60,000 Asia Miles 
$180 annual fee The Cathay World Elite® Mastercard® – powered by Neo is the only credit card in Canada that directly earns Asia Miles.
If you’re loyal to Cathay Pacific, this card will help pad your Asia Miles balance and can also help you score a discount on flights.
Bonuses & Fees
Presently, the Cathay World Elite® Mastercard® – powered by Neo offers up to 60,000 Asia Miles as its welcome bonus, structured as follows:
- 35,000 Asia Miles upon activating the card†
- 25,000 Asia Miles upon spending $5,000 in the first three months†
This is the highest offer seen to date on this card, making it an ideal time to apply.
The card has an annual fee of $180, which isn’t rebated or waived with the current offer.
How Much Is This Offer Worth?
Here’s a breakdown of what the welcome bonus for the Cathay World Elite® Mastercard® – powered by Neo is worth. Keep in mind that this doesn’t take into consideration the potential value of other card benefits, which we’ll outline in detail below.
We value Asia Miles at 1.6 cents per point, and using that value, we’d peg a value of $960 on the welcome bonus alone.
Plus, assuming the card’s baseline earning rate of 1 Asia Mile per dollar spent, you’d earn an additional 5,000 Asia Miles for meeting the minimum spending requirement. We’d value these points at an additional $80.
Therefore, in the first year as a cardholder, the minimum amount of net value you can expect to get from this card’s welcome bonus is $860: $960 from the 60,000 Asia Miles from the full welcome bonus, $80 by spending the bare minimum to earn the welcome bonus (and assuming the card’s baseline earning rate), and then minus the card’s annual fee of $180 in the first year.
Of course, you can certainly squeeze more value out of the card by leveraging the category earning rates and the card’s other benefits; however, this is unique to each cardholder, and our valuation assumes a minimum amount of value rather than a maximum amount of value.
Earning Rewards
In terms of the returns on everyday spending, the Cathay World Elite® Mastercard® – powered by Neo has the following earning rates:
- 4 Asia Miles per dollar spent on Cathay Pacific flights†
- 2 Asia Miles per dollar spent in foreign currencies†
- 1 Asia Mile per dollar spent elsewhere†
Using our valuation of 1.6 cents per Asia Mile, you’re looking at an effective return of 6.4% on Cathay Pacific purchases, 3.2% on eligible foreign currency purchases, and 1.6% on all other eligible purchases.
Furthermore, you can benefit from elevated earning rates when you use your card at Neo’s exclusive partners. However, the earning rates aren’t publicly disclosed, they vary over time and locations, and you’ll only see them once you’re a cardholder.
However, you can get an idea of the earning rates by creating a free Neo profile and then exploring partner offers through the app or in your browser. While the exact Asia Miles earning rates won’t be listed, it should give you a rough idea of the businesses that offer elevated earning rates.
It’s worth noting that this card levies foreign transaction fees, which means that you’ll pay an additional 2.5% for transactions in currencies other than Canadian dollars. This eats into the value from the elevated earning rate of 2 Asia Miles per dollar spent, and you may want to consider a card with no foreign transaction fees instead.
Redeeming Rewards
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles is the loyalty program for Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific.
Through the program, you can book flights with Cathay Pacific, as well as other oneworld airlines and other partner airlines.
Booking flights with Asia Miles is subject to distance-based pricing, and you can expect to pay more as you fly longer distances and in higher classes of service. You can also expect to pay a modest amount of taxes and fees on award bookings.
In Canada, Cathay Pacific flies to Vancouver and Toronto.
To book a flight between Vancouver and Hong Kong, you can expect to find the following one-way prices:
- Economy: 27,000 Asia Miles
- Premium economy: 50,000 Asia Miles
- Business class: 88,000 Asia Miles
Meanwhile, to book a flight from Toronto to Hong Kong, you can expect to find the following one-way prices:
- Economy: 38,000 Asia Miles
- Premium economy: 75,000 Asia Miles
- Business class: 115,000 Asia Miles
Outside of these routes, here are some examples of what you can do once you’ve amassed a healthy sum of Asia Miles:
- Fly Cathay Pacific First Class from Hong Kong to Beijing for 43,000 Asia Miles
- Fly Cathay Pacific First Class from Hong Kong to Tokyo for 50,000 Asia Miles
- Fly British Airways business class from North America to London for 63,000 Asia Miles
- Fly American Airlines business class from the US to Australia for 89,000 Asia Miles
- Fly Cathay Pacific First Class from Hong Kong to London or Los Angeles for 125,000 Asia Miles
- Fly Japan Airlines First Class from Tokyo to New York for 135,000 Asia Miles
In addition to these examples, Asia Miles are great for short-haul flights within Asia with Cathay Pacific and other oneworld airlines, such as Japan Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.
Perks & Benefits
Until December 31, 2025, the Cathay World Elite® Mastercard® – powered by Neo offers cardholders a 15% discount on Cathay Pacific flights. Head to the offer’s landing page to learn more, and to read the terms and conditions.
Otherwise, the card doesn’t offer any unique benefits for Cathay Pacific flights that aren’t available to anyone who’s an Asia Miles member.
As a World Elite® Mastercard® product, you can enjoy paid lounge access ($32 USD per visit) through Mastercard Travel Pass, powered by DragonPass
You’ll also enjoy a virtual card, which you can begin using as soon as you’ve been approved.
Insurance Coverage
When it comes to insurance, the Cathay World Elite® Mastercard® – powered by Neo has the same suite of insurance provided on other Neo products.
Notably, the insurance doesn’t apply for award tickets. Therefore, if you’d like to be covered for an Asia Miles booking, you’ll want to use a credit card that provides insurance on award bookings instead.
The insurance provided on the Cathay World Elite® Mastercard® – powered by Neo is as follows:
- Emergency medical insurance: up to $1 million for trips of up to 14 days, for those aged 60 and younger.
- Trip interruption: up to $1,000 per person, up to $5,000 per trip
- Trip cancellation: up to $1,000 per person, up to $5,000 per trip
- Flight delay: up to $500
- Lost/delayed baggage: up to $1,000 for delays of six hours or longer
- Auto rental collision/damage: up to 48 consecutive days, MSRP of up to $65,000
- Hotel/motel burglary insurance: up to $1,000
- Purchase protection: 90 days from date of purchase
- Extended warranty: doubles the manufacturer’s warranty, up to one additional year
As always, be sure to read the insurance certificates to understand if they apply in your unique situation, and contact the insurer with any questions about coverage.