Asia Miles & Marco Polo Club Programs Merge as “Cathay”

Cathay Pacific has retired its Marco Polo Club and Asia Miles loyalty programs, combining them into a single new program simply called “Cathay”. Existing accounts with both programs will transition into Cathay accounts.

Previously, Cathay Pacific used two separate loyalty programs. Asia Miles was free to join and allowed members to earn and redeem miles that could be redeemed for rewards such as flights and upgrades. But earning status with Cathay Pacific would have required a separate Marco Polo Club membership. This was unusual in the airline industry and often caused confusion.

The former Marco Polo Club program had a USD100 joining fee, but also came with benefits from the moment you joined. Marco Polo Club members would start out at the “Green” level, which automatically came with benefits including priority check-in and priority boarding when flying with Cathay Pacific. Members could then upgrade to a higher tier by earning “club points” on Cathay or Oneworld flights. Unusually though, you would need to earn at least 20 club points per year (or pay USD100) just to keep your Marco Polo Club membership active.

Earning and renewing status with Cathay

With Marco Polo Club now retired, all Cathay members can now earn status with the airline without having to pay for a separate membership. But priority check-in and boarding are no longer offered to members of the new Cathay program at the base level.

The basic requirements to upgrade to Silver, Gold or Diamond status with Cathay remain unchanged, although “club points” have been renamed to “Status Points”.

You’ll now need to earn 300, 600 or 1,200 Status Points during your membership year, and fly at least one eligible Cathay Pacific flight, to qualify for elite status. Green level membership will no longer expire if you don’t take any flights.

In addition to flying, Hong Kong residents also now have the opportunity to earn Status Points through credit card spend.

Cathay Pacific frequent flyers who previously held status with Marco Polo Club are also currently being offered an easy status tier extension until the end of 2023, in light of the ongoing restrictions on travel to Hong Kong, by completing one of a range of challenges.

Asia Miles are the currency of “Cathay”

Asia Miles remains the currency of the new Cathay loyalty program. There have been no significant changes to the way Asia Miles are earned or redeemed, but “eligible members” will soon have access to “special rates” when redeeming for Miles Plus Cash awards. Silver, Gold and Diamond members will also soon be able to earn more miles when shopping, dining or travelling with Cathay.

Cathay says that it is enhancing its digital experience, including its website and mobile app, to allow members to earn and redeem Asia Miles, accrue Status Points and access their membership card in one place.

Unfortunately though, several AFF members have noticed that redeeming Asia Miles for flights on Cathay’s website has become a lot more difficult since the changeover to the new loyalty program. The new website is full of bugs that didn’t previously exist under the old Asia Miles program. Hopefully these are just temporary teething problems!

Since 2020, Asia Miles no longer expire after a fixed term and can be kept alive by maintaining activity in your account at least once every 18 months.

Conclusion

Overall, the change to a combined Cathay program is designed to simplify what was previously an overly complex pair of loyalty programs. But, beyond the name change, it doesn’t seem like that much has changed at this point.

The new program has a larger focus on earning Asia Miles in ways other than flying such as dining, shopping, holidays, wellness and credit card payments. It represents a shift towards more of a “lifestyle” program, which is not surprising for a Hong Kong-based airline given it is still not possible to travel to Hong Kong in August 2022 without quarantine.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: CX new merged loyalty program