The Guide to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Regarded as one of the world’s best airlines, Cathay Pacific is the unofficial airline serving Hong Kong International Airport. The carrier flies to more than 85 cities in nearly 40 countries throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. Cathay Pacific is a member of the Oneworld Alliance and has independent partnerships with many other airlines.

You may have heard about Cathay Pacific’s excellent customer service and top-tier eats (both on board and in its lounges), not to mention its attention to detail and comfort, especially in first and business class.

This guide will walk you through the basics of this highly regarded carrier, how to earn elite status and all the different ways to earn and redeem miles in its loyalty program, Asia Miles.

Here’s a quick overview of some of the most well-known features of Cathay Pacific.

• Fare types: The carrier offers four major tiers of fares, including first class, business class, premium economy and economy class.

• Main U.S. routes: Cathay Pacific flies to several major U.S. cities, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

• Frequent flyer program: The airline’s loyalty program is called Asia Miles, and you can redeem these miles for award travel. 

• Elite status: Cathay has four elite status levels: Green, Silver, Gold and Diamond. To earn elite status with Cathay, you’ll need to collect Status Points. 

You can earn miles with Cathay Pacific in many ways, ranging from flying with the airline and its partners to staying in hotels and booking car rentals.

Earn by flying

You can earn Asia Miles when you fly Cathay Pacific or any of its 20+ airline partners, which include Cathay's 12 fellow members of the Oneworld Alliance.

Cathay’s list of other partners includes airlines that are members of another alliance or are not part of any alliance.

To figure out how many Asia Miles you’d earn for a specific trip, refer to Cathay’s Status Points and Asia Miles calculator.

Earn by spending on a co-branded credit card

The airline's credit card

Symphony Bank issues the Cathay Pacific Visa card, which is the airline’s only credit card available to the U.S. market. With the Cathay Pacific Visa card, cardholders earn:

• 2 Asia Miles per $1 spent on Cathay Pacific flight purchases.

• 1.5 Asia Miles per $1 spent on dining worldwide and on all international purchases.

• 1 Asia Mile per $1 on all other purchases made in the U.S.

This card also touts a few other perks, like priority boarding and check-in, no foreign transaction fees, 10% discount on hotel, car rental and experience redemptions, as well as many other benefits.

» Learn more: Which airline credit card is best for international award travel?

International co-branded credit cards eligible for earning Asia Miles

Cathay Pacific also issues credit cards in international markets, particularly in Hong Kong. Here are some international credit cards that earn Asia Miles.

• American Express® Cathay Pacific Elite Credit Card; available in the Philippines.

• Standard Chartered Asia Miles Mastercard; available in Hong Kong.

• American Express® Cathay Pacific Elite Credit Card; available in Hong Kong.

• American Express® Cathay Pacific Elite Corporate Card; available in Hong Kong.

• American Express® Cathay Pacific Corporate Card; available in Hong Kong.

Terms apply.

» Learn more: The best airline credit cards right now

Earn by transferring from a credit card program

You can earn Asia Miles by transferring points from three key transferable point programs and Marriott Bonvoy.

Transfer times vary widely from program to program, so it's best to check the latest information to make sure that you don’t miss out on a specific redemption.

Points transfer from each credit card program at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 points. The transfer ratio from Marriott is 3:1, and you will receive a 5,000-mile bonus when you transfer 60,000 points. Thus, transferring 60,000 Marriott points will yield 25,000 Asia Miles.

NerdWallet doesn't currently have a value for Asia Miles. However, Asia Miles are typically estimated to be at around 1.2 to 1.3 cents per mile. Before doing a point transfer from one of the above programs, consider if the value of the redemption is a good use of your points.

» Learn more: What travel points are worth and why they matter

Other ways to earn

You can also earn Asia Miles by staying at hotels, booking car rentals, and more. Here are some of the latest opportunities for earning Asia Miles:

• Hotels. Stay at partner hotels, like Best Western, Hilton and Hyatt, among others.

• Car rentals. Rent cars through Avis, Budget, Hertz and many other rental agencies.

• Travel. Book travel with many partners, including Agoda and Trip.com.

• Dining. Dine at partner restaurants in Asia.

• Shopping. Shop in store or online with various partner stores.

• Wellness. Purchase wellness services at partner gyms, spas, etc.

Redeem Asia Miles for flights on Cathay Pacific

You can redeem Cathay Pacific miles for award tickets, flight upgrades and companion awards. Cathay uses distance based award charts for each of these redemptions.

Cathay Pacific award chart

You’ll notice that there are two “short” awards. “Short - Type 1” applies when the distance is 751 - 2,750 miles and when the origin, destination or turnaround points include a city in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal or Sri Lanka. “Short - Type 2” applies to all other instances where the distance is 751 - 2,750 miles.

As with all distance-based award charts, the longer the distance the more expensive the award will be in miles. For example, an economy award ticket from Newark to Hong Kong will cost 38,000 Asia Miles since the distance between the two cities is more than 8,000 miles. However, if you are flying economy from Seattle to Hong Kong, you’d only pay 27,000 Asia miles for the ticket since the distance between these two cities is around 6,500 miles.

» Learn more: How to make the most of economy class on Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific upgrade chart

Cathay also has a distance-based award chart for upgrades.

You can only upgrade from economy to business class on flights that don’t have a Premium Economy class. The price in Asia miles reflect one way upgrade awards.

» Learn more: Cathay Pacific first class: What to expect

Cathay Pacific companion award chart

If you buy a business or first class ticket on Cathay, you can redeem an award ticket for your travel companion according to the following chart.

Unlike the other two award charts, the award rates are based on round-trip itineraries since companion tickets are only available on round-trip flights.

» Learn more: Flight review: Cathay Pacific first class, L.A. to Hong Kong

Redeem Asia Miles for flights on partner airlines

You can also redeem Asia miles on Cathay Pacific airline partners. Review the Asia Miles partner award charts to see which types of awards are available. If you’re traveling on one partner airline, refer to the partner chart to see which airlines allow redemptions and check the “flight awards page” to see how much the award will cost.

Cathay Pacific Oneworld multi-carrier award chart

Cathay also has a Oneworld multi-carrier award chart, which you can use if you’re redeeming miles on two or more Oneworld airlines.

These prices are based on the travel distance and reflect roundtrip award tickets.

» Learn more: 5 best uses of Cathay Pacific miles

Other ways to redeem Asia miles

Some additional ways to use your Cathay miles include:

• Other travel expenses. Cash miles in for hotel stays, car rentals and travel experiences.

• Experiences. Use miles for concerts or other events, or even celebrity shoutouts to loved ones.

• Shop. You could also redeem your miles for various items for purchase across categories like electronics, home, food, wine, health and sports.

• Charity. Donate your miles to an eligible cause.

• Convert them. You can always convert your miles into points at qualifying loyalty programs if there are more attractive redemption opportunities elsewhere.

» Learn more: Oneworld alliance award sweet spots and transfer partners

To earn elite status with Cathay Pacific, you will need to accumulate Status Points, which will allow you to progress through each of the four elite tiers (Green, Silver, Gold and Diamond).

How to earn Status Points

You can earn Cathay Status Points by flying Cathay Pacific and other Oneworld airlines or by spending on the Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard, which is only available in Hong Kong.

Status Points are calculated through a combination of airline, cabin, fare class and distance traveled (ultra-short, short, medium, long and ultra-long).

For example, flying first-class on an ultra-long flight (7,501 miles or more) will earn you the most Status Points — 150:

Flying economy on an ultra-short flight of 750 miles or less will get you between 3 and 25 Status Points:

Traveling business class on a medium-length flight (between 2,751-5,000 miles) will earn you between 50-60 Status Points:

Cathay Pacific status levels

Each of Cathay’s four elite status levels provide various benefits. These include perks like extra legroom on flights, priority boarding, baggage allowance and lounge access.

Club members also get privileges on all airlines in the Oneworld Alliance. Green tier has no earning requirement, just join, but you'll need to earn 300 Status Points to attain Silver, 600 for Gold and 1,200 for Diamond, the carrier’s top tier.

Perks for each elite status level are as follows.

Green

• Extra-legroom seat redemption opportunities.

• Extra baggage allowances, including checked baggage allowance for most flights and checked baggage allowance on flights to the Americas.

Silver

Green tier benefits, plus:

• Extra-legroom seats.

• Advanced seat reservations.

• Priority waitlisting.

• Preferred seating and boarding benefits on Air New Zealand-operated flights.

• Business class check-in counters.

• Heavier luggage limits for checked and cabin baggage.

• Priority baggage handling.

• Cathay Pacific business class and Air New Zealand business class lounge access.

Gold

The above, plus:

• Guaranteed economy class seat.

• One piece of additional checked baggage for most flights.

• Business class lounge access for status holders and a guest.

• Access to the arrival lounge (guests not allowed).

Diamond

Diamond club level gets all the many aforementioned benefits, with the following additions:

• Guaranteed premium economy and business class seats.

• Even heavier luggage limits.

• Access to Cathay Pacific lounges.

For travelers flying internationally (especially to Asia), Cathay Pacific is a well-regarded airline that offers luxury and impeccable service at nearly every turn. It also offers a solid loyalty program called Asia Miles, which lets you earn and redeem travel rewards in many different ways.

All information about the American Express® Cathay Pacific Elite Credit Card, American Express® Cathay Pacific Credit Card, American Express® Cathay Pacific Elite Corporate Card and American Express® Cathay Pacific Corporate Card has been collected independently by NerdWallet. The American Express® Cathay Pacific Elite Credit Card, American Express® Cathay Pacific Credit Card, American Express® Cathay Pacific Elite Corporate Card and American Express® Cathay Pacific Corporate Card are no longer available through NerdWallet.