November flight promo codes: a percentage and a capped amount are not the same discount

Six flight promotions are live in Hong Kong this month and they are written in three different units: a percentage off the fare, a percentage capped in dollars, and a fixed amount above a minimum spend. Read quickly, the biggest number looks like the best deal. Converted to dollars on the same ticket, the ranking changes twice.

The three shapes

• 89折 — you pay 89% of the fare, so the discount is 11%. On a HK$3,000 fare that is HK$330, on HK$8,000 it is HK$880.
• 85折, capped at HK$600 — 15% off until the discount hits the cap. The cap binds when 15% of the fare equals HK$600, which is a HK$4,000 fare.
• 滿$2,800減$280 — the fixed amount is the whole discount. It is 10% at exactly HK$2,800 and falls away as the fare rises.

That last shape is where most of the confusion comes from: a "HK$280 off" code and an "11% off" code are identical on one specific fare and unrelated everywhere else.

Same fare, four codes

The table prices each code at six fares. Blank cells mean the minimum spend is not met.

Fare (net)	Wing On 85折, cap $600, min $1,800	Cathay CXSCB1111, 89折	BoC 280T1, min $2,800	BoC 120T1, min $1,500
HK$1,500	—	$165 (11.0%)	—	$120 (8.0%)
HK$1,800	$270 (15.0%)	$198 (11.0%)	—	$120 (6.7%)
HK$2,800	$420 (15.0%)	$308 (11.0%)	$280 (10.0%)	$120 (4.3%)
HK$4,000	$600 (15.0%)	$440 (11.0%)	$280 (7.0%)	$120 (3.0%)
HK$4,500	$600 (13.3%)	$495 (11.0%)	$280 (6.2%)	$120 (2.7%)
HK$6,000	$600 (10.0%)	$660 (11.0%)	$280 (4.7%)	$120 (2.0%)

Every cell is the same arithmetic: fare × rate, capped at the code's limit. Nothing else is built in.

The cap binds at HK$4,000

At HK$4,000, 15% is exactly HK$600, so every fare above that pays the same HK$600 — the effective rate falls with every extra dollar of fare. At HK$4,500 it is 13.3%; at HK$6,000 it is 10%.

A flat 11% has no cap, so it keeps growing. The two cross at a fare of HK$5,455, where 11% equals HK$600. Below that fare the capped 15% wins; above it, the flat 11% wins.

This is the whole argument in one line: "15% capped at HK$600" is a better code than "11% off" for a cheap ticket and a worse one for an expensive ticket.

Minimum spend is measured on the fare

Both BoC codes state the threshold against 淨票價 — the net fare, before taxes, fuel surcharges and fees. A HK$2,600 fare with HK$350 of taxes and surcharges does not reach the HK$2,800 threshold, even though the amount you pay is HK$2,950.

The same habit is worth applying to the Wing On 85折 code: its wording says a booking of HK$1,800 or more, without saying whether taxes count. Until that is confirmed on the merchant's terms, assume the threshold means the fare — and if your fare is HK$1,750 with HK$200 of taxes, do not count on qualifying.

What the codes do not say in the headline

• The Cathay 89折 code needs a specific card. CXSCB1111 requires payment with a Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard, and the quota is the first 10,000 bookings. Without the card, the code does nothing.
• "Up to 11%" is not 11%. The other Cathay promotion, which adds 3,000 miles, is written as a maximum of 11%. That is a ceiling, not a rate: some routes and fare classes will price below it. It also needs the same Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard.
• The two Cathay codes do not become 22%. A booking takes one promo code, and both of these are direct-booking codes for the airline's own site. Whether they can be combined is not stated in what is published, so treat them as mutually exclusive until the official terms say otherwise — genuinely unconfirmed, not merely unlikely.
• Qatar's 89折 is on selected fares. Booking runs 3–12 November 2026 for travel to 30 June 2027, with blackout dates, and the published example is London from HK$6,347 including taxes. The new-member code PCGCN26 adds up to 4,000 Avios, which is a loyalty bonus rather than cash — worth roughly what you make of an Avios, not a discount on the ticket.
• The Wing On codes need a BoC card. Both BoC codes require payment with a Bank of China credit card or BoC Pay+.

Which one wins, by fare

• Under HK$1,800: only the Cathay 89折 qualifies, and only with the right card. At HK$1,500 it pays HK$165 against HK$120 from the smaller BoC code.
• HK$1,800 to HK$2,799: the Wing On 85折, at a full 15%.
• HK$2,800 to HK$4,000: still the Wing On code — HK$420 against HK$308 and HK$280 at a HK$2,800 fare.
• HK$4,000 to HK$5,454: the Wing On code, now capped at HK$600 — HK$600 against HK$495 at HK$4,500.
• HK$5,455 and above: the flat 11%, which is HK$660 against HK$600 at a HK$6,000 fare.

The two BoC codes never produce the largest discount at any fare in the table. They are worth keeping for the case where you have no Standard Chartered Cathay card, or where the 85折 code's quota or fare class is unavailable.

Before you pay

1. Check whether the discount is on the fare or the total. A percentage off the fare leaves taxes and surcharges untouched; on a cheap short-haul ticket those can be a third of what you pay.
2. Check the fare bucket. Promo codes usually apply to selected classes, and the cheapest seat on the route is often excluded.
3. Check the quota. A code with 10,000 redemptions can be alive on the page and gone at checkout.
4. Pay with the card the code names. A code tied to a card is validated at payment, not at search.
5. Compare the same itinerary before and after. A discounted direct fare can still be higher than the same flights sold through an agent.

The arithmetic above is reproducible from the published promotion details — fare times rate, capped, with the minimum spend applied first. What it cannot tell you is whether a seat exists in the fare class that the code accepts, and that is decided at search, not in the table.