

Limit: You may receive one (1) Sweepstakes entry during the Promotion Period. Any attempt by any participant to obtain more than the stated number of entries by using multiple/different email addresses, identities, registrations and logins, or any other methods will void that participant’s entries and that participant may be disqualified.

The sweepstatks ends on December 17, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Go here to enter.

Good luck!

Photo: Hong Kong at Christmas
Credit: Steve Carney on Flickr

oneworld member Cathay Pacific is marking the one year anniversary of their Chicago to Hong Kong service with a retro themed sweepstakes that offers a look back at their flight attendant  uniforms through the years.

Here’s a look at 66 years of Cathay Pacific history in just over 4 minutes:

Back to the sweepstakes, here are the details

Cathay Pacific is celebrating the one year anniversary of servicing Chicago with the Walking On Air fashion show. The show chronicles our flight attendant uniforms throughout the eras, modeled by our very own cabin crew.

The prizes:

Two (2) Roundtrip Economy Class tickets from any of our US Gateways (San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago) or Canadian Gateways (Toronto and Vancouver) to Hong Kong.

Five (5) nights stay at J Plus Boutique Hotel, courtesy of Tablet

A private, guided tour of our CXperience museum at Cathay City to see the fashion featured on our Walking On Air runway show.

Two (2) $150 vouchers for a dream jetsetter wardrobe for two, provided by Rent The Runway.

One month subscription to Birchbox.

According to the terms and conditions  you’re allowed up to two entries, and there are two ways to enter: pin your favorite uniform with Pintrist for one entry, and/or submit you email address for another.

The sweepstakes ends September 24.  Go here for complete details.  Good luck!

Speaking of winning stuff, one of the few good things about Mondays is that the Frugal Travel Guy’s Deal of the Day is sponsored by AAdvantage.  Share your best AA related travel tip for a chance to win 2,500 AAdvantage Miles!

Earlier this year I told you about a post I read on a food blog that reviewed the Japanese meal service on American Airlines.  Well, I’ve come across another interesting food related post on someone else’s blog, and I thought I’d share it with you.

Jay Cab writes the First Class Project blog and he has a look at a couple of Kosher meals served on a Cathay Pacific flight between San Francisco and Hong Kong. Go here for breakfast and here for dinner.

Photo: Kosher Gourmet in New York City.
Credit: Rupert Ganzer on Flickr

Cathay Pacific is offering some great fares to Hong Kong from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York JFK.  These fares book into Q, so you won’t earn any AAdvantage miles, but at $895 round-trip you might not mind.  Here are the details:

Two Weeks Only: 35% Off Flights to Hong Kong

This summer, fly nonstop to Hong Kong with our special fare of $895* available from now until July 23, 2012.

Here’s the fine print:

• Cannot be combined with any other fare or offer.

• The fares detailed in the offer/promotion are subject to availability and offered on a first come, first served basis. The limited number of seats for the subject fare allocated to a particular flight may be fully booked although seats are still available in other fare types in the same class of travel.

• This is a limited time and limited availability offer. Only available for a limited time through 11:59:59 PM PST on 23Jul2012 (or until deemed sold out). If you cannot find availability for the dates that you have selected, please adjust your travel dates.
May be eligible for Asia Miles & AAdvantage Miles, depending on fare class booked.
Waitlisting is not permitted.

• Departures between Friday – Sunday will incur an extra charge of $25 for each transpacific sector.

• Fares listed above based on a sample search for mid-week transpacific departure dates.
Cancellation Fee: $100 applies (non-refundable after departure).

• Change Fee: $100 applies per change per person.

• Minimum Stay of None. Maximum Stay of 6 Months.

• Electronic ticket purchase only.

• All fares, government taxes and fees, and surcharges are subject to change at any time.
This fare can only be purchased online by a U.S. resident with a valid U.S. credit card billing address and U.S. mailing address.

Go here for complete details.

(Editor’s note: I’m still uploading photos and video from yesterday’s American Airlines press conference, so please come back a little later today to read my related post.  I’ll  be giving away some goodies from the Swag Bag!).   

Klout is the online service that attempts to measure a person’s online influence. They analyze content from social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, and based on how people use and share that content, they assign an influence score (Seth Stevenson at Wired wrote a great article about the topic last month).

Back in April Klout released version 1.0 of their iPhone app and to promote it, they’ve partnered with oneoworld member, Cathay Pacific to give Klout users access to Cathay’s San Francisco lounge. From the Klout blog:

Today we’re announcing a great partnership with Cathay Pacific Airways that makes the benefit of taking your Klout with you even more obvious.

Starting today, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) visitors using the Klout for iPhone app need only show a Score of 40 or higher to enter the Cathay Pacific First and Business Class Lounge.

Previously, the only way to see the inside of a Cathay Pacific Lounge was by holding a First or Business Class plane ticket. Now, Klout unlocks access to this amazing experience. This applies to any visitor traveling through the “A” boarding area at SFO’s international terminal, even if they aren’t a Cathay Pacific passenger.

If you don’t have a Klout score, you can sign up with your Facebook or Twitter identity. After you’ve created your profile, install the Klout iPhone App, and then head to Cathay Pacific’s First and Business Class Lounge located on Level 4 of the International Terminal.

Here’s a No Klout required tour of the new Cathay Pacific lounge via YouTube:

Back in December oneworld member Cathay Pacific opened a new First and Business Class lounge in San Francisco’s international terminal.

The lounge is built with the finest quality Carrara white marble & “China Black” granite, with warm bamboo wood finishes and panoramic windows offering an abundance of natural light. The reception wall is made of Venetian glass tiles by Fabbian of Italy, and backlit, to create a sparkling abstract impression of bamboo, whilst ensuring a consistent look and feel to the airline’s flagship lounges at Hong Kong International Airport.

To enable passengers to relax, there is comfortable lounge seating, including the innovative Cathay Solus Chair. Handcrafted by Poltrona Frau in Italy, the unique and popular Cathay Solus Chair is a specially built unit designed for our single customers offering a space to eat, work and relax.

There’s even a noodle bar offering freshly prepared Dan Dan noodles and won ton soup.

Here’s a video tour that was posted to YouTube last week.

To access the lounges, you’ll have to be traveling on Cathay Pacific in First or Business Class, or have oneworld Sapphire or above status, and through the end of April if you check in with foursquare you’ll get a free gift and a chance to win an upgrade:

We’re taking “check-in” to a whole new level in San Francisco! From now until April 30, passengers can check-in on Foursquare at Cathay Pacific’s First and Business Class Lounge at SFO to receive an exclusive gift and enter for a chance to win an upgrade on your next flight.

For more info, you can follow the details on Cathay Pacific’s Facebook page.

Cathay Pacific is giving away 10 round-trip tickets from Chicago to Hong Kong in a new promotion:

Enter “The Chicago SCVNGR Sweepstakes” for a chance to win one of ten trips from Chicago to Hong Kong!

How to win:

Step 1: Enter your email address.
And for even more chances to win…

Step 2: Download SCVNGR & Complete Challenges around Chicago.

If you’re not familiar with SCVNGR, think of it as foursquare + scavenger hunt:

Great news! We’re launching challenges on SCVNGR!

We’ve built SCVNGR challenges in Chicago to help promote our new Chicago to Hong Kong daily service. Keep coming back to earn more points, badges and rewards! SCVNGR is a game.

For a list of places you can play visit: scvngr.com/CathayPacific

Playing is simple: Tap places. Complete challenges. Earn points and unlock rewards!
How To Play

Download the app for iPhone or Android

Tap ‘Places’ and search for your location

Do the special Chicago challenges to earn points

Unlock badges and rewards

Visit: scvngr.com/CathayPacific

According to the terms and conditions, you don’t have to be a resident of Chicago to enter and you can play and earn points at more than 20 airports in the US.

The approximate retal value of each prize is $1,100. Winner pays taxes. Go here to enter.

Speaking of Hong Kong, Darren over at Frequently Flying just got back from a long weekend in Hong Kong.  He’s working on some great trip reports detailing his experience in Cathay Pacific’s first class cabin and will be posting lots of photos and video.  So spend a litte time daydreaming and go here to follow.

Today is the first day of oneworld member Cathay Pacific’s new service between Chicago to Hong Kong so I thought that in honor of the occasion I’d share some links you might find interesting.

Earn Double AAdvantage Miles when you travel between ORD and HKG in First or Business Class:

Travel round-trip on a Cathay Pacific operated nonstop flight (booked under either the CX or AA flight number) from Chicago to Hong Kong, on a qualifying First Class ticket or Business Class ticket, and earn double AAdvantage miles

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles members can earn triple miles in First Class, Business or Economy class when traveling between Chicago and Hong Kong:

Travel round-trip from Chicago (ORD) to Hong Kong (HKG)
Travel between September 1 and November 30, 2011
Earn triple bonus Asia Miles on a qualifying First, Business or Economy Class fare class
There is no limit to the number of bonuses you can earn during the promotion period
Bonus miles are in addition to your standard base miles and class of service bonus
Pre-register for the offer online prior to departure

Cathay Pacific has published a Lonely Planet “Chicago to Hong Kong” guide on their website (be aware that the guide is a PDF that loads in the browser).

Wonder what the bathroom looks like in Cathay Pacific First Class? Here’s a photo from travel blogger Lisa Lubin’s trip report. Go here to read her review and for photos of the food, the bathrooms, and amenity kits.

Speaking of amenity kits.  Here’s a peek of their new environmentally friendly travel kits:

Cathay Pacific offers entertainment on demand with the StudioCX service. If you’re lucky enough to be earning Double AAdvantage Miles this month and want to know how you’ll pass the time, go here to see the movie selection.

What’s life like at the back of the plane? Here’s a video tour and trip report of economy class on a Cathay Pacific Boeing 777 from Modhop.

If you’re traveling on the inaugural flight today enjoy the bonus miles and share your review!

Still on vacation this week, so I’m keeping this short: Enter the “The Allure of Vietnam Sweepstakes” Cathay Pacific for a chance to win a trip for 2 to Vietnam. The Grand Prize Winner will receive:

Roundtrip Economy Class flights for two (2) to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Three (3) nights Deluxe Suite accommodation and Executive Benefits at the luxurious InterContinental Hanoi Westlake Hotel.

Daily breakfast for two (2) at the InterContinental Hanoi Westlake Hotel.

Halong Bay river cruise for two (2): view Vietnam’s mysterious and alluring islands.

This sweepstakes ends on August 31, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. Go here for terms and conditions or to enter.

American Airlines partner and oneworld member airline, Cathay Pacific is launching new non-stop service between Chicago and Hong Kong on September 1 and to promote the new route, they’re offering Double AAdvantage miles for First and Business class travel.

So if menu items like Caviar and Balik salmon, Grilled beef tenderloin with red wine sauce, green peas potato mash, baby carrots, asparagus and red capsicum, Stir-fried prawn paddy with asparagus, and breakfast eggs cooked to order don’t excite you, maybe earning more than 35,000 AAdvantage Miles will:

Airline: Cathay Pacific and American Airlines

Bonus Code: HKGCX

Dates: Book your trip between August 1, 2011 and September 30, 2011. Travel on/between September 1, 2011 and November 30, 2011.

Offer: Travel round-trip on a Cathay Pacific operated nonstop flight (booked under either the CX or AA flight number) from Chicago to Hong Kong, on a qualifying First Class ticket or Business Class ticket, and earn double AAdvantage miles. There is no limit to the number of bonuses you can earn during the promotion period and the bonus miles are in addition to your standard base miles and class of service bonus. Just book your trip between August 1, 2011 and September 30, 2011, fly between September 1, 2011 and November 30, 2011, and register prior to travel.

Double miles for round-trip First Class travel between Chicago and Hong Kong booked in F or A
Total miles earned (base miles, bonus miles and class of service bonus) 38,935 total miles

Double miles for round-trip Business Class travel between Chicago and Hong Kong booked in J, C, D or I
Total miles earned (base miles, bonus miles and class of service bonus) 35,042 total miles

There’s no bonus for coach travel, but you’ll still earn 15,588 AAdvantage Miles if your flight is ticketed as an American Airlines codeshare flight or booked in H on Cathay Pacific.

A discounted First class ticket will cost you as much as a Kia, and at first you might think it’s a little expensive. However, to help you put that cost in perspective, I’ve put together these comparisons:

Cost
2011 Kia Optima MSRP: $18,995
First class (booked in A), Round-trip ORD to HKG: $18498.30

AAdvantage Miles
2011 Kia Optima: 0
First class (booked in A), Round-trip ORD to HKG: 38,935

AAdvantage Elite Qualifying Miles
2011 Kia Optima: 0
First class (booked in A), Round-trip ORD to HKG: 23,382

Total travel time
2011 Kia Optima: 2 days drive to Los Angeles, 22 days transit time Los Angeles to Hong Kong via Maersk Lines, Transpacific 6
First class (booked in A), Round-trip ORD to HKG: 15 hours, 35 minutes

Fully flat bed seats
2011 Kia Optima: Not available
First class (booked in A), Round-trip ORD to HKG: Available

So after a little analysis, I think it’s clear that it’s the Kia that is overpriced.

Registration is required before travel, go here to sign up or for more details.

Photo: “Cathay Pacific First Class”
Credit: Lucky at One Mile at Time via Flickr