Cathay Pacific Asia Miles offering 10% bonus on credit card points transfers

Cathay Pacific has announced a new Asia Miles transfer bonus that runs from now till 30 June 2023.

Asia Miles members who register and make at least one bank point conversion transaction during this period will receive a 10% bonus, with no cap on the maximum bonus that can be earned. 

This is open to members with registered addresses in South East Asia, namely:

Cathay Pacific 10% Asia Miles transfer bonus

Register Here

From 25 May to 30 June 2023, Asia Miles members who register via the promotion’s landing page and successfully convert credit card points will receive a 10% bonus.

While the T&Cs do not explicitly mention this, Cathay Pacific has confirmed with me that there is no cap on the maximum bonus that can be earned. Moreover, the bonus applies to all transfers made during the promotion period, not just the first one.

As a reminder, your conversion must be completed by 30 June 2023 to be eligible for the bonus. There will be some lead time involved with every bank, so don’t wait till the last minute.

While you can probably get away with a one week buffer, two weeks would be safest. 

When will the bonus be credited?

Miles transferred under this campaign will be credited in two batches:

• The regular miles will credit initially according to the usual timeline
• The 10% bonus miles will be credited within 8-10 weeks after 30 June 2023 (i.e. by 8 September 2023)

Based on a previous campaign (which also had a similar crediting timeline), bonus miles were credited 54 days after the end of the promotion period, so I’d say you should expect them to appear on schedule. 

Members are responsible for notifying Asia Miles by 30 September 2023 if they do not receive their bonus miles. 

Terms & Conditions

The T&C of this offer can be found here (scroll down to the bottom and expand).

10% discount on hotel redemptions

Members who participate in the transfer bonus promotion will also receive a voucher for 10% off hotel bookings with Asia Miles.

That said, I doubt this will be of much use to most of us, since the best value for Asia Miles (like all mileage programmes) is for flight redemptions. Redeeming miles on the ground, be it for hotel stays, car rentals or bubble tea, almost always entails poor value. 

The voucher will be emailed by 10 July 2023.

Which banks offer transfers to Asia Miles?

Points conversions from all banks in South East Asia offering Asia Miles transfers will be eligible for the 10% bonus.

In Singapore, the following banks offer transfers to Asia Miles: 

💳 Minimum Transfer Blocks by Bank
Bank	Transfer Ratio w 10% bonus
	450 points = 275 miles
(Platinum, Centurion)	400 points= 275 miles
	27K points = 6.6K miles
	25K points = 11K miles
	10K Citi Miles = 11K miles
	5K points = 11K miles
	25K points = 11K miles
	12.5K points = 5.5K miles
	5K points = 11K miles

Residents of other countries can refer to this page for the full list of transfer partners. 

How does this compare to previous bonuses?

Cathay Pacific typically offers 10-15% transfer bonuses, so this current offer would be on the lower end of the range. If you have no immediate need for Asia Miles, it might be better to wait till the next offer comes along.

Asia Miles sweet spots

Asia Miles is my backup programme to KrisFlyer, and while it certainly has some sweet spots, they’re undermined somewhat by the return of fuel surcharges on Cathay Pacific flights. Indicative fuel surcharges for a R/T Business Class redemption between Singapore and the USA are S$388. 

Here’s a reminder of Cathay Pacific’s standard award chart.

Assuming you don’t mind a stop in Hong Kong, sweet spots include travel to Europe and the USA:

• San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York: 170,000 miles for R/T Business Class
• Barcelona, London, Manchester, Paris: 170,000 miles for R/T Business Class
• Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Milan, Rome, Zurich: 130,000 miles for R/T Business Class

The trick for Europe is to stay within the 7,500 miles band, so as not to attract the higher pricing. You can calculate mileage flown using GC Map (don’t forget that a stop in Hong Kong will be required). 

Alternatively, you can consider oneworld awards with British Airways, Qantas and Qatar Airways, although all three airlines will have hefty fuel surcharges too.

Finnair might be a good bet since its fuel surcharges are relatively more reasonable, but award space out of Singapore is very hard to come by. Award space seems to be better out of Bangkok, however, where a one-way Bangkok to Helsinki award would set you back just 61,000 Asia Miles.

But if you find all that too pedestrian, why not shoot for an Asia Miles Multi-Carrier Award? It’s cheaper than its KrisFlyer equivalent, and less restrictive too!

Planning a round-the-world award? Forget KrisFlyer; use Asia Miles’ best-kept secret

How much are Asia Miles service fees?

Asia Miles levies the following service fees for award bookings:

• Date change: US$25 per person per sector (online) or US$40 per person per sector (phone)
• Destination change: US$100 per person per ticket
• Refund: US$120 per person per ticket 

When do Asia Miles expire?

All Asia Miles earned from 1 January 2020 never expire so long as you earn or redeem at least one mile every 18 months. 

Apart from converting credit card rewards points, you can keep your Asia Miles balance active by:

• Making a flight redemption
• Crediting a paid Cathay Pacific or oneworld partner flight
• Booking a hotel through Kaligo or Rocketmiles
• Transferring Linkpoints (290 points = 110 Asia Miles)
• Converting Esso Smiles points (150 Smiles = 100 Asia Miles)
• Buying a small item (like an iTunes song) or gift card on Cathay’s online store

Given the wide range of options, there’s really no reason why your Asia Miles should be expiring!

Conclusion

From now till 30 June 2023, Asia Miles members can earn a 10% bonus for transferring credit card points, with no cap on the maximum bonus miles.

Don’t forget that the bonus will not be credited instantly; you’ll have a wait of up to 10 weeks after the end of the promotion. If you’re travelling in the near future, remember to factor that into your calculations.

Also remember that there will be some lead time in processing the points conversion; don’t leave this till the very last moment!