This article is part of our ongoing Business Travel 101 series for newcomers to the world of business travel, and was last updated January 2019.
If you’re travelling with Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and beyond in premium economy, a great use for your Asia Miles is a business class upgrade.
What's more, you can also use Asia Miles to upgrade to business class on Cathay's sister airline Cathay Dragon – particularly useful if connecting onwards from Hong Kong to destinations within China.
We previously reported that the Asia Miles program underwent a major revamp in June 2018, with many changes including the removal of the ‘return trip discount’. Under the new rules, upgrades are charged on a one-way basis, thus making a return trip upgrade cost exactly the same as two one-way upgrades.
You can now upgrade to business class between Sydney and Hong Kong for 18,000 miles, or you could upgrade your full Sydney-HK-Sydney trip for 36,000 miles.
It's a similar scenario for journeys onwards from Hong Kong to the likes of London and Los Angeles, which can be upgraded one-way for 25,000 miles or 28,000 miles, respectively.
Here’s what you need to know to turn those lingering Cathay Pacific Asia Miles into a business class seat on your next journey abroad.
Cathay Pacific business class upgrades 101
Upgrades on Cathay Pacific are all one-class – meaning economy passengers can move forward into premium economy, but only premium economy travellers can grab a seat in business class.
There's an exception if you're on a Cathay Pacific flight where premium economy isn't offered, in which case you could indeed upgrade from economy straight to business class.
Also note that the number of upgrades available on any given flight can be limited, and even then, not all fare types can be upgraded using miles.
From premium economy, upgrades are permitted from the higher W- and R-class fares, but not the discounted E-class sale fares.
If you're in a position to upgrade from economy to business class you'll need to be booked on a flexible Y, B, H, K, or M ticket: selecting anything else keeps you stuck down the back.
Provided you're on an eligible ticket, upgrades can be confirmed instantly via the Asia Miles website on both Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights, wherever available.
Should you be booking a ticket and intending to upgrade, we'd strongly advise contacting the Asia Miles team to check what's available before paying for your premium economy ticket, as being flexible with your dates or schedule could help secure a coveted upgrade.
Here are the current rates for upgrades, listed per one-way sector.
Making a last-minute trip somewhere and didn't have a chance to upgrade online? No dramas: you can use Asia Miles to upgrade at the airport, too. Available on all Cathay Pacific flights and Cathay Dragon too, you simply present your membership card and your itinerary to the check-in staff. If a last-minute upgrade is available on your flight, the seat is yours! Airport upgrades are only available on your next onward flight – so if you’re travelling from Sydney to London via Hong Kong, you can only upgrade the Sydney-Hong Kong flight while on the ground in Australia. These upgrades are also charged at the same ‘one-way’ rate as online. As with most airlines, upgrading from one class to another means you'll earn frequent flyer points and status credits as per your original premium economy (or economy) fare, rather than at the higher business class rates enjoyed by full-fare-paying travellers. You also won't be able to upgrade when travelling on a ticket which was already booked using frequent flyer points, whether through Asia Miles, Qantas Frequent Flyer or any other program. Also note that if you upgrade at the airport, you probably won't have a guaranteed meal aboard. It's unlikely the crew would have nothing to offer you but expect to be served only after orders have been taken from the other passengers who confirmed their flight in advance. Finally, while Cathay Pacific once offered 'upgrade bids' to business class by using money rather than miles, this is no longer possible. Additional material by Brandon Loo.
Cathay Pacific business class upgrades at the airport
A few tips…
Yohy
16 Aug, 2016 02:55 pm
not such great value when you can only upgrade from prohibitively expensive W & R Class PE tickets
Outright business class redemptions are better value with Asia Miles
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ChrisCh
16 Aug, 2016 03:06 pm
If your company will only pay for premium economy and you're the type of traveller who flies so often for work that they can't imagine taking another flight to go on holiday, using miles to upgrade an existing flight can be a good way to go. :)
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Briggo
lionelhutz
16 Aug, 2016 07:42 pm
I disagree. An R class fare MEL-HKG return is $2200 to $2800 depending on season. A redemption upgrade to business return is 22,500 Asiamiles. Business class fares MEL-HKG return start at about $6600. A business class redemption is 80,000.
Do the maths and it is clear you get about double the value per Asiamile by upgrading instead of redeeming outright.
Also in my experience, the strike rate on redemption upgrades is excellent. I have been travelling this route for about 2 years and I have been upgraded about 90% of the time.
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TommyR
21 Aug, 2016 03:45 am
I'm new to Cathay Pacific and I find the Asia Miles program pretty much a scam. I transferred 400,000 miles from my Starwood account to Asia Miles so I could reserve first class tickets on points. Byt even though the first class cabin in completely empty on the days I wanted to book, I'm on a "waitlist". I called Cathy Pacific to see what I could do. The reservation agent told me I'd have better luck booking a business class ticket and then upgrading. So I paid $10,500 for two busines class tickets and asked to use 205,000 points I transferred to Asia miles to upgrade the tickets. Again I'm on a "waitlist", even though first class is completely empty. What the point of miles if you can't use them? Absurd.
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alan a
alan a
18 Apr, 2017 09:04 pm
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iamthongy
17 Oct, 2018 04:57 am
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BigH
17 Oct, 2018 08:28 am
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lionelhutz
17 Oct, 2018 08:57 am
I generally book about 2-3 months out and at that point most flights are on waitlist for an upgrade.
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Rkwm
17 Oct, 2018 10:42 am
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wrpwrpwrp
Bernoulli
5 Dec, 2018 03:46 pm
In recent times I have had very good success with premium economy > business class redemption upgrades particularly at check in however business class loads can be heavy sometimes. It is common for the waitlist not to clear and only to get the upgrade at check-in or just prior boarding. I think CX treats its MPC elites very well indeed relative to the competition and I have no complaints at all.
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cian
18 Oct, 2018 11:18 am
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