Starting from October: Award Flights & Upgrades with Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles) up to 68% More Expensive

cathay pacific B777 ZRH

Currently, one frequent flyer program after another is devaluing its award chart. Now it’s Cathay Pacific‘s turn with Cathay (formerly Asia Miles): Starting from October, prices for almost all award flights will be increased, up to 39%. The change is even more significant for upgrades, with up to a 68% increase.

Cathay has already published the new award chart, which will take effect for new bookings from October 1, 2023. Until then, bookings can still be made at the current rates. The currently valid award chart can be viewed here for comparison.

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In addition to miles, Cathay Pacific always charges taxes, fees, and (comparatively low) fuel surcharges for award flights.

For example, a one-way flight from Hong Kong to Frankfurt in Business Class currently costs 65,000 miles plus €127. This includes €45 in “real” taxes and an €84 fuel surcharge.

Award Flights with Cathay up to 29% More Expensive.

To save you from browsing through individual tables, we have summarized the changes below. It is noticeable that only a few connections in Economy Class have become cheaper than before. In Premium Economy, Business, and First Class, almost everything becomes more expensive – and significantly so.

In Economy Class, prices decrease on average by 3.3 percentage points. Only flights to, e.g. Tokyo increase in price (from 10,000 to 12,500 miles) plus taxes and fees:

Award Chart Economy: old & new compared
ZonePrice Economy (old)Price Economy (new)Change
1 – 750 miles7,500 miles7,500 miles
751 – 2,750 miles10,000 miles10,000 / 12,500 miles0% or +25%
2,751 – 5,000 miles22,000 miles20,000 miles-9%
5,001 – 7,500 miles30,000 miles27,000 miles-10%
7,501+ miles42,000 miles38,000 miles-10%

In Premium Economy, everything becomes more expensive except for short-haul flights (up to a maximum of 750 miles). Depending on the zone, we’re talking about increases ranging from 11% to 28% (and an average of 19%):

Award Chart Premium Economy: old & new compared
ZonePrice Premium Eco (old)Price Premium Eco (new)Change
1 – 750 miles11,000 miles11,000 miles
751 – 2,750 miles18,000 miles20,000 / 23,000 miles+11% to 28%
2,751 – 5,000 miles30,000 miles38,000 miles+27%
5,001 – 7,500 miles40,000 / 45,000 miles50,000 miles+25% or +11%
7,501+ miles60,000 miles75,000 miles+25%

In Business Class, you can expect an average price increase of almost 19%. If we exclude ultra-short-haul routes (where Business Class hardly pays off), it looks even worse:

Award Chart Business Class: old & new compared
ZonePrice Business Class (old)Price Business Class (new)Change
1 – 750 miles16,000 miles16,000 miles
751 – 2,750 miles25,000 miles28,000 / 32,000 miles+12% or 28%
2,751 – 5,000 miles45,000 miles58,000 miles+29%
5,001 – 7,500 miles65,000 / 70,000 miles84,000 miles+29% or +20%
7,501+ miles85,000 miles110,000 miles+29%

The same trend continues in First Class. Routes between 2,751 and 5,000 miles (e.g. Hong Kong – Sydney) and over 7,500 miles (e.g. Hong Kong – New York) are most affected:

Award Chart First Class: old & new compared
ZonePrice First Class (old)Price First Class (new)Change
751 – 2,750 miles40,000 miles43,000 / 50,000 miles+8% or 25%
2,751 – 5,000 miles70,000 miles90,000 miles+29%
5,001 – 7,500 miles100,000 / 110,000 miles125,000 miles+25% or 14%
7,501+ miles125,000 miles160,000 miles+28%
Cathay Meilentabelle Okt 2023
The new award chart (© Cathay Pacific)

Up to 68% More Miles Required For Upgrades To Business Class

When it comes to upgrades to Business Class, it is even worse than for award flights. On some long-haul routes, you will need up to 68% more miles than before.

Below are the tables for upgrades to Business Class:

Upgrades Economy → Business Class (old and new)
ZoneEconomy → Business (old)Economy → Business (new)Change
1 – 750 miles12,500 miles11,000 miles-9%
751 – 2,750 miles17,000 miles19,500 / 22,500 miles+15% or +32%
2,751 – 5,000 miles28,000 miles40,500 miles+45%
5,001 – 7,500 miles41,000 / 43,000 miles59,000 miles+44% or +37%
7,501+ miles48,000 miles77,000 miles+60%
Upgrades Premium Economy → Business Class (old and new)
ZonePremium Eco → Business (old)Premium Eco → Business (new)Change
1 – 750 miles7,500 miles8,000 miles+7%
751 – 2,750 miles12,000 miles14,000 / 16,000 miles+17% or +33%
2,751 – 5,000 miles18,000 miles29,000 miles+61%
5,001 – 7,500 miles25,000 / 28,000 miles42,000 miles+68% or +50%
7,501+ miles35,000 miles55,000 miles+57%

Upgrading from Business to First Class also becomes significantly more expensive, up to 54%. Only on ultra-short-haul routes up to 750 miles does the value decrease:

Upgrades Business → First Class (old and new)
ZoneBusiness → First (old)Business → First (new)Change
1 – 750 miles16,000 miles15,000 miles-6%
751 – 2,750 miles25,000 miles26,000 / 30,000 miles+4% or +20%
2,751 – 5,000 miles35,000 miles54,000 miles+54%
5,001 – 7,500 miles50,000 / 55,000 miles75,000 miles+50% or +36%
7,501+ miles65,000 miles96,000 miles+48%
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To save us some work, we did not include upgrades from Economy to Premium Economy. If you’re interested, you can compare the old and new tables yourself.

Up to 39% Increase in Multi-Carrier Award

The Multi-Carrier Award includes flights with multiple partner airlines (and up to 5 stopovers) in one booking. This allows for a round-the-world trip at a relatively good mileage value. At least until now, as it will become significantly more expensive in the future.

Our colleagues at Meilenoptimieren have done the maths and depending on the travel class, the increases range from 5% to 39%. Business Class flights between 14,000 and 25,000 miles are most affected – which is exactly a typical round-the-world trip.

Unclear Development For Partner Awards

It is unclear how expensive award flights with partner airlines such as British Airways, JAL, or Qatar Airways will be from October onwards. Currently, e.g. the Qatar Business Class from Munich and Berlin to Doha costs around 30,000 miles + nearly €300 in surcharges. We assume that the values will also be significantly increased here, but clarity will likely only come when it’s too late.

Conclusion

Admittedly, the 68% in the title initially sounds more dramatic than the actual devaluation is. But even the numerous increases in the range of 30% are a significant change. Now, for example, you need 84,000 miles for a one-way flight from Frankfurt to Hong Kong in Business Class.

What is particularly ridiculous is that Cathay is trying to sell the changes in the FAQs as good news to allegedly improve the availability of award seats. It is logical that there will be more available seats when fewer users can afford an award flight.

Nevertheless, Cathay can be praised for two things: The fuel surcharges are still in a somewhat humane range, and the change was announced nearly 3 months in advance.

Do you have some miles that you’d like to spend before the devaluation comes into effect? Then feel free to search for award flights using our form:

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