Asia Miles™ - Cathay Pacific
The Asia Miles program from Cathay Pacific is potentially valuable for those who travel with Cathay Pacific. It is fairly easy to earn points through this program, and the points that members accrue can be used for a variety of things. Those who fly with these airlines often will definitely want to take the time to look into the many benefits that are associated with this program. Some of the different things that Asia Miles members can use their points toward include dining, hotels, car rentals, telecoms, and a number of professional services. The more time you take to look into this program, the more likely you will be to join.
- Pros
- Renew miles option ❸
- Two stopovers allowed
- Good number of partner airlines
- Good number of 1 : 1 transfer partners
- Cons
- Stopover restriction ❷
- Taxes are not shown until ❹
- Booking tool is hard to use
- One way costs more than 50%
- Partners are not bookable online ❶
- Fees & Charges
- Change award fee$25
- Cancellation fee$120
- Expiration: Miles expire 36 months since last activity.
- For some programs, an activity is any accrual of miles, crediting a flight, transfering or purchasing miles. For others, spending activities such as redeeming or donating points counts as an activity.
- ❶ Only British Airways, Finnair, Qantas and Qatar Airways can be booked online. Other partners must be booked by phone or by using an online customer service form
- ❷ No stopovers or open jaws on partner flights with Air China or Iberia
- ❸ Miles expire after three years, but can be renewed for another three
- ❹ Taxes are not shown on proposed itineraries until you have enough Asia Miles on your balance to process the booking
Transfer Partners
Transfer time is what is reported by the transfer programs, supplemented by our own research. However, actual time to transfer is often highly variable.
Airlines and Fuel Surcharge
This table will show you the partner airlines can be booked online and those which impose fuel surcharge.
Airline |
Online Booking |
Fuel Surcharge |
Alliance |
|---|---|---|---|
British Airways
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Cathay Pacific
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Dragonair
|
|
|
No alliance
|
Finnair
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Qantas
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Qatar Airways
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Aer Lingus
|
|
|
No alliance
|
airberlin
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Air China
|
|
|
Star Alliance™
|
Alaska Airlines
|
|
|
No alliance
|
American Airlines
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Bangkok Airways
|
|
|
No alliance
|
China Eastern Airlines
|
|
|
SkyTeam
|
Airline |
Online Booking |
Fuel Surcharge |
Alliance |
|---|---|---|---|
LATAM Brasil
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
LATAM Chile
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Air New Zealand
|
|
|
Star Alliance™
|
Gulf Air
|
|
|
No alliance
|
Iberia
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Japan Airlines
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Jet Airways
|
|
|
No alliance
|
Malaysia Airlines
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Royal Brunei Airlines
|
|
|
No alliance
|
Royal Jordanian
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
S7 Airlines
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
SriLankan Airlines
|
|
|
oneworld®
|
Program Review
Program Review
Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations include scheduled passenger and cargo services to 200 destinations in 52 countries worldwide, codeshares, and joint ventures, with a fleet of wide-body aircraft, consisting of Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A350, and Boeing 777 equipment. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Cathay Dragon, operates to 44 destinations in the Asia-Pacific region from its Hong Kong base. In 2010, Cathay Pacific, together with Dragonair (rebranded Cathay Dragon), carried nearly 27 million passengers and over 1.8 million tons of cargo and mail. This airline’s rewards program, which is known as Asia Miles, has a lot to offer for those who fly with Cathay Pacific on a regular or even semi-regular basis. It is important that you take the time to look into some of these benefits before making a final decision.
Asia Miles Program
Asia Miles continue to be an appealing frequent flyer program for travel points collectors, with a wide range of points earn partners – including most of the major credit card rewards programs. The program is not without its intricacies and quirks though, and you have to understand the various ins and outs when you come to make an Asia Miles redemption. In this guide we’ll show you how to redeem Asia Miles effectively, including how and where to search for availability and a range of other tips and tricks for using your Asia Miles.
Earning Asia Miles Points
There are a few ways to earn Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. They are a transfer partner with both American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou. Points from both of these programs (earned with cards like the Citi Prestige and the American Express Platinum Card) convert into Asia Miles in a 1:1 ratio, with a 1,000-point transfer minimum. Alternatively, you can also transfer Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points into Asia Miles, also at a rate of a 1:1. SPG gives you 5,000 bonus miles for every 20,000 points you transfer. So if you’re transferring in 20,000-point increments, you will essentially end up with a 1:1.25 ratio. Of course, you can always earn Asia Miles from flying. Cathay Pacific is a oneworld member, so you can credit flights on oneworld carriers to Asia Miles. For example, American Airlines is transitioning to a revenue-based earning scheme, so the general public will earn 5 miles per dollar spent. However, if you credit those flights to Asia Miles, Cathay Pacific still awards at least 100% of the flown miles in Asia Miles. Which carrier to credit is a question that doesn’t have a universal answer, so it’s crunch the numbers before a flight.
Redeeming Mileage Points
First, make sure the award you want is available on your chosen airline partner by referring to the Airline Partners Awards Chart. Then, calculate the required number of miles with the Flight Award Finder at www.asiamiles.com. To redeem your Asia Miles for flight awards: • For Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, British Airways and Qantas Airways – log on to either www.cathaypacific.com or www.dragonair.com with your membership number or username to redeem your desired flight using the Online Booking service. • For other airlines – Simply submit your request online by logging into your Asia Miles account and completing the Airline Award Request Form. One of our Member Services Executives will contact you to handle your redemption request. You will first want to log onto redeem.asiamiles.com and browse all of the different lifestyle awards that are available; you will need to select a category and sub-category. Next you will have to add items to your basket. Simply choose the award you want, taking into account eligibility and delivery/collection requirements in the terms and conditions of the award. Review your basket and check out. Finally, you will need to fill in the shipping and payment information.
Routing Rules
Asian Miles members will be able to make up to 4 stopovers (in additional to the destination), 2 transfers, and 2 open-jaws.
Booking Fees & Charges
Those who are members of the Asian Miles program can expect to pay a $120 fee for all refunds and a $25/$100 fee for changing flights.
Redeem on Upgrades
If you want to use the points/miles you have accrued as a member of the Asian Miles rewards program, the first thing you will want to do is visit https://www.asiamiles.com/am/en/redeem/upgrade. You can redeem miles for an Instant Upgrade Award to experience the luxury of flying First Class, Business Class, or Premium Economy Class on Cathay Pacific, or in First or Business Class on Cathay Dragon. These upgrades are available on all Cathay Pacific flights department from worldwide destination. You can also get upgrades on All Cathay Dragon flights departing from 21 destinations: Bangaluru (Bangalore), Beijing, Busan, Da Nang, Dhaka, Fukuoka, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hanoi, Kaohsiung, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Kota Kinabalu, Manila, Phnom Penh, Phuket, Shanghai Hongqiao, Shanghai Pudong, Taichung, Taipei and Yangon.