Cathay has rolled out some new membership changes for its loyalty programme. These changes mainly involve around easier progression opportunities, though Diamond members have more limited benefits than they had before, mainly due to the addition of a tier called “Diamond Exec”.
Here’s what the changes are in summary, and which travellers they’re likely to affect.
What are Cathay Pacific status points?
As a refresher, you earn Cathay Pacific status points after booking a flight using cash (redemption tickets don’t earn status points). You earn approximately one status point on top of every 100 Asia miles earned. You also earn status points when flying a partner airline, and crediting miles to Cathay Pacific – you earn approximately 50-60% of what you would’ve earned on the same route with Cathay metal.
If you live in Hong Kong and have the Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard, you also earn 100 status points if you spend HK$500,000.
Cathay eliminates “points reset” after reaching a higher status tier, allows rollover points into the next year
Cathay Pacific is making progression through the status ranks much easier in three ways. Firstly, the airline is eliminating the “points reset”, meaning that you keep all your points once you reach the threshold for a certain status tier (e.g. if you earn 300 status points and achieve Silver status, your points will no longer reset to zero).
Secondly, the airline is allowing Gold, Diamond and Diamond Exec members to roll over their status points into after a membership period, up to 50% of the threshold provided. For example, if a Gold member ends the year with 850 status points, they start the next membership cycle with 600 status points (50% of the threshold of 1,200 points required).
Cathay’s Gold members and above can now retain up to 50% of the points required for the next membership tier
Lastly, Cathay is introducing “Diamond membership reserve”, where Diamond members of five or more years (since 1999 – doesn’t need to be consecutive) will get a complimentary year of Diamond membership for every 6,000 status points they earned since 2016.
It’ll be easier to get Diamond membership, which means access to Oneworld first class lounges, including Cathay Pacific’s The Pier First Class lounge in Hong Kong
To make things simpler, Cathay will also now count all membership periods with calendar years, meaning that a membership period will start on January 1st and end on December 31st.
This effectively makes status easier to earn, and will push more Green and Silver members particularly into the next level of status.
Diamond Member perks diluted to make way for “Diamond Exec” membership
Cathay Pacific is also introducing a new “Diamond Exec” membership tier, which sits one level above the current Diamond tier of their membership scheme. I’d assume that this would also map to Oneworld Sapphire status, though Cathay Pacific didn’t make that explicit in their press release.
The Diamond Exec tier is reachable after earning 2,400 status points in one membership cycle, and allows for the following benefits:
- A departure buggy service if departing from gates 40-80
- Four single-sector upgrade passes for upgrading to the next cabin class, up to first class
- One complimentary Gold companion membership for a family or friend
- A hotline to a dedicated “Relationship Manager” to address specific needs
While the relationship manager is new, the first three perks were taken from Diamond status – Diamond members no longer get these perks.
You’ll need Diamond Exec membership to upgrade to Cathay Pacific first class in the future
No mid-status milestone benefits for Gold and Diamond members
Gold and Diamond members used to get mid-status benefits when hitting a certain number of status points. These came in the form of lounge passes, bookable upgrades, and a companion Gold membership:
- Gold members used to earn two business class lounge passes for a travel companion or redemption group nominee after earning 800 status points, and Diamond members used to earn two first class lounge passes for a travel companion or a redemption group nominee after hitting 1,400 status points
- Gold members used to earn four single-sector bookable upgrades for flights up to 3,700 miles after hitting 1,000 status points, and Diamond members used to earn four single-sector bookable upgrades for any flight after hitting 1,600 status points
- Diamond members used to earn a Gold companion membership for any nominee after hitting 1,800 status points
None of these mid-status benefits will be continued past 2027, though those accrued in 2026 will be valid for up to one year from the date of issue. It effectively means that you’ll now need to get Diamond Exec status in order to get most of these perks. Diamond members will also lose “exclusive reservation access”, which means they will no longer have guaranteed access to business class seats on Cathay Pacific flights.
Diamond member perks are getting diluted
Diamond members will still be able to get two upgrade passes immediately after achieving status, though those will only be eligible as far as business class.
Cathay is introducing new Green and Silver benefits as well
Cathay Pacific will be introducing new Green milestone benefits (these will be rebranded from mid-status benefits) that will be announced in 2026. Silver members will be able to earn two business class lounge passes for themselves or travel companions after earning 450 status points.
My take on Cathay’s membership changes
Cathay’s new membership programme updates are great for those who are just getting into status, as it’s now much easier to work up the ranks compared to before. It’s good news that the airline is introducing rollover points benefits, as well as easier access to Gold and Diamond membership, which are realistically going to be the most valuable for lounge access, upgrades, and other perks.
However, in order to make way for this, Cathay Pacific is penalising some of their higher spenders by removing mid-status benefits for Gold and Diamond members. Diamond members are the hardest hit, as they lose both their mid-status benefits and have some benefits transferred over to Diamond Exec status. The bookable upgrades are probably the biggest loss here, as Gold members lose bookable upgrades entirely, whereas Diamond members will only get two bookable upgrades to business class unless they hit Diamond Exec status.
Realistically, in my view, a good number of passengers will benefit from the easier status earning thresholds, and may find themselves holding a higher status with the airline. Many Diamond members may be able to achieve Diamond Exec status, many Gold members may find themselves with Diamond status, etc. Even though mid-status benefits are getting removed, many frequent flyers may find that they’ll get the same perks by simply upgrading to the next level of status.
I do think that one of the main perks of having elite Oneworld status is the access they have to some of the world’s best airline lounges, and that isn’t changing here. Current Gold and Diamond members will continue having access to these awesome lounges around the world, whereas more new members will be able to have access to these lounges as well.
More people will be able to access Cathay Gold and Diamond status, which gets you into Oneworld lounges, such as the Qantas Lounge Hong Kong
I do wonder whether the increased access to Gold and Diamond status will make lounges even more crowded at peak hours. Last month I found the lounge situation to be incredibly crowded prior to Cathay Pacific’s evening peak departures, with a waitlist for showers so long that the attendants started turning people away. Since lounge access for Gold and Diamond members isn’t affected by any of the negative changes, I’m wondering if this could create an overcrowding situation down the line.
Conclusion
Cathay Pacific is introducing new membership changes, which involve easier progression up the ranks including to Gold and Diamond status, the introduction of a Diamond Exec membership status, though removal of some perks such as mid-status benefits and some Diamond member benefits. Despite the negative changes to Gold and Diamond member benefits, I still think that the changes are mostly positive, given that people can work further up the ranks more easily. However, I wonder if it’ll create an overcrowding situation, particularly at the airline’s hub lounges in Hong Kong.
What’s your take on Cathay’s new membership changes?