Kevin has been writing and creating personal finance and travel content for over six years. He is the founder of the award-winning blog, Family Money Adventure, and host of the Family Money Adventure Show podcast. He has been quoted by publications l.
Kevin Payne Banking WriterKevin has been writing and creating personal finance and travel content for over six years. He is the founder of the award-winning blog, Family Money Adventure, and host of the Family Money Adventure Show podcast. He has been quoted by publications l.
Written By Kevin Payne Banking WriterKevin has been writing and creating personal finance and travel content for over six years. He is the founder of the award-winning blog, Family Money Adventure, and host of the Family Money Adventure Show podcast. He has been quoted by publications l.
Kevin Payne Banking WriterKevin has been writing and creating personal finance and travel content for over six years. He is the founder of the award-winning blog, Family Money Adventure, and host of the Family Money Adventure Show podcast. He has been quoted by publications l.
Banking Writer Toni Perkins-Southam Lead EditorToni is a points and miles enthusiast who has been leveraging loyalty programs to travel around the world (for nearly free) with her husband and their four young children. She’s passionate about sharing travel tips so that others can not only feel in.
Toni Perkins-Southam Lead EditorToni is a points and miles enthusiast who has been leveraging loyalty programs to travel around the world (for nearly free) with her husband and their four young children. She’s passionate about sharing travel tips so that others can not only feel in.
Toni Perkins-Southam Lead EditorToni is a points and miles enthusiast who has been leveraging loyalty programs to travel around the world (for nearly free) with her husband and their four young children. She’s passionate about sharing travel tips so that others can not only feel in.
Toni Perkins-Southam Lead EditorToni is a points and miles enthusiast who has been leveraging loyalty programs to travel around the world (for nearly free) with her husband and their four young children. She’s passionate about sharing travel tips so that others can not only feel in.
Updated: Jul 16, 2024, 4:02pm
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If you’re looking to earn miles to redeem toward occasional Cathay Pacific and partner flights, the Cathay Pacific Visa® Card * is a solid choice. For more frequent travelers, though, other credit cards that allow you to transfer points to Asia Miles, the airline’s loyalty program, may offer more value
Cathay Pacific Visa® Card * Welcome Bonus 38,000 Asia Miles Annual Fee Regular APR 28.24% variable Credit Score Good/ExcellentCredit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
Earn 38,000 Asia Miles after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days of account openingThe Cathay Pacific Visa Credit Card may appeal to moderate travelers who want to earn Asia Miles, the loyalty rewards program of popular airline Cathay Pacific. The card features a modest welcome bonus—38,000 Asia Miles after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days of account opening. The Cathay Pacific Card also earns bonus miles on eligible Cathay Pacific purchases, dining and purchases made outside of the U.S.
There are no luxury travel perks included with the card, but it does offer several airline-specific benefits, such as Cathay Green membership, priority check-in and priority boarding. The card also gives users access to a 10% savings on Asia Miles Gift Miles, mileage renewal and mileage transfer fees. Cardholders also receive a 10% redemption discount on hotel, car rental and experience awards. The Cathay Pacific Visa Card carries no foreign transaction fees.
American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points and Capital One miles all transfer to Asia Miles, but the Cathay Pacific Visa Card is one of the only credit cards that allows you to earn Asia Miles directly. With a $95 annual fee, though, consider whether the card offers enough value to justify the cost or if you’re better off transferring rewards from another travel rewards card.
Why you can trust Forbes Advisor
Our credit card editors are committed to bringing you unbiased ratings and information. Our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and companies, so all are measured equally. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and the credit card methodology for the ratings below.
Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
Earn 38,000 Asia Miles after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days of account opening Chase Freedom Flex® On Chase Bank USA, NA's Website Welcome Bonus Annual Fee Credit Score Excellent, Good Regular APR 20.49%-29.24% VariableCredit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening! Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® Welcome Bonus 50,000 bonus miles Annual Fee $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99 Credit Score Excellent, Good Regular APR 21.24% - 29.99% (Variable)Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
Earn 50,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases in the first 3 months of account opening
The Cathay Pacific Visa Card comes with a decent welcome bonus that allows new cardholders to earn 38,000 Asia Miles after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days of account opening. Only new account holders who don’t have or have previously had the Cathay Pacific Visa card are eligible for the bonus offer.
The Cathay Pacific Visa Card earns 2 Asia Miles per $1 spent on eligible Cathay Pacific purchases, 1.5 miles per $1 spent on purchases outside the U.S. and on dining in the U.S. 1 Asia Mile per $1 spent on all other purchases made in the U.S..
The Asia Miles loyalty program offers several redemption options. You can redeem your rewards in any of the following ways:
Redemption values vary depending on the option, with flights typically offering the most value. Asia Miles can expire, but you can easily avoid this from happening by earning or redeeming miles at least once every 18 months.
Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies to determine baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage earners brings in $116,000 annually and has $36,177 in annual spending that can reasonably be charged to credit cards .
An average household spends an estimated $2,443 on air travel each year. If all that spending went toward flights and inflight purchases through Cathay Pacific, at 2 miles per dollar, you would earn 4,886 Asia Miles. A household spending $3,856 on dining would earn 5,784 Asia Miles at 1.5 miles per dollar spent. Spending on purchases while traveling abroad would be $2,227 for another 3,340 miles per dollar.
The remaining $27,651 in non-bonused categories would earn 27,651 Asia Miles. The total rewards earned for the year would be 41,661 Asia Miles.
The American Express® Green Card * carries a slightly higher annual fee, at $150, than the Cathay Pacific Visa, but it also features more travel benefits and other perks. Additionally, the card gives you access to Amex’s Membership Rewards program, a flexible travel rewards loyalty program. Fans of Cathay Pacific can still use rewards toward flights with the airline since it’s one of the many travel transfer partners with Membership Rewards.
The Amex Green Card earns high bonus rates at U.S. restaurants and on transit and travel expenses, making it an ideal choice for frequent travelers and individuals who spend money dining out or on takeout.
Travel benefits of the Amex Green Card include a $199 CLEAR® Plus credit, an up to $100 LoungeBuddy statement credit, trip delay insurance, secondary car loss and damage insurance and baggage insurance. The card also provides extra purchase and extended warranty protection on eligible purchases.
Another flexible travel rewards card to consider is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card * . The versatile rewards credit card also has a $95 annual fee (rates & fees) but offers more flexibility than the Cathay Pacific Visa. Among its many redemption options, the Venture Rewards card allows you to redeem miles earned to cover travel purchases on the card and with over 15 travel transfer partners, including Asia Miles.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card provides a host of travel benefits, including two airport lounge visits annually, elite status with Hertz, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, travel accident insurance, 24/7 travel assistance, and rental car collision damage waiver. Like the Cathay Pacific Visa, there are no foreign transaction fees on purchases made outside the U.S. using the Venture Rewards card.
You can still enjoy flying Cathay Pacific using another airline’s co-branded credit card, like the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® * . American Airlines is part of the Oneworld airline alliance, along with Cathay Pacific, meaning you can redeem miles with other alliance airlines or book alliance rewards flights directly through American Airlines.
The card features a sizable welcome bonus and bonus miles earned on American Airlines purchases and at restaurants and gas stations. Travel benefits include preferred boarding, a 25% discount on inflight food and beverage purchases made with the airline and free first checked bag for the cardholder and up to four travel companions on all domestic American Airlines flights.
The annual fee on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® * is $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99. There are also no foreign transaction fees associated with this Citi card.
All information about American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Forbes Advisor
The Cathay Pacific Visa card may be a good option if you frequently fly Cathay Pacific and are loyal to the Asia Miles rewards program. The welcome bonus will help boost your Asia Miles balance, and the card’s other benefits provide enough value to balance out the card’s annual fee.
This Visa card lacks some of the travel benefits often associated with co-branded airline credit cards, like free baggage allowances, lounge access, and inflight purchase discounts. Other airline cards may offer these benefits and more value while still allowing you to redeem miles for Cathay Pacific and other airline flights.
Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors including:
Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors came together to provide a star rating for each individual card.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.
*The information for the following card(s) has been collected independently by Forbes Advisor: Cathay Pacific Visa® Card, American Express® Green Card, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® . The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
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