For Hong Kong and mainland China, this route is operated by partner airlines. Qantas Points buy Cathay Pacific and China Eastern seats off the partner table, Qantas’ separate and dearer price list for partner airlines. You can use Velocity Points to book Hong Kong Airlines flights. Cathay’s own Asia Miles program often offers better value on Cathay Pacific-operated flights than either of the other options. The right choice comes down to which partner releases the seat at the lowest quoted points-plus-charges total. Whether Hong Kong is your destination or your gateway to the mainland, here’s how the options compare and what determines the number of points and charges you’ll pay.
Partner airlines carry most reward flights to China and Hong Kong
The carriers doing the flying set the shape of this comparison. Cathay Pacific is the heavyweight, connecting the east coast capitals with Hong Kong year-round. It also adds a seasonal Adelaide service through the warmer months, with its vast onward network into mainland China and beyond. Hong Kong Airlines operates the Sydney route and has become a Velocity partner worth knowing about. On the mainland side, China Eastern links Australia to Shanghai and resumed service to Adelaide in late June 2026. Check the latest schedules before you book, as airlines can adjust services.
China Southern’s Guangzhou services sit outside both Australian programs, so points collectors will need to pay cash. Neither Qantas Points nor Velocity Points rely on their home airline for these routes. Instead, both unlock flights with partner carriers. One perk sits with Qantas. As a Oneworld partner, Cathay flights recognise Qantas status. This means Silver members (oneworld Ruby) receive priority check-in and preferred seating. Lounge access starts at Gold (oneworld Sapphire) when flying on points.
Qantas Points to Hong Kong and China
Two partners carry the Qantas Points story. Cathay Pacific flights with a CX flight number are bookable as Classic Flight Rewards through the Qantas Cathay Pacific partner page. This is priced from the partner table, which uses the same distance zones as the Qantas table at higher rates. At the Hong Kong distance band, Business prices at 90,000 Points compared to 82,100 on Qantas’ own aircraft, as of July 2026.
China Eastern is bookable the same way, putting Shanghai within reach of the balance. The partner premium is the recurring trade-off on this route, so weigh the quoted total against the alternatives before committing.
Paid fares deserve a flight number check of their own. Qantas offers a QF codeshare on selected Cathay flights, and booking the QF number where possible maximises the Qantas Points and Status Credits. Status Credits are the separate currency that counts towards the Qantas tier status you earn. The gap is 65 Status Credits each way. A Qantas-marketed Business sector from Hong Kong to Melbourne earns 125 Status Credits. The identical journey credited from a Cathay flight number earns 60 Status Credits, according to the airlines’ published earn tables as of July 2026.
The distance mechanics offer one saving. Partner bookings can price the total distance across connecting flights. That means some mainland itineraries cost no more than the Hong Kong sector alone. Perth is the textbook case. Perth to Hong Kong is about 3,741 miles, and adding the Hong Kong to Shanghai hop lifts the total to roughly 4,505 miles. This is still within the same 3,601 to 4,800-mile zone in the current Qantas distance bands, as of July 2026, so the Shanghai leg costs zero additional points. Our guide to booking a Classic Flight Reward seat covers how to price these combinations. China Airlines’ Taipei network also sits on the same partner table for travellers routing through Taiwan.
Velocity Points to Hong Kong and China
Hong Kong Airlines’ Sydney to Hong Kong service is bookable with Velocity Points as a partner redemption. Velocity prices these redemptions from its partner tables and quotes the total at the time of booking. It is often overlooked because so much attention goes to Cathay. For the mainland, Velocity has no direct partner door, so the practical routes run through hubs. There’s Singapore Airlines through Changi as a Velocity partner, or converting Velocity Points to KrisFlyer miles at 1.55 to 1, as of July 2026. Singapore Airlines’ own inventory is available through KrisFlyer. We covered its November 2025 reprice in our KrisFlyer award changes explainer. Feeding the balance follows the standard playbook. Velocity’s transfer partners, the bank programs whose flexible points convert into Velocity Points, feed it at these rates, all as of July 2026:
- ANZ Rewards: 2 points to 1 Velocity Point
- NAB Rewards: 2 to 1
- Amplify Rewards (St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA): 2 to 1
- Amex Membership Rewards: 2 to 1
- Westpac Altitude Rewards: 3 to 1
Our guide to moving points into Velocity covers the mechanics in detail. As always, Reward Seat bookings earn nothing back, carrier charges are quoted at the time of booking, and partner availability is the real currency, so search before you transfer.
Where Asia Miles and KrisFlyer beat the Australian programs
Cathay’s own loyalty program, now simply named Cathay and operating under Asia Miles, deserves a seat at this table. It is the program built around the airline that dominates this corridor. Asia Miles are easy to accumulate in Australia, with transfers available from Amex Membership Rewards, ANZ Rewards, CommBank Awards, NAB Rewards and Westpac Altitude Rewards, plus HSBC for eligible cardholders. The airline has historically priced reward seats on its own aircraft below what partner programs charge for the same flights. For example, the Qantas partner table quotes 90,000 Points in Business at the Hong Kong band as of July 2026, while you’ll spend just 60,000 Asia Miles for the same flight to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific.
Cathay is also opening more of its inventory to its own members. Asia Miles currently quotes rates at the time of booking rather than publishing them in a simple public table. Our guide to the best ways to spend Asia Miles covers the current sweet spots. KrisFlyer earns a mention too. When Singapore Airlines repriced its charts in November 2025, flights to North China remained among the program’s stronger Business Class options. Points commentators continued to cite them as a sweet spot into 2026. So, connecting through Changi with KrisFlyer miles is a credible premium-cabin fallback when Cathay availability dries up.
How the programs compare for China and Hong Kong
The table below compares the programs’ positions. Point prices follow each program’s tables, correct as of July 2026, and exclude taxes, fees and carrier charges.
| Program | Hong Kong | Mainland China | Its edge |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | Cathay Pacific on the partner table | China Eastern to Shanghai, or Cathay connections priced by total distance | The Perth to Shanghai same-zone trick |
| Velocity | Hong Kong Airlines as a partner redemption | Via Singapore on Singapore Airlines, or a 1.55 to 1 KrisFlyer transfer | The corridor’s least-contested reward seats |
| Asia Miles | Cathay’s home program on its home metal | Cathay’s mainland network from Hong Kong | Access to Cathay inventory partners rarely see |
The verdict depends more on availability than on price. Hong Kong also earns its keep as a doorway well beyond China. Cathay’s onward network stretches across Asia, Europe, and beyond. That makes a Hong Kong award a useful first leg for a longer itinerary. If a Cathay seat exists at a fair partner-table quote, Qantas Points do the job. Perth-based travellers should always price the mainland add-on before booking Hong Kong alone. If Cathay is sold out, check Hong Kong Airlines through Velocity before assuming the corridor is closed. And if you hold flexible bank points and fly this way often, feeding Asia Miles directly is the specialist’s move.
This is because the program closest to the metal usually sees the seats first. Whichever you choose, the periodic Qantas transfer bonuses and their Velocity equivalents shorten the earning runway. Our overview of Qantas and Velocity partners maps how far each balance stretches beyond this corridor. If your plan involves a paid positioning fare, check the flight number before you pay. The difference in earnings could fund a part of your next redemption.
Frequently asked questions
Fees, rates and figures quoted are correct at the time of publication and should be verified directly with each provider before acting on them.
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