17 Best Ways To Earn Lots of Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

BY 

Jennifer Koebele

- March 8, 2017January 10, 2019

1. Earn Points  / 
2. Earn Airline Points

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Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s largest airline, is a founding member of the Oneworld Alliance and offers flights to over 140 destinations. Its hub is located at Hong Kong International Airport.

In this post, we’ll show you all the ways to earn miles in the Cathay Pacific frequent flyer program, Asia Miles. Your earned miles can then be redeemed for various travel and lifestyle rewards!

The Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Program

1. Enroll in Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Asia Miles members earn miles by taking Cathay Pacific flights and booking travel with its many partners.

Free memberships are available to travelers ages 2 and up, but consent is required from a parent or legal guardian for those under 17.

After enrolling in Asia Miles, you will receive a confirmation email with an attached temporary membership card so you can start earning miles right away. Asia Miles are valid for 3 years from the month miles are credited to the account.

The Marco Polo Club Program?

Cathay Pacific has a separate elite status program called the Marco Polo Club.

While Asia Miles members earn miles they can redeem for travel rewards, Marco Polo Club members earn tier miles. These miles are used to move up status tier levels and get access to flight perks like priority boarding and lounge access.

Unlike many other loyalty programs that offer bonus miles based on status, Marco Polo Club members do not earn bonus Asia Miles.

Note that Marco Polo Club members are automatically enrolled as Asia Miles members, but Asia Miles members are not automatically enrolled in the Marco Polo Club. If you are interested in the Marco Polo Club, you can enroll here.

Bottom Line: Asia Miles is the program used for earning miles toward award flights, and is what we will discuss in this article. Marco Polo Club is the elite status program.

2. Earn Miles for Cathay Pacific Flights 

Always provide your membership number when making a reservation, and present it during check-in to ensure you receive the applicable miles in your account. The airline advises keeping your boarding passes and tickets until miles have been applied to your account.

Asia Miles lauched a totally new earning table Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights on June 22, 2018:

Hot Tip: Create a Redemption Group by nominating up to 5 friends and family members. As the Principal Member, you may transfer Asia Miles to group members in blocks of 5,000 with a 10,000-mile minimum. Service fees apply; see Terms and Conditions for more information.

Using Credit Cards To Earn Asia Miles

3. Cathay Pacific Credit Card

The Cathay Pacific Airways Visa® from Synchrony Bank directly earns Asia miles. Bonuses have ranged from 25,000-75,000 miles.

4. American Express Membership Rewards Cards

Are you enrolled in the American Express Membership Rewards program? If so, you can convert the Membership Rewards you earn to Asia Miles at a 1:1 ratio. The following table lists credit cards you can use to earn Membership Rewards.

Recommended Amex Cards (Personal)

AMEX CARD	BENEFITS & INFO
American Express® Gold Card	Earn 35,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $2,000 on eligible purchases with your new card within the first 3 months. Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points at US restaurants. Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points at US supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X). Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com. $100 Airline Fee Credit: up to $100 in statement credits per year for incidental fees at one selected airline. Terms Apply. Annual Fee: $250
The Platinum Card® from American Express How We Get $1,500+ In Value From This Card (Per Year) >	Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases in your first 3 months. 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel. Access more than 1,200 airport lounges across 130 countries and counting, including the amazing Centurion® lounges. Up to $200 Uber Savings Annually. $200 Airline Fee Credit. Terms. Annual Fee: $550

Recommended Amex Cards (Business)

AMEX CARD	BENEFITS & INFO
The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express	Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 0.0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, then a variable rate, currently 13.49%, 17.49% or 21.49%. Terms. Annual Fee: $0
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express See How To Also Get $1,250+ in Value Per Year >>	Welcome Offer: Earn up to 75,000 Membership Rewards® Points. Earn 50,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 & an extra 25,000 points after you spend an additional $10,000 all on qualifying purchases within your first 3 months of Card Membership. Get 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com. Access more than 1,200 airport lounges across 130 countries and counting, including the amazing Centurion® lounges. $200 Airline Fee Credit. Terms. Annual Fee: $450
American Express® Business Gold Card	More Rewards: Get 4X Membership Rewards® points on the 2 select categories where your business spent the most each month. These categories include Airfare purchased directly from airlines, U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio); U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions; U.S. purchases at gas stations; U.S restaurants or for U.S. shipping. 4X points apply to the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year. Airline Bonus: Get 25% points back after you use points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with Amex Travel, up to 250,000 points back per calendar year. Pay Over Time Option: A flexible payment option to help manage cash flow on purchases of $100 or more. Terms. Annual Fee: $295
Are you a business owner? For more details, see our American Express business credit cards article or in-depth 2018 business credit cards guide to find the perfect card for your company.

5. Citi ThankYou Rewards Credit Cards

Citi ThankYou points transfer to Asia Miles.

Each 1,000 ThankYou points = 1,000 Asia Miles!

CREDIT CARD	CARD INFO
Citi ThankYou® Premier Card	Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Redeemable for $750 in Airfare at ThankYou.com 3 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on Travel, including Gas Stations 2 points per $1 spent on dining/entertainment Annual Fee: $95, waived for first 12 months

6. Capital One Miles

Capital One miles now transfer to Asia Miles at a 2:1.5 ratio. Instead of redeeming your Capital One miles in the Capital One Travel Portal for cash tickets, you now have the option to transfer them to your Asia Miles account.

Using Asia Miles can potentially save a ton of miles when looking to book first or business class tickets by using the Asia Miles award chart compared to 1 cent per point of the cash ticket price using the Capital One Travel Portal.

Make sure you have a Capital One card that has the transferable miles feature. Here are our picks:

Recommended Capital One Cards That Earn Miles (Personal)

Credit Card	Benefits & Info
Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card	Earn 20,000 mile sign up bonus (worth $200) once you spend $1,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. 0% Intro APR on purchases for 12 months Earn 10X miles per $1 spent across thousands of hotels Earn 1.25X Miles on every purchase An excellent beginner card for lower credit scores without ongoing membership fees Annual Fee: $0
Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card	Earn 50,000 mile sign up bonus (worth $500) once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. Earn 10X miles per $1 spent across thousands of hotels Annual Fee: $0 intro for the first year, $95 after that.

Recommended Capital One Cards That Earn Miles (Business)

Credit Card	Benefits & Info
Capital One® Spark Miles For Business	Limited Time Offer: Earn up to 200,000 miles: Earn a bonus of 50,000 miles when you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months and 150,000 miles when you spend $50,000 in the first 6 months of opening your account. Earn 2 miles per $1 on every purchase, every day Redeem miles for travel, cash back, gift cards and more No foreign transaction fees Annual Fee: $0 intro for first year; $95 after that
Capital One® Spark Miles Select For Business	Earn 20,000 miles once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening Earn 1.5 miles per $1 on every purchase, every day Save on interest with 0% intro APR on purchases for 9 months; 14.74% - 22.74% variable APR after that No annual fee

7. Marriott-SPG Credit Cards

You can earn Marriott points and transfer those to Cathay Pacific at a transfer rate of 3:1. Plus, for every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer, you’ll receive an extra 5,000 Asia Miles bonus.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Travel Partners

8. Cathay Pacific Partner Airlines

Cathay Pacific is a Oneworld Alliance member and has additional partner airlines. Earn miles by flying these partner airlines, check out current rates.

Cathay Pacific also has its Asia Miles partners:

9. Cathay Pacific Hotel Partners

Cathay Pacific has A LOT of hotel partners all over the world, making it easier than ever to earn loads of extra Asia Miles. Click on a hotel link for more information about the individual offer.

Stay at a Hilton Worldwide property and choose Points & Miles to double dip from Honors: earn 10 Honors points + 1 Asia Mile per eligible USD spent!

10. Converting Hotel Points

Earning miles with partner hotel stays is great, but it’s not the only way to get miles from hotel stays. The hotels in the table below also allow you to convert reward points to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles!

11. Partner Hotel Credit Cards

You can also use credit cards associated with hotel loyalty programs to earn reward points. Then, just transfer those points to your Cathay Pacific Asia Miles account! For example, Hilton Honors, Marriott Rewards, and World of Hyatt all have branded credit cards.

CREDIT CARD	CARD INFO
Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card	Earn 125,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases within your first 3 months of Card Membership. Plus, earn a free weekend night after you spend $15,000 on purchases on your card in a calendar year. 12X on qualifying purchases with hotels from the Hilton portfolio. Earn 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations. Terms. Annual Fee: $95
Hilton Honors American Express Card	Earn 75,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after spending $1,000 within your first 3 months after approval. 7X points on qualifying purchases with hotels from the Hilton portfolio. Terms. Annual Fee: $0
Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card	This product is currently unavailable through Upgraded Points
IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card (Learn More)	Earn 10x points at IHG hotels and 2x points on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants. Annual Fee: $89
Chase Hyatt Credit Card (Learn More)	3x points at Hyatt properties and 2x points at restaurants, airfare purchased directly from the airline and car rental agencies Annual Fee: $75

12. Partner Rental Car Agencies

Rent a car with a Cathay Pacific partner and earn 500 miles or 1 frequent flyer program mile per $1.

Shopping for Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

13. Asia Miles iShop

The Asia Miles iShop includes online retailers in categories including fashion, home, office, and so much more.

It doesn’t cost more to shop through the iShop links. In fact, the prices are the same as if you shopped with the merchants directly…but you’re earning miles at the same time!

Making purchases through the Asia Miles iShop is simple.

1. Sign in to the Asia Miles iShop website.
2. Enable the “cookies” function, so Asia Miles can track your path from iShop to the merchant’s website and allocate miles.
3. Click “Shop Now” under the merchant’s description.
4. Purchase the items you want.

You’ll receive an acknowledgment email within 5 days and another email once the merchant approves your transaction. The miles will appear in your account within 30 days.

Special Offers from Asia Miles

14. The Asia Miles Offers and Promotions Page

Find deals from Cathay Pacific travel partners and non-travel partners worth extra Asia Miles on the Special Offers page. Check back frequently for new deals!

15. Cathay Pacific Holidays

Purchase travel through Cathay Holidays Limited right from the Cathay Pacific website. Check out the table below to find out how many Asia Miles you can earn when booking a personalized package.

16. PointsHound

Earn at least 1 Asia Mile per $1 for completing a reservation at any hotel booked on PointsHound. To start earning:

1. Sign up for an account at PointsHound.com.
2. Choose Asia Miles as your “Preferred Program” and enter your membership number.
3. Browse hotels based on your travel dates.
4. Use your credit card to reserve a hotel.
5. Your Asia Miles will credit to your account when you complete your stay.

17. Earn Asia Miles for Booking a Hotel Meeting

Book a qualified event at one of the participating Langham Hotels and Resorts, and not only will you get a place to hold your meeting, but you’ll also get Asia Miles! Meetings at Langham Hospitality Group properties earn as follows:

See terms and conditions for offer rules.

Also, earn Asia Miles for booking a meeting or event at a participating Hilton or Conrad Hotel. Receive 1 Asia Mile and 1 Hilton Honors point per $1 spent.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this article has shown you how to maximize the miles you earn with Cathay Pacific in very simple ways. For an international airline based in Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific provides plenty of opportunities for members in North America to earn miles.

If you haven’t already enrolled in the Asia Miles loyalty program, it’s time to do it now! Then you can start racking up the miles in your Cathay Pacific Asia Miles account.

Photo Credit:

Cathay Pacific Featured Photo: Markus Schmal/Shutterstock.com

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