Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Devalues Long-Haul Business Class Awards

If you’ve had your eyes on long-haul flights in business class with Cathay Pacific, you may want to lock in a booking soon. That’s because for the second time in roughly a year and a half, Asia Miles is adjusting its award charts, and the cost of long-haul flights in business class is increasing.

While the cost of some economy redemptions is decreasing, and the changes aren’t as drastic as the changes that were implemented in October 2023, it’s disappointing to see high prices rise even further for business class redemptions.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Devalues Long-Haul Business Class Awards

On April 15, 2025 at midnight Hong Kong Time, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles is making some adjustments to its award chart.

In the case of some economy redemptions, the cost is decreasing slightly, while other economy and long-haul and ultra-long-haul business class redemptions are increasing slightly, too.

The below chart summarizes the changes that will take effect.

Looking at the economy redemptions, we see the following changes:

• Short-haul flights are decreasing from 7,500 Asia Miles to 7,000 Asia Miles, representing a decrease of 6.7%
• Flights further afield from Hong Kong to Bangkok, Shanghai, and Singapore are decreasing from 10,000 Asia Miles to 9,000 Asia Miles, representing a decrease of 10%
• Medium-haul flights are decreasing from 12,500 Asia Miles to 13,000 Asia Miles, representing an increase of 4% 

These changes are pretty minor, and it’s worth noting that economy redemptions represent a good deal with Asia Miles (and will continue to do so going forward).

Looking at the business class redemptions, we see the following changes:

• Long-haul flights are increasing from 84,000 Asia Miles to 88,000 Asia Miles, representing an increase of 4.8%
• Ultra-long-haul flights are increasing from 110,000 Asia Miles to 115,000 Asia Miles, representing an increase of 4.5%

As a reminder, flights between Vancouver and Hong Kong fall in the long-haul category, while flights between Hong Kong and Toronto fall in the ultra-long-haul category. 

There don’t seem to be any other changes coming to the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles award chart at this time.

The changes are published on the Asia Miles website. 

Asia Miles Business Class Pricing Goes from Bad to Worse

The upcoming changes to the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles award chart are the first since the program underwent sweeping changes, which took effect as of October 1, 2023.

At the time, we saw a significant increase to the cost of most awards in premium cabins, ranging from 11% to 29%.

If we look back at the total changes to long-haul and ultra-long-haul routes in business class over the past couple of years, we see the following progression:

• Long-haul: 70,000 Asia Miles (pre-October 2023 devaluation) – 84,000 Asia Miles (current) – 88,000 Asia Miles (as of April 15, 2025)
• Ultra-long-haul: 85,000 Asia Miles (pre-October 2023 devaluation) – 110,000 Asia Miles (current) – 115,000 Asia Miles (as of April 15, 2025)

While there’s not much utility in looking back to what things were since it’s no longer reality, I think it’s worth pointing out that the awards have been devalued by 25% and 35%, respectively, in the recent past. 

That’s a significant jump, and the cost in Asia Miles is much more than what’s available in other loyalty programs.

For example, a one-way flight in business class between Hong Kong and Toronto (or Vancouver) costs just 85,000 Avios when booked with Finnair Plus. 

Plus, with relatively frequent transfer bonuses to British Airways Executive Club (from which you can then convert your British Airways Avios into Finnair Avios), the effective cost of the redemption can be further reduced.

The major caveat here is that Cathay Pacific Asia Miles has much greater award availability than other oneworld airline loyalty programs, especially for travel in premium cabins. For years, it’s been quite difficult to find business class and First Class awards in other programs, which continues to be the case.

If you’re sitting on a stockpile of Asia Miles and have your eyes on long-haul flights in business class, your best bet is to lock in a redemption before April 15, 2025, which is when the pricing is set to go from bad to worse.

Conclusion

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles is making some adjustments to its award chart, which take effect on April 15, 2025. 

Some economy redemptions are decreasing, while other economy and business class redemptions are increasing in price.

This is the first change to the program since October 1, 2023, when the latest iteration of the loyalty program took effect.

If you’ve been holding out on a long-haul redemption in a premium cabin, be sure to lock in a flight before the changes take effect, or alternatively look to Finnair Plus for much better award pricing on ultra-long-haul routes (with less availability).