Program hub
Cathay Asia Miles
oneworld via HKG — Cathay business to Hong Kong and Japan is the play. TPG holds 1.3¢; we hold the ₹1/mile anchor.
Nerf risk: stable Last cut Oct-2023 devaluation (major) — quiet 2.8y since
Expiry: activity-based — any earn or redeem every 18 months keeps the balance alive
Floor = the worst redemption you can always fall back on; ceiling = the best sweet-spot exit. The house value is what a disciplined traveller actually clears.
Every way in
Currencies that transfer in
Ratios read source points : Cathay Asia Miles points, cheapest mint first — the ₹ figure is what one point here costs you via that route.
Every way in (via a hop)
2-hop chains that survive our honesty filter — shown only where no direct route exists or the chain strictly beats it. End-to-end ratio in card points per Cathay Asia Miles point; priced at this program's house value.
Every way out
Ranked by real ₹ per point at our house values — the play first, the traps last. Ratios read Cathay Asia Miles points : partner miles.
Ways out via partner transfer
Program-to-program corridors — Cathay Asia Miles moved onward without a bank card in the loop. Priced at the destination's house ₹/point (volume bonuses at the marginal block rate); destinations we refuse to fake a ₹ number for say so.
What a point has been worth
Derived only from quantified, dated events in the tracker — no interpolation, no vibes.
- 10 Jul 2026 ₹1.00 current house value
- 1 Mar 2015 ₹1.00 tracker coverage start — no recorded movement while indexed — flat at the current house value; see currencies.yaml source
The nerf log
Full tracker →Every tracked event that touches Cathay Asia Miles.
- 1 Oct 2023Cathay Pacific Asia Miles jacks up premium award pricesBusiness/First awards at pre-Oct-2023 Asia Miles rates → Same awards cost 20-40% more miles, some zones +33%
Cathay gave advance notice — rare generosity — before hiking Asia Miles award costs on October 1, 2023: premium-cabin redemptions rose 20-30% on average, with some distance zones spiking as much as 40% one-way. Economy stayed mostly untouched, so this was a direct shot at exactly the demographic that hoards Asia Miles for a business or first-class splurge. The silver lining: Cathay published a real award chart afterward instead of reverting to opaque pricing.
- 3 Aug 2021BA devalues Avios on Cathay Pacific and JAL short-haul awardsLower short-haul Avios pricing on Cathay/JAL partner awards → Higher regional redemption rates, no advance notice
British Airways quietly repriced short-haul Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines redemptions upward with zero warning, a move Live From A Lounge flagged specifically for its impact on Indian Avios holders routing through Hong Kong and Tokyo. It was an early tremor before BA's much bigger 2022 devaluations.
- 1 Feb 2015Citi PremierMiles doubles the cost of transferring to airline partners1:1 transfer to airline miles; 1 PM = ₹0.5 cash value → 2:1 transfer ratio; cash value cut 10% to ₹0.45
Effective February 1, 2015, Citibank halved the value of every PremierMile transferred to a partner airline — the ratio moved from 1:1 to 2:1, meaning cardholders now needed two PremierMiles to get one mile of British Airways, Cathay Pacific or other partner currency. Citi also quietly shaved 10% off cash redemptions in the same stroke. It remains one of the sharpest single-day devaluations any Indian travel card has pulled, and it permanently changed how PremierMiles was valued relative to a straight cashback card.
- 24 Feb 2010Kingfisher signs MOU to join oneworld allianceIndia's most premium airline outside any global alliance → MOU signed, targeting alliance entry within ~18 months
On 24 February 2010, Kingfisher Airlines signed a memorandum of understanding with oneworld's member airlines, putting India on track for its first-ever global-alliance airline and dangling reciprocal miles/status across British Airways, Cathay Pacific and friends. The promise never survived Kingfisher's finances — but at the time it was the biggest loyalty-currency upgrade an Indian flyer could imagine.
- 1 Feb 1999Singapore Airlines launches KrisFlyer, its first own FFPSQ shared Passages; only premium cabins earned → All three cabins earn miles in KrisFlyer from 1 Feb 1999
Singapore Airlines launched KrisFlyer on 1 February 1999, replacing Passages — its odd joint programme with Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines that only rewarded First and Business flyers. For the first time economy passengers earned SQ miles too. Two decades later KrisFlyer would become the single most coveted transfer target for Indian credit card points.
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