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Cathay Pacific’s loyalty program is Asia Miles. Within this program you can earn miles and book flights on Cathay Pacific or on Oneworld partners.
Until 27 August 2026, Cathay Pacific is refunding 800 Asia Miles for every 5,000 miles redeemed on Economy and Premium Economy award flights, on Standard Awards only.
Cathay Pacific, a Hong Kong-based airline, has an extensive route network connecting the city to major cities worldwide!
The link to sign up for Asia Miles is here. There is no fee to open an account.
Cathay Pacific elite status does not sit within Asia Miles. It is a separate program, the Marco Polo Club, which rewards Cathay Pacific travellers for their loyalty with benefits such as lounge access, upgrades and more.
Unlike Asia Miles, joining the Marco Polo Club costs US$100.
The Marco Polo Club has four elite status tiers: Green, Silver, Gold and Diamond.
To reach elite status you need to earn a certain number of Club points when flying Cathay Pacific or its partners. The number of Club points earned depends on the airline, the route and the class of service.
The table below shows how many Club points you need to reach or keep a tier during a membership year, not a calendar year.
Note also that the Club points count resets to zero once a tier is reached.
You can also unlock benefits at certain Club point totals, between two tiers.
Finally, on top of those Club points, you must fly at least one eligible sector on Cathay Pacific itself to qualify for elite status.
Once the joining fee is paid, you enjoy Green status straight away. For following years you need 20 Club points to keep the status, or you pay the US$100 fee again.
On top of the Green benefits, you get:
This status also brings certain benefits on Air New Zealand flights between Hong Kong and Auckland: preferred seat selection, priority check-in and boarding, Air New Zealand Business Class lounge access and more.
On top of the Silver benefits, you get:
On top of the Gold benefits, you get:
When you fly Cathay Pacific or its Oneworld partners, you can earn Asia Miles.
The number of Asia Miles earned depends on the airline, the fare class and the distance flown. So you earn more Asia Miles on long Cathay Pacific business class flights than on a regional economy segment.
Asia Miles has a calculator to work out how many Asia Miles, and Club points if you belong to the Marco Polo Club, you will earn on your flight. Here is what you would receive after a Hong Kong to Vancouver flight in business class, for example.
You can use the same calculator to work out the Asia Miles you can earn on partner flights.
Finally, note that you can only earn Asia Miles on specific routes with certain “other” partners, such as Air Canada.
You can earn Asia Miles flying Air Canada on the following routes:
In Canada there are several ways to build up Asia Miles through transfer partners.
When you transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, a 5,000 mile bonus is granted. So in that case, converting 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points gives 25,000 Asia Miles.
And by using an American Express Cobalt® Card day to day, you can effortlessly earn 3.75 Asia Miles per dollar!
American Express Membership Rewards points and RBC Rewards points transfer easily to Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles program.
That is the simplest and fastest way to build up miles outside of credit card welcome bonuses.
On the RBC side, you can convert RBC Avion points into Asia Miles. Since several RBC credit cards carry generous welcome bonuses, you can build up a lot of Asia Miles without much effort.
Cathay Pacific is a member of the Oneworld alliance. So Asia Miles can also be used on Cathay Pacific flights and on a large number of partners such as American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qantas and others.
Beyond the Oneworld airlines, you can also use Asia Miles, with some restrictions and constraints, on Star Alliance carriers and others:
What makes Asia Miles interesting is its use of fixed award charts based on distance. So unlike other programs where the mileage cost is dynamic, Asia Miles has several sweet spots.
That third award chart is particularly useful for building mini round-the-world itineraries.
As with any loyalty program, you generally get more value from your reward miles within the same program.
So booking a Cathay Pacific-operated flight with Asia Miles is the best use of those miles in almost every case.
There are also no carrier surcharges on Cathay Pacific award tickets.
Here is the award chart for Cathay Pacific flights.
You can see that a one-way business class flight between Toronto and Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific costs 85,000 Asia Miles (fixed price).
For comparison, a flight in the same cabin on Air Canada can run to 142,500 Aeroplan points (dynamic pricing).
That said, other Oneworld programs might offer lower point costs, such as AAdvantage and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, but award availability is wider for Cathay Pacific Asia Miles members.
It is also easier to build up Asia Miles in Canada thanks to credit card transfer partners and welcome bonuses.
To book a Cathay Pacific flight, simply log in to your account and complete the online booking.
Just like Cathay Pacific-operated flights, the number of Asia Miles needed to book a partner ticket is a fixed price based on zone.
However, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles does not publish an award chart you can consult to find how many Asia Miles your destination requires.
Asia Miles does have a calculator though. Just enter the details of the route you want to book and the various rates appear.
All partner flights are also subject to carrier surcharges. So you pay more in taxes and fees when booking partner flights with Asia Miles.
For example, for the famous Qsuite flight between Montreal and Doha (a distance of 6,478 miles), you would spend 75,000 Asia Miles plus $522.56 in fees (and to get 75,000 Asia Miles you would need to transfer 100,000 Membership Rewards points).
(Note that since Qatar Airways Privilege Club moved to the Avios currency, it is more worthwhile to use Avios for this type of flight.)
We recommend using the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles calculator before you start earning miles, if you intend to book a ticket on a partner airline.
You should then compare with other loyalty programs before making any transfer, to work out which program is best to book with, in points and in taxes and fees.
In most cases, prices and surcharges may well be higher with partners. So plan your strategy carefully.
The partner booking process can look complex. Only the following airlines can be booked online, and the process is identical to Cathay Pacific flights.
If you want to book a flight on another partner not listed above, you have to do it by phone.
There are specific conditions to meet on stopovers
To make a booking with a stopover you have to call. The rules and restrictions can be very tight, but some agents can occasionally make exceptions.
As we have seen, partner bookings are not always worthwhile. But when you book an itinerary with at least two Oneworld partners, excellent Asia Miles opportunities open up!
With this award chart you can build round-the-world style itineraries at a good price with Asia Miles! It is an excellent way to visit several cities and try a number of different airlines (AvGeek alert).
The rates on this chart are based on the distance flown and the class of service.
The rules to follow are:
The best tool for planning this kind of itinerary with Asia Miles is GCmap.
Here is an example that can be booked with this award chart.
This itinerary covers a total of 20,207 miles. So a business class ticket costs 185,000 Asia Miles plus taxes and fees.
I could of course have dropped a stopover or adjusted the distance to come in just under the 20,000 mile threshold and save some Asia Miles. It is up to you to build your itineraries around your goals!
That way you get to visit 5 different cities and try 5 different airlines!
This kind of itinerary brings back fond memories of the round-the-world itineraries under the old Aeroplan program!
This way of using Asia Miles is an EXCELLENT way to squeeze the most value out of your miles. It is not the only sweet spot with Asia Miles, but it is definitely the reason you should take an interest in the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles program.
To book this type of ticket, you first need to find availability on each of the flights you want. Then make sure the itinerary follows the rules. Finally, simply call Asia Miles to make the booking.
You can also use Asia Miles for an upgrade to business or first class. The number of Asia Miles required is based on the distance flown.
Again, there are several rules to follow; you can only upgrade from economy to business when there is no premium economy cabin on the flight.
And not every fare class is eligible for an upgrade with Asia Miles.
Another feature of the Asia Miles program is that you can use miles to travel with a companion.
On certain routes, you can bring someone with you.
However, your own ticket must be paid in cash and in business class (J, C, D, I) or first class (F, A). As always, work out the total cost (dollars plus miles) and calculate the value you are getting from your Asia Miles.
Here is the award chart for a companion award ticket (return flight prices)
Finally, you can redeem miles for merchandise, hotel nights, car rentals and so on.
We always recommend using points for what they were designed for, though. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles are airline miles. So they should be used for flights, to get the best value out of them.
Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles program is often underrated by Canadians.
Using Asia Miles for round-the-world trips should not be overlooked, especially given how easy it is to get these miles directly or by transferring your American Express Membership Rewards or RBC Rewards points into the program!
Savings are this way:
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