What Is The Value Of Cathay Pacific Asia Miles?

Points & Miles Value
Calculate the cash value of your Asia Miles and see how much they are worth on average when redeemed for flights, hotels, and more.
Last Updated 2020-04-17 By R.Flowers III

Asia Miles are valued at an average of 1.2 cents when used for award flights, but can be worth more or less depending on the cabin class and distance of the flight. Outside of flight awards, miles can also be used for hotels, car rentals, entertainment, and more.

Award Flights

Asia Miles can be redeemed for award flights at an average value of 1.2 cents per mile. Of course, you can get a higher value redeeming your points for business and first class flights due to the high price of those tickets.

Instead of looking at it from a cash standpoint, it's best to look at how many award flights your points can earn you. You can use the Asia Miles Award Charts to see the required miles to fly on Cathay Pacific based on cabin class and distance zone.

To give you an idea about flight distance, below are a few distances between big cities.

  • San Francisco (SFO) to Hong Kong (HKG) - 6,910 miles
  • New York (NYC) to London Heathrow (LHR) - 3,446 miles
  • Detroit (DTW) to Japan (NRT) - 6,414 miles
Award chart for Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.

Choice & Tailored Awards

Asia Miles can be used for Choice Awards and Tailored Awards. These awards give you a better chance at booking a seat on Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights, but will cost you additional points. This includes a good chance on popular routes and during peak season as well.

Asia Miles Choice Awards. Costs more miles, but provides better chance.

Cabin Class Upgrade

You can use Asia Miles for a cabin class upgrade. The cost of this upgrade will depend on the class you're upgrading to and the distance of the flight.

Long haul flights are going to run you between 22,000 to 55,000 Asia Miles for upgrades between various cabins. This can be a cheaper way to experience a better class after finding a good price on a booked ticket.

Save a significant amount of points when booking rewards for a companion.

Companion Ticket

Asia Miles can be redeemed for a Companion Ticket. This only applies to Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights in which the member purchased a first or business class ticket for travel.

The companion ticket has to be on the same flight, date, and class of service. Do note that they tickets only apply to round-trip flights.

Valid classes consist of F and A for First Class and J, C, D, and I for Business Class. This can save you a great deal of miles considering Companion Passes are offered at a pretty noticeable reduced rate.

Redeem For Hotels & Cars

Asia Miles can be redeemed for hotel stays using the Asia Miles Travel Portal which will give your miles an average value of 0.7 cents each. I did find a handful of hotels that offered as much as 0.82 cents in value and some as low as 0.65 cents each.

tokyo marriott hotel asia miles
Use your Asia Miles to book hotel stays.

When booking your hotel with Asia Miles, you'll have access to all room types which will typically cost more miles as you move up to 'better & bigger' rooms. This isn't the best use of Asia Miles considering the big difference in value from airfare redemptions, but it can be useful if you're looking to avoid paying for a room.

You can also use Asia Miles to book car rentals using the same portal. This will also give your Asia Miles around a value of 0.7 cents with the chance to get a slightly higher or lower value depending on the redemption

asia miles detroit redeem car rental
Get around 0.7 cents in value booking car rentals.

If you want to calculate the exact value of your hotel or car rental, you can use the Points & Miles Cash Value Calculator. It will calculate the value of your points based on the total cost in cash and the total cost in Asia Miles along with any taxes/fees.

Redeem For Types Of Awards

Asia Miles can be redeemed for several different types of 'awards': Experience Awards, Lifestyle Awards, and Entertainment Awards.

Experience Awards

Asia Miles can be used for experiences. The value of these redemptions will heavily vary on the actual experience. These options range from sightseeing tours to airport transfers to admission to parks and museums.

If you know the cash value and the cost in Asia Miles you can use the Points and Miles Cash Value Calculator to calculate the value of your miles and see if it's worth it to you.

Lifestyle Awards

Asia Miles can be used to purchases electronics, beauty products, sports and outdoor equipment, and more. The value of your Asia Miles when used for these items will depend on what you're redeeming.

Most of the items I priced came out to being around 0.4 to 0.5 cents per Asia Mile. Most of the stuff offered will usually not be worth using your Asia Miles for as you will get a ridiculously low value.

Use Asia Miles to purchase electronics and other name brand items.

Entertainment Awards

Entertainment awards primarily focus on concerts and events going on around Hong Kong and surrounding areas. This is accessible through Lifestyle Awards under 'Entertainment and Events'. As with the lifestyle awards, the value of this redemption will depend on the event and how much you value the entertainment being provided.

Asia Miles can be donated to several programs and charities. This includes UNICEF, Red Cross, and C.A.R.E Society.

You can also donate your points to social goods to help with things like medicines, speech therapy, and more.

Transfer Asia Miles To Partners

Asia Miles can be transferred to Esso (gas) and Singapore's PLUS! program. You can convert rewards earned with either program to your Asia Miles account to help you build up your miles.

  • 500 Asia Miles For 375 Esso Smiles Points
  • 800 Asia Miles For 600 LinkPoints

Asia Miles Value Calculator

The Point Calculator values Asia Miles at around 1.2 cents each when used for award flights. Redemptions for flights, seat upgrades, and companion tickets will generally give you the best value.

Miles can also be used for other forms of travel as well as for shopping, but this will greatly reduce the value of your miles. Enter any amount of Asia Miles in the calculator below to calculate the average cash value of your Asia Miles based on redemption.

Enter any amount of miles to see the average cash value.
Miles
Redemption Estimated Value
Award Flights $0+
Hotels $0
Car Rentals $0
Lifestyle Awards / iRedeem $0 - $0

Best Ways To Earn Asia Miles

Asia Miles are earned flying Cathay Pacific and their airline partners, but you can earn a lot more miles through intro bonuses and everyday credit card spending. Cathay Pacific has one major credit card transfer partner: American Express Membership Rewards.

American Express Membership Rewards

Membership Rewards points can be transferred directly to your Asia Miles account at a 1:1 ratio meaning that every 1,000 AMEX points you transfer will give you 1,000 Asia Miles. This makes it extremly easy to earn tens of thousands of Asia Miles through AMEX's intro bonuses and earn anywhere from 1X to 5X miles per $1 on everyday spending.

Here are our favorite Membership Rewards credit cards for earning Asia Miles:

Credit Card Highlights Annual Fee
Best For Lounge Access & Luxury Travel
  • Intro Bonus: 80,000 Bonus Points
  • Earn 5X points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (up to $500,000, then 1X)
  • Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel
  • Earn 1X points on all other eligible purchases
  • Global Airport Lounge Access including Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Club Lounges (when flying Delta), Airspace Lounges, Escape Lounges, and Priority Pass Lounges
  • Over $1,400 in annual credits which includes airline incidentals, Uber Cash, digital entertainment, Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection, and more
  • Enroll in complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and Hilton Honors Gold status
  • Terms Apply
$695
Best For Restaurants & U.S. Supermarkets
  • Intro Bonus: 60,000 Bonus Points
  • Earn 4X points at restaurants and on up to $25,000 in annual U.S. supermarket purchases
  • Earn 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
  • Earn 1X points on all other purchases
  • Up to $120 in Uber Cash credit each year
  • Up to $120 in dining credits each year
  • Terms Apply
$250
Best For Lounge Access & Luxury Business Travel
  • Intro Bonus: 120,000 Points
  • Earn 5X points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com
  • Earn 1.5X points on select business purchases and on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else, on up to $2 million of these purchases per year
  • Earn 1X points on all other eligible purchases
  • Global Airport Lounge Access including Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Club Lounges (when flying Delta), Airspace Lounges, Escape Lounges, and Priority Pass Lounges
  • Over $1,400 in annual credits which includes Dell, Adobe, Indeed, CLEAR, and more
  • Get 35% points back when you redeem points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with AMEX Travel
  • Enroll in complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and Hilton Honors Gold status
  • Terms Apply
$695
Best For Business Rewards
  • Intro Bonus: 70,000 Points
  • Earn 4X points on the 2 select categories where your business spent the most each month
  • Earn 1X points on all other purchases
  • Get 25% points back when you redeem points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with AMEX Travel
  • Terms Apply
$295
Best For Small Business & Miscellaneous Purchases
  • Intro Bonus: 15,000 Points
  • Earn 2X points on the first $50,000 in purchases per year, then 1 point per dollar thereafter
  • No annual fee
  • Terms Apply
$0

FAQ

How much are Asia Miles worth?

The Point Calculator values Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at 1.2 cents each on average towards flights. This means 10,000 miles are worth about $120 in value.

What's the best use of Asia Miles?

Asia Miles have the best value when redeeming them towards flights with Cathay Pacific and other airline partners.

Calculate Total Rewards & Card Value Per $1 Spent For 200+ U.S. Credit Cards
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