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Do you have an Asia Miles account? If so, you might have the chance to earn 65,000 bonus Asia Miles, the highest ever for the Cathay Pacific Credit Card. But, you won’t find this offer on regular Cathey Pacific website. It’s a targeted offer that members can find in their email or mailbox. If you have one, you can earn 25,000 more miles than the regular bonus of 40,000 miles. Read on to learn how.

How to Earn 65,000 Bonus Asia Miles

If you have an invite, you have six months to spend $5,000 (USD) to earn the bonus miles. Cathay Pacific divides the spending requirement into two parts:

  • 35,000 miles when you spend $2,500 in the first 90 days
  • Extra 30,000 miles after spending an additional $2,500 in the first six month

It takes 60,000 miles to book a roundtrip award flight in coach from the U.S. to Asia. With this bonus, your next trip to Asia is paid for with bonus miles.

Other Cathay Pacific Credit Card Benefits

Besides the 65,000 bonus miles, you can enjoy these purchase rewards with the Cathay Pacific Credit Card:

  • 2x miles on Cathay Pacific purchases
  • 1.5x miles on dining
  • 1.5x miles on all purchases outside the U.S.
  • 1x mile for all domestic U.S. purchases
  • No foreign transaction fee

And, you can also enjoy these bonus Cathay Pacific miles too:

  • 2-day priority flight award redemption
  • 10% redemption discount on select travel purchases
  • 10% savings on Asia Miles gift miles, mileage renewal, and transfer fees
  • Free Marco Polo Club Green membership for the first year

With Green membership, you can enjoy Club perks like priority boarding, extra legroom seats, and a checked baggage allowance for most flights. After the first year, you must spend $100 or redeem 20 Club points to renew your Green membership.

It’s also important to note that the Cathay Pacific Visa Signature Credit Card has a $95 annual fee. There isn’t a foreign transaction fee.

Alternatives to the Cathay Pacific Credit Card

What if you don’t qualify for the Cathay Pacific Credit Card bonus offer?

There are several other ways to earn bonus Asia Miles too. It so happens, they are a 1:1 transfer partner for American Express Membership Rewards.

Platinum Card from American Express

One of the most air travel-friendly credit cards is the Platinum Card from American Express.

It’s the fastest way to earn miles from any airline purchase. Cardholders have the ability to earn 5 miles per $1 spent on plane ticket purchases plus 5 points per $1 on hotel nights booked on AmexTravel.com.

You can transfer your Membership Rewards points on a 1:1 basis to your Asia Miles account.

Other premium travel benefits include:

  • $200 airline fee credit
  • $200 in Uber credits
  • Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
  • Free access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection

It also has a signup bonus of 60,000 bonus Membership Rewards after spending $5,000 in the first three months. These points are enough to book a roundtrip economy flight from the U.S. to Hong Kong.

American Express Gold Card

Until very recently, the card was the Premier Rewards Gold. It’s now renamed the American Express Gold Card.

It also earns Membership Rewards points that you can transfer to Asia Miles. It can be more reasonable if you don’t use all of the Platinum Card’s benefits.

There are exciting purchase rewards and benefits including:

  • 4x points at U.S. restaurants and supermarkets (after $25,000 spent in US supermarkets annually, earn 1x points per $1)
  • 3x points on flights booked directly on AmexTravel.com
  • $120 in annual dining credits to select dining partners
  • $100 airline fee credit
  • No foreign transaction fee

You earn 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards points by spending $2,000 in the first three months.

Booking Cathay Pacific Award Flights

Cathay Pacific uses a distance-based award chart. It’s easiest to redeem your miles for any Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon award flight.

Short-haul flights of 750 miles or less start at 7,500 miles for an economy class seat.

If you want to book an award flight from the United States to Asia, you can expect to pay the following for a roundtrip flight:

  • Economy: 60,000 miles
  • Premium Economy: 90,000 miles
  • Business: 140,000 miles
  • First Class: 220,000 miles

Book Regional Flights on Cathay Dragon

Cathay Dragon is a local airline of Cathay Pacific. It used to operate under the name of Dragonair. Once you arrive in Asia, you might take advantage of their short haul flights.

You can visit beachy Phuket from Hong Kong for 20,000 miles roundtrip.

Or, you can also fly into mainland China.

Book Oneworld Partner Flights

Cathay Pacific is a Oneworld alliance member. In some cases, partner flights can be cheaper than booking directly with the carrier. For example, it takes 50,000 Asia Miles to fly roundtrip economy from New York to Paris. During peak season, American requires 60,000 miles.

You might also enjoy using Asia Miles to book flights on Alaska Airlines or British Airways too.

In other instances, partner flights can cost more. For example, it takes 80,000 miles to book an economy roundtrip flight on American from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. On Cathay Pacific, you only spend 60,000 miles.

If you want to book a partner flight, you can book flights with the following carriers online:

  • Alaska Airlines
  • British Airways
  • Finnair
  • Iberia
  • Qantas
  • Qatar Airways

For other partner flights, you must submit a Flight Award request form online.

Flying Cathay Pacific First Class Flights

You might also decide to save your points for a first class flight. Some of the first class benefits include:

  • Private onboard suite
  • Premium First Class lounge access in Hong Kong
  • Access to other worldwide Cathay Pacific lounges
  • Dedicated check-in service at the airport

Summary of Bonus Asia Miles With the Cathay Pacific Credit Card

If offered, jumping on the invite to earn 65,000 bonus Asia Miles can be worth it. Your best redemption options can be on the Cathay Pacific flights. But, being able to redeem them for Oneworld partner flights is a flexible option too.

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