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

Cathay Pacific – which has been having some rather bad operational issues of late- has launched a new Asia Miles transfer promo that offers a 10% bonus on all credit card points transfers completed by 31 March 2024.

Registration is required, and there’s no minimum conversion required, nor cap on the maximum bonus that can be earned. This promotion is open to members whose preferred mailing country is outside Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific 10% Asia Miles transfer bonus

Register Here

From 29 December 2023 to 31 March 2024, Asia Miles members who register via the promotion’s landing page and successfully convert credit card points will receive a 10% bonus.

There is no cap on the maximum bonus that can be earned, and 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 31 March 2024 to be eligible for the bonus. There will be some lead time involved with every bank, so don’t wait till the last minute. I would recommend providing at least a one week buffer; two weeks if you’re paranoid.

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 31 March 2024 (i.e. by 9 June 2024)

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 June 2024 if they do not receive their bonus miles. 

Terms & Conditions

The T&Cs of this offer can be found here

Which banks are eligible?

The full list of eligible banks can be found at this link; be sure to change the location (at the top of the screen) to see the relevant partners for your country. 

In Singapore, the following banks are participating:

💳 Minimum Transfer Blocks by Bank
Bank	Transfer Ratio (w 10% bonus)
Platinum, Centurion	400 MR points= 250 275 miles
All other cards	450 MR points = 250 275 miles
	27K BOC points = 6K 6.6K miles
	25K TY points = 10K 11K miles
	10K Citi Miles = 10K 11K miles
	5K DBS Points = 10K 11K miles
	25K HSBC points = 10K 11K miles
	12.5K TREATS = 5K 5.5K miles
	5K UNI$ = 10K 11K miles

Remember: the bonus is fulfilled by Cathay Pacific, so you will not see it reflected on the banks’ transfer portals when making the conversion. 

If you’re planning to transfer points from a HSBC credit card (other than TravelOne), do note that conversions are temporarily unavailable. This has been an issue since November, and while HSBC says they’re aware of the problem, no resolution has been forthcoming yet. 

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, you shouldn’t feel obliged to jump on this promotion.

Cathay’s recent Asia Miles devaluation

Asia Miles underwent a devaluation on 1 October 2023, which saw an 8-29% increase in the cost of premium cabin awards.

Particularly noteworthy for Singapore-based members was the nerfing of the “65,000 miles Europe sweet spot” for Business Class travel.

Even though Asia Miles awards on Cathay Pacific will still be cheaper than KrisFlyer awards on Singapore Airlines for the ≤7,500 miles routes to Europe (84,000 Asia Miles vs 103,500 KrisFlyer miles), that advantage may not hold once you factor in the inconvenience of a stopover in Hong Kong, plus Cathay Pacific’s fuel surcharges (Singapore Airlines does not impose these).

A few other changes worth highlighting: 

• Singapore to Europe in Economy Class has decreased from 30,000-42,000 miles to 27,000-38,000 miles (-10%)
• Singapore to Hong Kong in Business Class has increased from 25,000 miles to 28,000 miles (+12%)
• Singapore to Tokyo in Business Class has increased from 45,000 miles to 58,000 miles (+29%)
• Singapore to San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York in Business Class has increased from 85,000 miles to 110,000 miles (+29%)

So unless your preference is to redeem seats in long-haul Economy Class, the changes were universally bad. 

Also devalued was the Asia Miles Multi-carrier Award (MCA) chart, which is bad news for anyone planning a pseudo round-the-world trip.

For example, if you planned to do a Business Class trip that covers 18,500 miles in total, the price you’d pay has increased from 165,000 miles to 230,000 miles (+40%). 

As a reminder, the multi-carrier award chart is used whenever an itinerary involves:

• Two oneworld airlines, where Cathay Pacific is not included
• Three or more oneworld airlines, where Cathay Pacific is included

Cathay, of course, spun this devaluation as an enhancement- no surprise there!

There’s still uses for Asia Miles to be sure, but I find it less compelling than before. For the full analysis of the October devaluation, refer to the post below.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles devaluation coming October 2023

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 31 March 2024, Cathay Pacific is offering an uncapped 10% bonus on credit card points transfers. 

I’m relatively lukewarm about this for two main reasons: the October 2023 devaluation, and the fact that premium cabin award space on Cathay Pacific has become very tough to find (despite the programme promising “improved award seat availability” when spinning the devaluation).

Don’t forget that the bonus won’t 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.

(HT: lbs)