Cathay Pacific & Asia Miles Explained【Another Small Devaluation】

【August 15, 2026 update】 The previous update (March) didn’t seem to show premium economy also devaluing on the official site. Searching awards again today and checking the award chart confirms premium economy did go up.

Before vs after May 1, 2026

【March 25, 2026 update】 Cathay updated its award chart for another small devaluation! 😡 The new chart takes effect May 1, 2026.

Excerpt: Asia Miles required for North America–Hong Kong Cathay awards (before vs after May 1, 2026)

The full award chart is in the article body.

【May 29, 2025 update】 Good news: Aria Suite business class is flying Vancouver–Hong Kong. From early June, CX865 / 888 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays is operated by the Aria Suite 77J. Cathay Pacific announces the new Aria Suite on Boeing 777-300ER

I checked a seats.aero live map and picked a Saturday CX865 in June — it really is the 77J:

Other Aria Suite routes include: Saturdays to Beijing on CX334/335, Sundays to London Heathrow on CX255/250, and Saturdays to Sydney on CX161/162

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Flights between North America and mainland China are tight right now. Cathay is a key carrier that can link North America–Hong Kong–mainland China, and its mileage program is relatively easy for travellers based in North America to earn and redeem — with a few sweet spots. Here’s the airline and program you should know.

The airline: Cathay Pacific

1.1 Airline overview

Cathay Pacific Airways is headquartered in Hong Kong and is a founding member of the oneworld alliance. IATA code: CX; ICAO code: CPA. Its main hub is Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), with a secondary hub at Taipei Taoyuan (TPE). The network covers 119 destinations across 35 regions in Asia, the Pacific, Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Africa.

Cathay’s nonstop North American cities: Vancouver, Toronto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston, Dallas

Cathay’s Greater China destinations include: Beijing, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Xi’an, Shanghai (Pudong, Hongqiao), Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Haikou, Sanya, Taipei, and Kaohsiung

North America–Hong Kong award chart: historical devaluations

Chart after the April 15, 2025 devaluation

Route / cabin / miles required	Economy	Premium Economy	Business	First
East – Hong Kong	38,000	75,000	115,000	160,000
West – Hong Kong	27,000	50,000	88,000	125,000

Chart after the October 2023 devaluation

Route / cabin / miles required	Economy	Premium Economy	Business	First
East – Hong Kong	38,000	75,000	110,000	160,000
West – Hong Kong	27,000	50,000	84,000	125,000

Award chart before September 2023

Route / cabin / miles required	Economy	Premium Economy	Business	First
East – Hong Kong	42,000	60,000	85,000	125,000
West – Hong Kong	30,000	45,000	70,000	110,000

1.2 Elite status

In August 2022, Cathay’s Marco Polo Club frequent-flyer program and the Asia Miles loyalty program merged into the Cathay membership program, with four tiers: Green, Silver, Gold, and Diamond.

1.2.1 Benefits on Cathay Pacific

Benefits by tier (for more detail, see the official site):

1.2.2 Extra Cathay perks

Within each tier, earning more Club Points unlocks extra benefits.

Airport lounges

Upgrade vouchers

Complimentary Gold status

1.2.3 oneworld alliance benefits

Silver ➡️ Ruby; Gold ➡️ Sapphire; Diamond ➡️ Emerald

1.2.4 Benefits with other Cathay partners

Cathay also has its own non-airline partners. Members get perks with:

• Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts (view benefits)
• Langham Hospitality Group (view benefits)
• Swire Hotels (view benefits)
• The Peninsula Hotels (view benefits)
• Hertz car rental (view benefits)

The mileage program: Asia Miles

Cathay’s frequent-flyer currency is Asia Miles. Award rules can get complicated overall, but if you mainly want Cathay between North America and mainland China, it’s straightforward: search on the website, and the month-by-month calendar view is solid. Fellow oneworld carriers American Airlines (AA) and Alaska Airlines (AS) also have very friendly award-search UIs.

✏️ Miles expiry: From January 1, 2020, the following activity types automatically push your miles’ expiry date out by 18 months. Qualifying transactions include:

Earning miles, redeeming miles, buying top-up miles, converting points from other programs into miles, transferring miles into or out of a member’s account, earning reward miles, and receiving gifted miles into a member’s account

⚠️ Refunds, cancellations, and other mile reversals do not qualify

✏️ If you flew and forgot to credit Asia Miles, you can claim them later here: official link

To understand how to earn and use Asia Miles well, start with the partner airlines — every one of them is a potential earn or burn path.

2.1 Partner airlines

oneworld

Further reading: The big three airline alliances: Star Alliance, oneworld, and SkyTeam

Non-alliance partners:

• Bangkok Airways (PG)
• Air Canada (AC) — Star Alliance
• Lufthansa (LH) — Star Alliance
• Swiss International Air Lines (LX) — Star Alliance
• Austrian Airlines (OS) — Star Alliance
• Gulf Air (GF)
• Air China (CA) — Star Alliance
• Shenzhen Airlines (ZH) — Star Alliance
• Air New Zealand (NZ) — Star Alliance
• LATAM Airlines Brasil (JJ)
• LATAM Chile (LA)
• S7 Airlines (S7)

2.2 Earning miles

2.2.1 ❗️ Other points transfers ❗️ Canadian, U.S., and China credit cards, plus hotel points

Canadian credit-card points to airline miles summary (open):

U.S. credit-card points to airline miles summary (open):

Hotel points to Cathay / Asia Miles:

⚠️ * When transferring Marriott points, every 20,000 Asia Miles earned also gets a bonus 5,000 Asia Miles

China bank / card points to Cathay / Asia Miles:

2.2.2 Co-branded credit cards

【Sept 2023 update】 Cathay is partnering with Neo in Canada; the RBC Cathay co-brand will convert, and points will no longer transfer to Cathay

🇨🇦 Neo Financial Cathay Pacific Card

In the U.S. there is the Cathay Pacific Visa Card by Synchrony Bank (details); in China there is the CITIC Bank Cathay co-brand Mastercard Gold (annual fee waivable with spend) — application link: application form (ecitic.com)

2.2.3 Flying

Flights on partner airlines can credit to a Cathay membership account. For earn rates by airline, route, and cabin, see the official details

2.2.4 Other ways to earn

Hotel stays:

Some hotel spends earn Asia Miles directly plus the hotel’s own points; others let you transfer hotel points into Asia Miles. See the official hotel list

Car rental:

For participating rental companies and earn rates, see the official details

Dining:

The earn rate is solid — 1 mile per ¥2 RMB. See the official restaurant list. City coverage is in the image below.

Travel bookings:

Common sites like Agoda, Hotels.com, Rocketmiles, Expedia, and Trip.com all work. See the official details

Shopping:

For which retailers earn Asia Miles, see the official list

2.3 Using miles

For points collectors, the best use is usually redeeming for long-haul business or first class. If you’re willing to dig into the rules, a round-the-world award can also work well.

2.3.1 Other redemptions

Not covered in detail here, and unlikely to be high-value:

• Entertainment (official details)
• Travel (hotels, experiences, etc.; official details)
• Transfer to Marriott Bonvoy at 2:1 😂 (official details)
• Merchandise (official details)
• Charity donations (official details)

2.3.2 ❗️ Redeeming award flights ❗️

Asia Miles prices awards by distance flown. You can redeem with miles only, or with a miles + cash mix. Miles + cash is only available for Cathay and HK Express awards, and the value usually isn’t great — this article focuses on pure-miles awards.

A handy third-party Tampermonkey tool shows 20 days of award inventory at once: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4A04pjWIGeINO1q0Tf2DCA

2.3.2.1 Where to redeem (links and forms)

A) For awards on CX / AS / AT / AY / BA / CA / FJ / IB / JL / LA / MH / QF / QR / RJ / S7 / UL, search on the official site

B) If the itinerary includes Air Canada, Air New Zealand, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Gulf Air, Lufthansa, Shenzhen Airlines, or Swiss International Air Lines,

you need to log in and submit a form. The form looks like this:

2.3.2.2 Award policies

You can redeem awards for up to five other travellers; changing the passenger name incurs a fee (US$50 online, or US$75 via phone support)

Whether you’re changing dates or cancelling, you must do it before the first segment departs.

Date change: US$50 fee, via Manage Booking in your online account

Cancellation: US$120 fee; submit an online refund form (official link)

Own-metal Cathay awards can be booked up to 360 days in advance

That gives Cathay awards an edge over redeeming Cathay flights with many other programs.

2.3.2.3 Award rules

✏️ A) Cathay Standard Award Chart rules (official details):

One-way awards (except oneworld multi-carrier awards and HK Express) allow up to 2 segments and only 1 connection, and the connection may not exceed 24 hours. A-B-C where A, B, and C are in the same country/region counts as one-way; if A and C are in the same country/region but B is not, it is not treated as one-way.

Round-trip awards (except oneworld multi-carrier awards and HK Express) allow up to 4 segments and 1 stopover. Each direction (inbound and outbound) allows up to 2 segments.

Round-trip awards allow at most 1 open jaw at the origin or turnaround point. a. An open jaw at the origin (international itineraries only) is limited to different cities within one country/region. b. An open jaw at the turnaround point may be between any different cities, whether or not in the same country/region. c. Different airports in the same city are not treated as an open jaw.

A round-trip award with no open jaw may include up to 1 stopover plus up to 2 connections. A round-trip with an open jaw at the turnaround point may include 1 open jaw plus up to 2 connections. A round-trip with an open jaw at the origin may include 1 open jaw plus up to 1 stopover plus up to 2 connections.

Round-trip turnaround-point rules (except oneworld multi-carrier awards and HK Express):

a. On a 2-segment itinerary, the first segment’s destination must be both the stopover and the turnaround point (an open jaw at the turnaround is allowed)*; *for example, Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE) (open jaw and turnaround) then Kaohsiung (KHH) to Hong Kong (HKG). b. On a 3-segment itinerary, if there is no open jaw at the origin, the open jaw should be at the turnaround; for example, Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) (open jaw and turnaround) then Osaka Kansai (KIX) to Hong Kong (HKG). c. On a 3-segment itinerary with a connection but no open jaw, the only stopover must be the turnaround; or d. On a 4-segment itinerary, the second segment’s destination must be both the stopover and the turnaround (an open jaw at the turnaround is allowed). e. A connection point cannot be the turnaround of a round-trip. f. The turnaround must also be a stopover.

Long-haul (Type 1) and Long-haul (Type 2) rules — Long-Type 1 & Long-Type 2 in the tables below:

Long-haul Type 1 applies when the inbound or outbound distance is between 5,001 and 7,500 miles and the origin, destination, or turnaround does not include a city in the Americas. If an Americas city is only a connection or stopover (not origin, destination, or turnaround), Long-haul Type 1 still applies. Long-haul Type 2 applies when the inbound or outbound distance is between 5,001 and 7,500 miles and the origin, destination, or turnaround includes any city in the Americas.

✏️ B) oneworld Multi-Carrier Award Chart rules

oneworld multi-carrier awards apply when: a. you fly two oneworld airlines and Cathay is not one of them; or b. you fly three or more oneworld airlines and Cathay is one of them.

The maximum distance band is 50,000 miles.

For oneworld multi-carrier awards, the Asia Miles required are based on the sum of all segment distances (airport to airport). Members may take up to five stopovers, plus two connections and two open jaws.

For multi-segment awards, miles required are priced at the highest cabin class booked on any single segment of the itinerary.

oneworld multi-carrier awards do not offer premium economy.

2.3.2.4 Cathay Standard Award Chart (own metal)

【March 25, 2026 update】 The chart below takes effect from May 1, 2026

April 15, 2025 new award chart — another devaluation

Examples (From/To Hong Kong)	Cabin class	Asia Miles required (one-way)As of 14 April 2025	Asia Miles required (one-way)Starting from 15 April 2025
Hangzhou, Manila, Taipei	Economy	7,500	7,000
Bangkok, Shanghai, Singapore	Economy	10,000	9,000
Denpasar, Osaka, Tokyo	Economy	12,500	13,000
London, Los Angeles, Vancouver	Business	84,000	88,000
Boston, New York, Toronto	Business	110,000	115,000

For Toronto on the East Coast and Vancouver on the West Coast to Hong Kong, economy and premium economy stayed the same; business only rose by 5,000 and 4,000 miles — not especially painful.

Award chart effective from October 2023

Cathay revised its own-metal award chart: 1️⃣ premium-cabin awards devalued by about 20%–30%; 2️⃣ economy awards improved slightly; 3️⃣ Long Type 1 / Type 2 was dropped. The chart effective October 1:

Award chart before September 2023

Distance zone	Economy	Premium Economy	Business	First
Ultra-short / / 1-750 miles	7,500	11,000	16,000	25,000
Short / / 751-2,750 miles	10,000	18,000	25,000	40,000
Medium / / 2,751-5,000 miles	22,000	30,000	45,000	70,000
Long – Type 1 / / 5,000-7,500 miles	30,000	40,000	65,000	100,000
Long – Type 2 / / 5,000-7,500 miles	30,000	45,000	70,000	110,000
Ultra-long / / 7,501+ miles	42,000	60,000	85,000	125,000

2.3.2.5 Redemption examples: Vancouver / Toronto round-trip to Shanghai

2.3.2.6 Partner airline award availability

In theory, Cathay’s partner airlines release the award inventory below to Asia Miles. However, Cathay does not publish a non-alliance partner award chart. The oneworld partner chart is in the next section.

⚠️ Air Canada awards are limited to the following Canadian domestic routes only: ❗️

– Round-trips between Vancouver and Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna, Montreal, Toronto, Victoria, or Winnipeg; – Round-trips between Toronto and Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Regina, Saskatoon, St. John’s, or Winnipeg

2.3.2.7 oneworld Multi-Carrier Award Chart

This chart applies to the following round-trip awards:

Itineraries with two oneworld airlines that do not include Cathay

Itineraries with three or more oneworld airlines that do include Cathay

You may fly any oneworld airline on the same award, as long as total distance does not exceed 50,000 miles.

Awards under this chart allow up to 5 stopovers, 2 connections of no more than 24 hours, and 2 open jaws. Ticketing must be done by phone.

2.3.2.8 Round-the-world awards

The chart above, plus generous stopover and open-jaw rules, makes an Asia Miles round-the-world award realistic.

Online example (all business class, only 210,000 Asia Miles):

1. Los Angeles (LAX) – Madrid (MAD) on Iberia business class
2. Madrid (MAD) – Johannesburg (JNB) on Iberia business class
3. Johannesburg (JNB) – Sydney (SYD) on Qantas business class
4. Sydney (SYD) – Hong Kong (HKG) on Cathay Pacific business class
5. Hong Kong (HKG) – Dubai (DXB) on Cathay Pacific business class
6. Doha (DOH) – Los Angeles (LAX) on Qatar Airways QSuites

2.3.2.9 Sweet spots

• Seattle–Hawaii awards at 15,000 miles one-way
• Ultra-long one-ways that still price reasonably: e.g. North America–Hong Kong–South Africa, North America–Hong Kong–Europe
• North America–Europe awards operated by British Airways (BA), which can save on taxes and fees

2.3.2 Companion awards

If you have already purchased a Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon first- or business-class ticket, you can redeem miles for a companion award so someone can travel with you.

2.3.2 Cabin upgrades

Use miles to move up one cabin for a nicer trip. Note: this award only applies to eligible booking classes (“sub-classes”).

Asia Miles required for one-way Cathay upgrades:

2.3.2 Extra baggage allowance

Want more checked-bag allowance? Redeem miles for extra baggage and save on travel costs. See the official details

2.3.2 Extra legroom seats

Redeem miles for extra-legroom seats for a roomier flight. See the official site for details.

Other updates

Cathay Pacific announces the new Aria Suite on Boeing 777-300ER

Cathay Pacific to reopen its Vancouver Airport lounge on June 16