Credit Card News
Cathay Pacific and Synchrony Reintroduce Co-Branded Card
After pausing applications late last year, the Cathay World Elite Mastercard has returned.
About the Cathay World Elite Mastercard:
The Cathay World Elite Mastercard from Synchrony Bank is once again accepting applications. With this card, customers can earn Asia Miles on purchases as well and enjoy other special benefits.
First, cardholders can earn 3 Asia Miles per $1 spent on Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Express travel. This includes in-flight purchases on either carrier. Additionally, the card earns 2x miles on dining as well as eligible dining delivery services. All other purchases earn 1x miles.
Another perk of the Cathay World Elite card is the ability to earn additional Status Points. Customers can earn 10 Status Points for every $5,000 spent on the card. This benefit is capped at 100 Status Points per calendar year. For context, Silver status with Cathay requires 300 Status Points while Gold and Diamond require 600 and 1,200 Status Points respectively.
As a cardholder, you’ll also enjoy priority boarding and priority check-in (using the same lines and counters as Premium Economy). Plus, customers can use a special code to save 15% on eligible flights in select fare classes.
The returning card also has a welcome bonus. Currently, new cardholders can earn 38,000 bonus Asia Miles after spending $3,000 on the card within their first 90 days.
Note that the Cathay World Elite Mastercard does have a $99 annual fee. However, the card doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees.
My Thoughts:
As is often the case with these co-branded airline cards from foreign carriers, the market for the Cathay World Elite Mastercard is likely pretty small. Although frequent Cathay guests may find value in some of the auxiliary perks, those who simply want to fly the airline using points may be better served with other cards.
Notably, American Express Membership Rewards Points, Capital One miles, and Bilt Rewards Points all transfer to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at a rate of 1:1. Because of this, travelers might prefer a card like the Capital One Venture or Venture X that earns 2x miles across the board and then transferring those miles to Asia Miles. Alternatively, the Bilt Mastercard earns 3x points on dining (versus the Cathay card’s 2x) as well as 2x on select travel and 1x on rent payments. However, my favorite is still the American Express Platinum Card, which has a bevy of benefits but also earns 5x on flights booked directly with airlines. Once again, that rate would best the 3x from the Cathay Mastercard and points could still be converted to Asia Miles.
Again, if this card is for you, then ignore me. But, if your end goal is to fly Cathay Pacific using points/miles, then I’d check out any of the above cards before considering this one.
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