 | |
| Type | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Cathay Pacific |
| Introduced | February 1999 |
| Tagline | Life Rewarded[1] |
| Website | asiamiles |
Asia Miles is aloyalty andfrequent-flyer program launched byCathay Pacific. Launched in February 1999, it allows members to earn miles by making different purchases with co-branded credit cards or on partnered flights, hotels, dining, financial services, retail, and technology products and services.[2] Membership is free and open to individuals aged two or above.
Other than Asia Miles, Cathay Pacific also owns theMarco Polo Club, a four-tiered paid frequent-flyer program for Cathay Pacific andOneworld member airlines flights. Marco Polo Club members are automatically enrolled as members of Asia Miles.[3] As of 2020, the program has over 11 million members and over 800 programme partners worldwide.[4]
Asia Miles and its managing company, Cathay Pacific Loyalty Programmes Limited, was launched and founded in February 1999 inHong Kong. The company was then renamed to Asia Miles Limited.[5]
In January 2015, 4.7 million miles and gifts worth HK$100,000 were stolen from 121 accounts, four persons were arrested. Stronger online security measures were introduced and affected accounts were reimbursed.[6]
In July 2019, Cathay Pacific took over low-cost carrierHK Express as a wholly owned subsidiary.[7] The airline joined Asia Miles while closing down their own frequent-flyer programreward-U. All reward-U points are converted to Asia Miles, with a one-off conversion rate of 8 reward-U points to 1 Asia Miles.[8]
In January 2020, Asia Miles changed their miles expiration rule from a time-based expiry system to activity-based system, where users can keep their miles by using the miles every 18 months.[9]
Although Cathay Pacific is one of the founding members of theOneworld alliance, Asia Miles has partnered with multiple airlines outside the alliance.
As of August 2022[update], other than Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary airlineHK Express, partnered airlines include:
Asia Miles has partnered with over 800 partners in dining, hotel, telecom, and retail sectors for earning and redeeming miles.
Co-branded credit cards are also launched since 2016 for earning miles. Asia Miles partnered withStandard Chartered for their first co-branded credit card in 2016 andAmerican Express for the Hong Kong market.[10] Further partnerships with banks such asChina CITIC Bank,Cathay United Bank, andBNU were made for co-branded credit cards in outside markets such as mainland China, Taiwan, and Macau.
Originally, Asia Miles were earned under a time-limited system, set to expire after three years. This was changed in January 2020 to an activity-based system where miles will remain valid as long they are either earned or redeemed at least once every 18 months.[9][11]