5 Things to Know About the Cathay Pacific Credit Card
The card earns decent rewards, but a general travel card would offer more flexibility.

Many or all of the products on this page are from partners who compensate us when you click to or take an action on their website, but this does not influence our evaluations or ratings. Our opinions are our own.
The $99-annual-fee Cathay World Elite Mastercard, issued by Synchrony, is the only co-branded card offered by Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways that's available in the U.S. But it may not be the best option even for frequent Cathay fliers.
Cardholders can earn a decent amount of Asia Miles with the card, but redemption options are limited and other travel benefits are subpar.
Travelers who are after Asia Miles would be better off with an American Express Membership Rewards-earning card, which would earn points that are transferrable to Cathay Pacific. And if you’re not a frequent Cathay flier, a general rewards card would be a much better fit.
Here’s what to know about the Cathay Mastercard.
» MORE: Our best airline credit cards
The Cathay World Elite Mastercard was previously called the Cathay Pacific Airways Visa credit card. It offered similar benefits, but it stopped accepting new applicants in 2024. The new version of the card (without "Pacific" officially in the name) launched in April 2025.
1. Ongoing rewards are decent, but the welcome bonus is lackluster
The Cathay Mastercard earns the following:
3 Asia Miles per $1 spent on Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Express flight and in-flight purchases.
2 Asia Miles per $1 spent on dining and delivery services.
1 Asia Mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Those aren't bad rates and are in line with what you might find on similarly priced airline credit cards. But as with most co-branded cards, unless you do a lot of business with Cathay, it'll take you a while to amass a lot of miles.
That's especially true given the card's relatively weak sign-up bonus: As of this writing, new applicants are eligible for 38,000 bonus miles when they spend $3,000 in the first 90 days of account opening. That's underwhelming compared with other airline cards at this price point, which tend to offer welcome bonuses of at least 50,000 miles — and sometimes much more — for the same required spending amount (or less).
2. Redemption options are fairly flexible
You can redeem Asia Miles toward flights with Cathay Pacific, partner airlines, hotel stays, car rentals, experiences and gift cards, among other options. The value of those miles varies depending on what you redeem them for. For example, as of this writing, the lowest number of miles (base miles) required for a one-way business seat on an international flight between a major North American city like New York and Hong Kong is 115,000 miles.
You can also earn and redeem miles without having the card, via the free-to-join Cathay Membership program. It allows you to earn miles through Cathay flights, partner airlines, hotel stays, car rentals and shopping with Cathay retail and online partners, among other opportunities. Cathay is also a member of the Oneworld alliance airlines, which means you can book Cathay flights using miles earned from frequent flyer programs of any of the Oneworld member airlines.
Plus, you can transfer miles between Cathay and its additional partners, one of which is Marriott Bonvoy. This means Bonvoy members can transfer Marriott points to Cathay at a 3-points-to-1-mile ratio, and convert Asia Miles to Marriott Bonvoy points at a 2-miles-to-1-point ratio. You also get 5,000 Asia Miles for every 60,000 Marriott points you transfer to miles.
Terms apply. See NerdWallet's guide to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles for more.
3. You’ll get decent Cathay travel benefits
The card comes with the following travel perks, in addition to ongoing rewards:
A 10% redemption discount on hotels, car rentals and experience awards via the travel.asiamiles.com site, plus a 10% discount when you gift or transfer miles through CathayPacific.com.
Priority check-in for cardholders and travel companions at Cathay Pacific’s Premium Economy class airport check-in counters.
Priority boarding for Premium Economy class passengers on flights operated by Cathay.
Ability to redeem Asia Miles for access to business-class lounges.
Through Dec. 31, 2025, cardholders can use a discount code to get up to 15% off certain flights when they pay with their Cathay Mastercard.
No foreign transaction fees.
4. You can earn your way to status … partially
Cardholders earn 10 Cathay status points for every $5,000 they spend with the card per month, up to 100 status points per year. This can certainly help you on your journey to Cathay Membership status.
However, that's a high spending bar to hit every month, and with the 100-point yearly cap, you’ll still fall short of reaching even Silver status.
Members need 300 points per year to reach Silver status, 600 for Gold, and 1,200 for Diamond status.
5. A different card might be more valuable
Cathay is a 1:1 transfer partner with American Express Membership Rewards, which means that if Asia Miles are particularly valuable to you, you can rake in a lot more of them — and probably in quicker fashion — with an eligible American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points.
With an eligible American Express card, you can also transfer points you earn to other AmEx transfer partners as well, which can offer more flexibility. Terms apply.
On the other hand, if you’re not a frequent Cathay Pacific flyer, you’re likely better off with a general travel rewards card that's not tied to a specific airline or brand. For example, the $95-annual-fee Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns 5 points per $1 spent on all travel purchased through Chase; 3 points per $1 spent on dining, select streaming services and online groceries; 2 points per $1 spent on other travel purchases; and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. Points can be redeemed for cash back, but you can get more value out of them when you redeem for travel booked through Chase, or potentially when you transfer them to one of Chase's multiple travel partners. Plus, the card comes with an impressive welcome bonus: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Find the right credit card for you.
Whether you want to pay less interest or earn more rewards, the right card's out there. Just answer a few questions and we'll narrow the search for you.