Yes, that word. Again…
If there’s one word every savvy traveler knows and hates, it’s devaluation. As officially defined, devaluation is “the reduction in the official value of a currency in relation to other currencies”. Today, AsiaMiles, the lucrative spun off loyalty program of Cathay Pacific devalued their exciting points, which means you’ll need even more points to score the best experiences.
AsiaMiles announced new earning rates for flights, while simultaneously announcing new rates for using points. These changes will be effective June 22nd, giving AsiaMiles members a month to sort out their points and travel goals at current rates. AsiaMiles considers itself a lifestyle loyalty rewards program, with opportunities to earn points from tons of daily activities. In short: most airline tickets, except the very lowest fares will earn more miles for each flight on Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon. When it comes to using seats, more seats will now be available, 20% more in fact. Economy flights will require fewer or equal points, while of course, premium cabins including business and first class will require more points. Yep, the seats we really want will require more. AsiaMiles used to offer discounts for booking round trip tickets, but now the discount goes away.
AsiaMiles still offers very solid rates for point to point flights on Cathay Pacific or their OneWorld airline partners. But there was one lesser known chart for using points that was pure magic. If you were able to use two or more airlines for one trip, you could save up to 60,000 points on business class, instantly. This lead to truly exciting points opportunities like around the world in first class for just 205,000 points, or business for 140,000. Under the new changes, these rates will jump to 165,000 and 260,000 respectively. That’s an increase of 25,000 points per person in business class and 55,000 points per person for first class. Sigh. If you were saving up for one of these, the goal line just got pushed back. No one likes when that happens!
You can earn AsiaMiles for everyday activities like dining, shopping and using credit cards, in addition to flights on Cathay Pacific and partners. You can instantly convert SPG, Amex and Citi Points into AsiaMiles, making it a very lucrative currency to collect, even with the frustrating changes announced today. With any hope, they’ll be the last bad news for a while.
I have a trivia question: When was the last time that an airline loyalty program stated that the program was revaluing in the interest of long term business relationship with the customer? I’ve followed points and miles for about a decade, and have never heard of such a customer-friendly move being implemented, but it’d be awfully nice to know if such a thing happened. This never ending stream of giving the customer a worse deal has made me a touch cynical, and it certainly seems as if the customer is viewed as a sheep to be fleeced rather than the person that the company exists to serve. Or perhaps I just need a second cup of coffee.
with the move of extreme competition in J prices, airlines dont care about loyalty as much as cold hard cash. That along with corporate deals is the mainstay of most airlines.
The thing is that majority of frequent flyers earn ‘free’ miles due to corporate paid for flights and they cant give a damn about an extra 50k miles. When they then need to use the miles for personal holidays, they may just buy the miles if there is a shortfall as its still cheaper for them compared to booking with their own money.
Who knows. I have a huge stash of MR that I will be using to fly to Oz (3 of us return) in a mix of SQ J and F to experience the new products. thats the end of my miles game. I shall only focus on low priced deals and wheretocredit to just try and maximise things when possible. I do not intend to go out of my way to maintain loyalty. Its just not worth the hassle.
Look at QR ! lol. but of course, no one was crediting to them in the first place.