Cathay Pacific has announced a major overhaul of its Cathay loyalty programme, which will take effect from 1 January 2027.
Unlike similar “enhancements” we’ve seen from other airlines, these changes are surprisingly customer-friendly, and will go a long way towards addressing some perennial pain points that members have raised.
In short, Cathay will be making five major changes:
- Status Points will no longer reset to zero after qualifying for a higher tier
- Membership qualification will be based on calendar year activity
- Gold and above members can roll over up to 50% of the Status Points required for requalification
- A new Diamond Exec tier will be added at the 2,400 Status Points level
- Diamond and above members can earn a reserve year of Diamond status with every 6,000 lifetime Status Points
The full details of these changes, together with FAQs, can be found here.
Status Points no longer reset after upgrade
One of the most annoying things about the current Cathay programme is that once a member qualifies for a higher tier, their Status Points reset to zero and any excess is wasted. This also means a member cannot climb more than one tier in a single membership year.Â
For example, a Green member would require 2,100 points and a minimum of three membership years to progress to Diamond (300 for Silver + 600 for Gold + 1,200 for Diamond). In fact, the actual requirement will probably be even higher, since there will invariably be some wastage when moving up the tiers (e.g. if you’re 20 Status Points short of Silver and earn 50 Status Points on a flight, 30 will be wasted!)
Thankfully, starting from 1 January 2027, Status Points will be carried forward after an upgrade, allowing members to potentially climb multiple status tiers in a single membership year.Â
Membership cycle shifting to calendar year
From 2027, Cathay will transition to a standard 1st January to 31st December membership cycle for all members, instead of the current rolling 12-month period.
Here’s how Cathay describes the transition plan:
- Your current membership in 2025 and associated status benefits will remain unchanged until its current expiry date
- When your membership renews or changes in 2026 under the existing membership programme rules, whatever status you hold at that point will be valid until 31 December 2026
- On 1 January 2027, your membership status will be determined by the Status Points you have earned from 1 January – 31 December 2026, based on the new requirements of the membership programme
| Status Points earned (from 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2026) |
Status in 2027 |
| 0-299 | Green |
| 300-599 | Silver |
| 600 to 1,199 | Gold |
| 1,200 to 2,399 | Diamond |
| 2,400 or above | Diamond Exec |
While calendar year tracking will provide greater consistency and simplicity for members in the long run, the transition will inevitably be a bit messy, and raise questions of fairness. If your membership year finishes towards the end of the 2026 calendar year, you’ll only have a few months to enjoy your privileges— though it also means that the 2026 portion of your 2025/26 qualification activity will “double count” towards 2027 qualification.Â
Status points rollover for Gold and above
From 2027, Cathay Gold, Diamond and Diamond Exec members will be able to roll over up to 50% of the Status Points required to requalify for their current tier into the following calendar year.
- Gold members can roll over up to 300 of the 600 required Status Points
- Diamond members can roll over up to 600 of the 1,200 required Status Points
- Diamond Exec members can roll over up to 1,200 of the 2,400 required Status Points
Rollover Status Points will be credited by the end of February each year.
New Diamond Exec tier
Cathay will be introducing a new tier called Diamond Exec, which will be positioned between the current Diamond and invite-only Diamond Plus tiers.
Diamond Exec will be mapped to oneworld Emerald, and require 2,400 Status Points to qualify. It includes the following benefits:
- 4x single-sector Upgrade Passes for a single upgrade to the next immediate class, up to First Class (currently referred to as Bookable Upgrades)
- 1x complimentary Gold companion membership for a family member or friend
- Dedicated relationship manager to handle bookings, enquiries and support in case of travel disruptions
- Access to First and Business Class lounges for member and two guests when travelling on Cathay Pacific or oneworld airline
- Departure buggy service at Hong Kong International Airport
Having a new elite tier with 2x the qualification requirement will be somewhat analogous to what Singapore Airlines already has, with Solitaire PPS Club (50,000 PPS Value) and PPS Club (25,000 PPS Value).
Diamond membership reserve
From February 2027, members who have held Diamond, Diamond Exec or Diamond Plus status for a minimum of five cumulative years throughout their membership tenure will be awarded a complimentary Diamond membership year for every 6,000 Status Points accumulated within their membership lifetime.
There is no limit to the number of Diamond membership years that can be accrued, and these do not expire, allowing members to claim them when they need it the most. That said, 6,000 Status Points is a hefty requirement indeed, equivalent to five years of normal Diamond qualification.Â
Perhaps it’s fortunate then that Cathay will also consider historical Status Points and years spent as a Diamond member (basically your entire membership history).
- Years in Diamond: We will calculate the total time you’ve held Diamond status, starting from the beginning of your membership.
- Total Status Points earned: We will count every Status Point you’ve earned since 2016, the year they were introduced.
From 20 October 2025, 5 p.m Hong Kong time, members with at least one year of Diamond membership will be able to view their total Status Points earned and years in Diamond on this page.Â
Mid-status benefits
From 1 January 2027, Cathay will phase out the mid-status benefits currently offered to Gold and Diamond members, though it will retain key perks like Upgrade Passes (currently known as Bookable Upgrades) and complimentary Gold companion membership.Â
Any mid-status benefits earned in 2026 will remain valid for 12 months from the date of issue.Â
Conclusion
Big changes are coming to Cathay Pacific’s loyalty programme from 2027, and on the whole they strike me as positive developments.
The elimination of Status Points resets will make it easier to qualify for elite status, or even climb several tiers within a year. Excess Status Points can be rolled over for Gold and higher members, while Diamond elites will be able to bank additional years of Diamond membership for use during lean periods. Diamond Exec also sounds promising, though we’ll need to wait for real-world reports as to how useful a relationship manager actually is.
What do you make of these Cathay changes?
Positive for some, but not so positive for current Diamonds that comfortably requalify every year, but not so comfortably as to be in a position to make Diamond Exec. While it’s fine to introduce a higher tier than Diamond and give Diamond Execs further enhanced privileges, it’s not right to downgrade Diamond benefits, just so that the company can give them to Diamond Execs. Specifically, Diamonds now see a reduction of the upgrades to just two (and to Business only) and no longer having the ability to earn a Gold membership for someone else. No amount of marketing language can… Read more »
M&M is famous for using the concept that “a lot of users demanded it”, in German “auf vielfachem Kundenwunsch” which was delightful to see ripped apart by M&M members for being such absurd marketing speak acrobatics. I would much prefer them to be honest, but then again I also understand that shiny words can make things pass better than very obvious and blunt negative ones.
I agree. I think it would actually hurt Cathay’s revenue because there are quite a few people who qualify comfortably into Diamond but will never hit Diamond Exec (eg I earn roughly 1500-1900 status points each year) – but these customers will no longer be incentivised to stick to Cathay after they hit 1200 SP. So these customers will consider other cheaper airlines after they hit 1200. 2400 SP should be quite rare – that’s 10 business class return trips HK-NY or 12 business class return trips HK-Europe. I think Cathay will be losing revenue on this.
I would wish the same for Solitaire, as I find the current tier too low. I do side with PC on the matter of not downgrading Solitaire benefits just to give them to the new, higher, tier. However I do think there is an argument to be had that a higher tier, no matter how rare, would be a good idea to push revenue for SQ. For instance, since I fly a lot and don’t really need more “miles”, I was thinking of just passing the Solitaire 50’000 SGD treshold and then putting miles on M&M to have the SEN… Read more »
Cathay should join the AVIOS currency.
Diamond Exec is pretty similar to QF Platinum One, with a potentially lower qualification threshold, depending on travel patterns, which may be attractive to some.