Cathay Pacific will devalue Asia Miles from May 2026

Cathay Pacific has announced a devaluation to its Asia Miles programme, which will increase the cost of award flights on its own metal from Friday, 1 May 2026.

The changes are fairly modest. The largest increase — to ultra long-haul Business Class awards — is just 4,000 miles, and some short-haul awards have actually decreased by up to 2,000 miles. 

However, it’s worth noting that we have now seen three devaluations in quick succession — one just last year in April 2025, and another in October 2023. Taken together, these have resulted in a significant increase in the cost of long-haul Business Class awards, which are now 40% more expensive than they were less than three years ago.

This trend, coupled with the fact that Asia Miles no longer publishes award charts for Cathay Pacific or partner flights, makes me rather uneasy about the future of the programme. It feels like we are edging ever closer to dynamic award pricing, where changes could be made with no advance notice provided. 

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles award chart devaluation

Here’s a summary of how the Asia Miles award chart for Cathay Pacific flights will change from 1 May 2026.

As a reminder, this award chart is not actually published. Cathay removed the chart a year ago, and the only way to find award flight prices is by using the calculator on their website.

There is a 1,000-2,000 mile reduction in the cost of short-haul Business and Premium Economy awards. For example, Singapore to Hong Kong in Business Class will soon cost 27,000 Asia Miles, instead of 28,000 Asia Miles today (though I’d sooner redeem this flight through Qatar Privilege Club for 22,000 Avios, and no fuel surcharges).

On the other hand, there will also be a 2,000-4,000 mile increase in the cost of long and ultra long-haul Business Class awards. As I said earlier, these bands were increased in 2023, and then again in 2025, so this marks the third hike in a relatively short span of time. 

To put those numbers into perspective, here are some examples that Cathay Pacific has provided for the five affected zone and cabin combinations.

If you need to find the distance of your flight, you can compute it quickly with the GCMap tool.

You can still book awards at the current prices up till 11.59 p.m (GMT+8) on 30 April 2026, even if your travel takes place after the devaluation comes into effect.

Cathay Pacific award flights can be booked up to 360 days in advance, so if you leave it till the last moment, you could lock in the existing prices for a flight up to 25 April 2027. 

How does Asia Miles compare to KrisFlyer now?

Following the devaluation, here’s how much Cathay Pacific awards will compare to Singapore Airlines awards on the affected routes and cabins.

I should point out that it’s not a straight 1:1 comparison, because Cathay Pacific flights will involve a further stop in Hong Kong, and award flights on Cathay Pacific will have fuel surcharges.

That said, we can see that Asia Miles has lost its edge for Business Class travel to Europe and the USA, unless you stay within the 7,500 mile boundary. Business Class award flights to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Milan and Zurich cost 91,000 miles, versus 108,500 miles KrisFlyer.

Asia Miles will also retain the advantage for short-haul Economy/Business redemptions, with routes like Singapore to Hong Kong costing just 9,000/27,000 miles (versus 15,500/35,500 miles for KrisFlyer).

Partner awards are (supposedly) unaffected

Cathay Pacific has not mentioned any changes to the cost of partner awards, so my assumption is that these remain unchanged.

Again, it’s hard to be definitive because Asia Miles does not publish an award chart for travel on oneworld and other partner carriers (except for multi-carrier awards). Historically speaking, however, prices have reliably followed the chart below.

We’ll need to wait and see what happens on 1 May 2026 to know for sure.

Conclusion

Cathay Pacific will be adjusting its Asia Miles award chart from 1 May 2026. While there are some small decreases for short-haul Business and Premium Economy flights, we’re seeing yet another increase for long-haul and ultra long-haul Business Class— the third increase since October 2023!

Given that we just saw a devaluation barely 12 months ago, this appears to suggest that the airline has decided to conduct higher frequency, lower magnitude devaluations.

I’m also concerned by Cathay’s continued refusal to publish its two most important award charts: for travel on its own metal, and travel on partners. To be fair to them, there hasn’t been any monkey business going on— prices do strictly adhere to the (unpublished) award chart. However, its absence does not bode well for transparency, and leaves the door open to unannounced devaluations.

(Cover photo: Plane’s Portrait Aviation Media)