Asia Miles overhauls miles accumulation and redemption on Cathay flights

Asia Miles, one of the region's biggest rewards programmes, is changing the way that members earn and redeem miles when flying. From 22 June onwards, members will earn more miles when they fly Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon, and there will be more redemption seats available on those airlines. This comes after Cathay revamped its loyalty programme to win back customers late last year which also increased the accumulation rate of points on booked flights.“We’ve been listening to our members who want to be able to redeem more flight awards, so we’re making it easier for them to earn more miles and redeem seats on Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon,” said Stephen SY Wong, Chief Executive Officer of Asia Miles. “Whilst we are a diverse travel and lifestyle rewards programme, air travel is still a very popular way to earn and redeem Asia Miles. We want to make it more rewarding so that our members continue to see value in being part of the programme.”When members fly Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon, they will earn more Asia Miles on 80% of the airlines’ tickets, including those to popular destinations such as Shanghai, Osaka and London. Members will earn miles based on a combination of the cabin class, fare class and distance zone. When members wish to use other airlines for point redemption, the miles earning mechanism will remain unchanged – based on a percentage of actual miles flown, determined by the cabin and fare classes.Moreover, available seats on Cathay flights will be increased by 20% and members will be able customise how exactly they want to spend their miles - for example, flight awards are set to one-way, so you can choose to fly on different cabin classes on your journey to and from your destination. There will be three tiers in terms of award - standard, choice and tailored - which will allow fliers to choose between maximising the value of their miles, or spend a few more for more choice.The online flight award booking system has additionally been overhauled on both desktop and mobile, to make it easier to redeem and book flights. “We are making a significant commitment to give our members more of the travel and lifestyle experiences they value,” said Stephen SY Wong, Chief Executive Officer of Asia Miles.