Main Frequent Flyers Programs Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Program overview 

Asia Miles is the frequent flyer program of Cathay Pacific, member of the Oneworld Alliance. This program has a lot of airline, hotel and credit card partners. Asia Miles offers some great reward opportunities and attractive pricing. Its 48 hours transfer policy (closer to 24 in many cases) combined with courtesy holds for award reservations and waitlist option awards make it an excellent Oneworld transfer partner for credit card points.

Alliance

Oneworld 

Program website 

https://www.asiamiles.com/ 

Approximate miles value 

1.2 cents per mile

Miles validity 

Asia Miles do not expire as long as you earn or burn at least once every 18 months

Program accrual

Based on a combination of cabin class, fare class and distance zone

Limit on amount of miles you can purchase 

30% of the desired award 

Waitlist option

Yes for Cathay Pacific flights only 

Courtesy Hold for award reservation

Allowed 

Do you need to open an account to check availability?

Yes

Stopover option 

No stopovers for one-way tickets. 1 stopover is allowed for round-trip

Family account

No

Upgrade option

Yes

Online booking 

Yes

Airline partners 

Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Bangkok Airways, British Airways, Fiji Airways, Finnair, Gulf air, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LATAM, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7, Sri Lankan Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, SWISS, Shenzhen Airlines

Credit card partners

American Express (1:1, 48 hours transfer), Citi ThankYou (1:1, instant transfer),  Capital One (1:1, up to 48 hours transfer)

Hotel partners 

IHG Rewards (5:1, 6 weeks transfer), Marriott Bonvoy (3:1, 5 days transfer), Hilton Honors (10:1, up to 30 days transfer), World of Hyatt (2.5:1, 6-8 weeks transfer ), Radisson Rewards (10:1, 4-6 weeks transfer), Accor Live Limitless (2:1, 4-6 weeks transfer), Best Western Rewards (5:1, 4-6 weeks transfer)

Co-Branded credit card in the US 

Cathay Pacific Airways Visa from Synchrony Bank 

Point/Miles Conversion Chart

Pros 

  • Free date changes
  • Waitlist Cathay Pacific awards free of charge is possible
  • Good price and availability for Oneworld airlines

Cons 

  • One-way awards are allowed but cost more than half the round trip awards
  • The stopover can be booked over the phone only
  • Redemptions are limited to the nominated people per account

Excellent for   

  • From any Australian city to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific in Premium Economy for 30,000 miles.
  • From Melbourne to Tokyo in Qantas or Japan Airlines in Business for 70,000 miles.
  • From Sydney to Los Angeles in Qantas First Class for 120,000 miles.
  • From the US to Asia in First Class for 110,000 miles, in Business Class for 70,000 miles. 
  • From the US to Europe on American Airlines for 50,000 in Business class.
  • From the US to Europe on British Airways for 50,000 in Business class with significantly lower taxes than with British Airways Avios.
  • Qatar Airways or Royal Jordanian flights from the US to the Middle East for 75,000 in Business Class. 

Insider Tip 

  • This is an “old-fashioned” program that still offers free stopovers, waitlists and award reservation courtesy holds. On a round-trip ticket, you’re allowed a maximum of four sectors and a single stopover. 
  • You can redeem a hotel, car rental or experience award for anyone in your redemption group (up to 5 people). Thereafter, a Member may replace an existing Nominee or add a new Nominee to replace a previously deleted Nominee up to three times per Membership Year. It costs $50 to replace an existing Nominee.
  • If you see a British Airways operated flight available through Avios or AAdvantage, the same award would be available through Asia miles with much lower taxes, especially in premium classes. Asia miles partners with many of the same cards as British Airways Avios.
  • Asia Miles is the most attractive Oneworld transfer partner from Capital One, followed by Qantas
  • The Homebase Stopover Strategy works well for Hong Kong based travelers.

Do you use this program? Share your experience and tips in the comments below. Your thoughts would be very valuable to us!

Comments: 2
Kenneth Lau K.C. 17 May 2023 at 02:26:45 #
I am a member of AsiaMiles for decades. Due to pandemic ,have not travelled for years. Therefore forgot my password. Request help to sign in the account . My mobile phone may not have linked to the account and therefore unable to receive the one time verification code How can I update my password and get back to signing in to the account.? Thank you.
Pavlina from WikiMiles 30 May 2023 at 11:29:11 #
Hi Kenneth, thank you for your comment! You will need to reset your password with Asia Miles directly. You may do it with your email address also. Please note mobile number or email address can only be used to reset your password if it’s been verified. You can do it here - https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_HK/membership/password-setup.html?cxsource=SIGN_IN-RESET_PASSWORD
If this still does not work we recommend you to contact Asia Miles and ask them to do this for you.