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Cathay Pacific is one of the oldest airlines in Asia and the flag carrier of Hong Kong. From its base in Hong Kong, the airline serves destinations worldwide and is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance. Its loyalty program — now branded simply as “Cathay” but formerly known as Asia Miles — offers some of the most valuable airline miles for booking premium flights.
Like many loyalty programs, Cathay Pacific’s miles come with an expiration policy that can quietly wipe out your balance if you’re not careful. Here’s how the expiration rules work — and how to easily keep your miles from expiring.
Do Cathay Asia Miles Expire?
Asia Miles will expire if your account has no activity for 18 months. Per the Cathay Pacific FAQ page, the Asia Miles expiration policy is as follows:
“You can keep your Asia Miles active so long as you earn or redeem Miles at least once every 18 months.”
You cannot reinstate your Asia Miles once they have expired. Remember that Asia Miles had two expiration policies running concurrently after it changed its mileage expiration policy in January 2020. However, all the older miles should have been used or expired by now.
Track your points and miles expiration for 630+ loyalty programs and get email alerts before your miles expire by signing up for a free AwardWallet account.
Activities That Will Rest Your Asia Miles Expiration
Both earning and redeeming your miles will reset your mileage expiration.
Earning Cathay Pacific Miles
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles has one of the most well-developed partnership networks, and there are a massive number of ways you can earn Asia Miles, including:
- Take a flight with Cathay Pacific.
- Credit a flight with a Oneworld partner like British Airways or Qatar Airways to Cathay Pacific.
- Book and credit a flight with a non-alliance partner like Air Canada or Air New Zealand.
- Earn Asia Miles on your next hotel stay at brands like Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, Hilton, and Best Western.
- Earn Asia Miles on Expedia, Hotels.com, and other travel bookings.
- Shop online through the Asia Miles portal.
- Earn miles for dining out with Asia Miles dining.
- Rent a car with brands like Avis and Budget (some geographical restrictions apply).
- Earn Asia Miles at many global shopping destinations, such as the Bicester Collection, Laithwaites Direct wines, and DELSEY Paris.
- Earn miles for everyday spending on the Cathay Pacific Visa Signature® card
Redeeming Cathay Pacific Miles
The best way to redeem Cathay miles is for premium cabin flight awards. This is doubly true if you can take advantage of one of the Cathay Pacific sweet spots. That aside, you can also use your miles for a host of other activities, although the value is not as good. You can redeem your Asia Miles for the following:
- Fly with Cathay or a partner.
- Donate your Asia Miles to a good cause.
- Redeem for a car rental, travel experience, or hotel stay.
- Book tickets and other entertainment.
- Pay with miles in the Asia Miles shopping portal.
- Convert your miles to other program points like Marriott Bonvoy and several in-store rewards programs.
Boosting Your Asia Miles Balance
Fortunately, Asia Miles has a wide range of flexible points currency partners. If you need to boost your balance rapidly for an award or to stop some miles from expiring, you can transfer at the following ratios.
The breadth of transfer partners adds a lot of value to the Asia Miles program. The functionality means you can rapidly take advantage of some of the program’s best redemptions. Also, it makes Asia Miles a perfect program to consolidate small point balances for a premium award booking.
Related: Back to Basics: An Introduction to the Types of Reward Points
Track Your Asia Miles Expiration With AwardWallet
With only 18 months before your Asia Miles expires due to inactivity, it pays to stay on top of your mileage expiration deadlines. Otherwise, your miles can slip away, and it is too late to do anything.
Fortunately, AwardWallet can keep an eye out for your mileage expiration and give you ample warning so you can take action and prevent your miles from expiring. To let AwardWallet track your Asia Miles balance and send you reminders before miles disappear, log in and add Asia Miles to your AwardWallet account.
Related: How to Track Your Rewards Using AwardWallet
Our Take
Although 18 months is on the short end of the spectrum for mileage expiration policies, it should not be a significant issue. That's because Cathay Pacific is generous with what it classes as qualifying activity to extend the validity of your miles. This, in turn, means that as long as you stay on top of your expiration deadline, there is almost no excuse for ever letting your Asia Miles expire.
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