You can no longer waitlist for an award flight from 22 Oct 2021 when you book with Asia Miles
Cathay Pacific has most recently added the ability to mix miles and cash in booking Cathay Pacific tickets earlier this year, and along with it, made a small but critical change to the rewards programme.
Asia Miles eliminates award waitlisting
From 22 Oct 2021, you can no longer waitlist for an award ticket using Asia Miles. This function has been removed across all platforms (i.e. online or through a call centre).
This means, awards are either available or unavailable, and if the award space runs out, you are out of luck. As a transitionary measure, existing waitlist bookings will continue to be valid.
Cathay Pacific business class
If you were already on the waitlist for an award prior to 22 October 2021, that booking will continue to be valid and clear/not clear under the old system.
Asia Miles, along with many other frequent flyer programmes such as Krisflyer, used to allow members to waitlist for an award when booking on Cathay Pacific (or Cathay Dragon). Waitlisting on Cathay Pacific was only available to Asia Miles members, so this means that members of other oneworld FFPs (e.g. Qantas Frequent Flyer or AAdvantage) won’t have priority to these seats when they become available.
One other thing to note: while the waitlist function is removed from Standard awards, they remain available for upgrade and companion awards.
Push for Miles Plus Cash
Cathay Pacific’s Miles Plus Cash
If you have has much as read through the FAQs for this change, you will notice that Cathay Pacific is pushing its members towards using their Asia Miles for cash payments through its Miles Plus Cash feature.
In short: don’t do it.
Miles Plus Cash is conceptually similar to buying a revenue ticket, with a fixed value for each mile you spend. This is similar to Singapore Airlines’ Mix Miles and Cash, where you can use your miles to partially offset the cost of your ticket.
Miles Plus Cash can be used on any seat that is available for purchase in cash, if you can use cash for a seat, you can use Miles Plus Cash. The key problem with Miles Plus Cash is the value it offers (no surprises there), with you getting back no more than 1 cent per mile spent.
Final thoughts
The removal of the waitlist feature strikes both ends of the programme’s value: while it offers more certainty for customers (no more clinging on to hope), it also kills that very same hope of snagging an award seat closer to date, as frequent fliers are known to book award tickets pre-emptively only to cancel them later.
Awards waitlist is nonetheless quite an important function for members: the ability to have priority of any award inventory that opens up, before members from partner programs have access to it, is important in cultivating loyalty, and this may just push members to move to other oneworld programmes instead.
It is also evident that Cathay Pacific is agressively pushing its Miles Plus Cash, providing a lower cash burn rate for the miles out in the hands of the members. Along with this, it is likely that Cathay may tighten the supply of award availability to give that nudge.
No more confusing differences between the two programmes, hooray!
In a seemingly fluffy email sent out by Cathay Pacific today, the airline announced a new lifestyle brand named ‘Cathay’.
New Cathay master brand
More importantly, Cathay Pacific’s somewhat confusing two loyalty programmes – Asia Miles & Marco Polo Club – will be merged into a single programme in the first half of 2022.
What is Cathay?
Cathay is touted as the airline’s new master brand, which it said “represents much more than airline travel”, and “seeks to become a premium travel lifestyle brand, consisting of a host of complementary categories – flights, hotels, shopping, dining, wellness, credit cards”.
What this essentially means is that Cathay Pacific will now focus on non-flying businesses that traditionally complement travel, held together by a central currency of miles and points. In whole, this is considered an entire ‘travel lifestyle proposition‘.
For a start, Cathay will only being rolled out to Hong Kong-based customers. Customers outside of Hong Kong will continue to see Cathay Pacific as the airline and master brand, as it will probably see a limited reach of what Cathay can offer as a programme beyond Hong Kong’s shores.
Asia Miles & Marco Polo Club
Asia Miles & Marco Polo Club
Oneworld airlines typically have two distinct currencies within its programmes, a miles/points currency that can be exchanged for rewards (such as flights), as another status credit/points currency that determines elite status.
For example, you earn both Qantas points and status credits for each flight you take. Qantas points can be used to redeem for rewards, while status credits earned within a year simply determine what elite status you can get.
In Cathay Pacific’s case, they have decided to separate it into two different programmes: Asia Miles allow you to earn miles for rewards, while Marco Polo Club determines your status level with the airline. While Asia Miles is free to join, there’s a joining fee of US$100 required for Marco Polo Club, payable every year unless you earn at least 20 status credits.
The good news is that Cathay intends to bring both programmes together into a single (yet to be named) one.
“Many members have told us they would like their experience with Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club to be more seamless. We listened – and in response, we will be introducing a refreshed customer relationship programme that brings together all the great things that you enjoy from Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club.”
Cathay Pacific
One key development of this upcoming merger is the ability to earn status credits, or Marco Polo Club points, without having to fly. Pre-pandemic, many airlines held this requirement as a sacred cow: while you can earn reward miles through spending on the ground, status credits to unlock status with the airlines can only be earned through flying, making status hard to achieve for most people, but this will soon set to change.
What happens for existing members?
The short answer: nothing changes.
When the new programme is announced, Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club members will automatically have their points and miles carried over to the new programme, and all existing terms, including expiry dates, remain the same.
Here’s the official Cathay Pacific FAQs about the new programme:
There will be no changes to your current Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club membership between now and when the refreshed customer relationship programme launches in the first half of 2022.
Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club members can continue to earn and redeem Asia Miles as they do today.
Marco Polo Club members can continue to earn club points as they do today.
Any earned Asia Miles and club points will be carried over to the refreshed programme.
There will be no changes to the current Marco Polo Club membership tier requirements.
Your miles balance and expiry date will remain the same and will be automatically carried over to the refreshed programme.
Final thoughts
The simplification of Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club is long overdue, so this is definitely a positive development.
What remains to be seen is whether Cathay Pacific will take this opportunity to devalue its miles. The airline last went through one round of changes in redemption rates back in 2018, so this will be a golden opportunity for the airline.
In the meantime, should you still transfer your miles to Asia Miles? Again, all things considered around the current travel restrictions, you should only transfer them when you need to use them in the near term. Otherwise, it’s best to hold out until more details are announced.
The travel bubble bursts for now, bubble slated for re-start on 6 Dec 2020
Travellers hoping to catch the Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble (ATB) will now have to wait another two weeks for it to begin, as Hong Kong is facing a possible ‘fourth wave’ in Covid-19 cases.
The ATB was originally slated to commence today (22 Nov), but a decision was made on Saturday afternoon to postpone it by two weeks given the unstable situation in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong
On Saturday (21 Nov 2020), Hong Kong saw a total of 13 unlinked cases, bringing the seven day average of unlinked cases to 3.86. While this did not reach the mutually agreed threshold of 5, both countries agreed that it would be unwise to commence the ATB at this point.
Given the evolving situation in Hong Kong, Secretary Edward Yau and I discussed further this afternoon, and decided that it would be better to defer the launch of the ATB, by two weeks. We will review within two weeks on the new launch date and update again.
Singapore Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung
While the initial deferment is for two weeks, both governments are said to announce details of the new launch dates in ‘early December’.
Hours earlier: new on-arrival test requirement in Singapore
Just a day before the postponement was announced, Singapore has installed a new testing requirement for travellers from Hong Kong as the latest measure. Passengers travelling on ATB flights from Hong Kong to Singapore previously only needed to take a test before departing Hong Kong.
This brings the total number of tests for a round-trip journey to four: one before departure from each point, and one upon arrival at each airport.
Under the original arrangements of the ATB, there were only three tests required:
Pre-departure test from Singapore to Hong Kong (between S$160 to S$200)
On-arrival test taken upon arrival in Hong Kong (HKD499, or S$83)
Pre-departure test from Hong Kong to Singapore (between HKD750 to HKD2000, or S$120 to S$325)
There was previously no requirement to take a test upon arrival in Singapore. With the new requirement, the new requirement adds another S$196 to the costs of tests, bringing the total for a round-trip journey to at least S$600.
The exception will be for those who have spent less than 72 hours in either city, given the pre-departure test is no longer required if the arrival test was taken less than 72 hours before the return flight.
Children under the age of 12 are not required to take the pre-departure Covid-19 PCR test when travelling from Hong Kong to Singapore (both pre-departure and upon arrival), but is required to do so when travelling from Singapore to Hong Kong.
It’s unclear at this moment if this fourth test will continue to be required when the ATB launches on 6 Dec 2020.
Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific offer refunds
Given such late notice of the postponement of the flights, both airlines have offered free refunds or rebooking of the flights for those hoping to travel between 22 Nov and 5 Dec.
Singapore Airlines customers who no longer wish to travel on the ATB flights can request for a refund, or rebook their flights through SIA’s Assistance Request form. Any refunds will be accorded to the passengers’ original mode of payment.
For Cathay Pacific customers, they may request for full refund, exchange the value of the ticket towards Cathay Credits, or rebook the flights free of charge. Affected customers will be preliminarily rebooked on non-ATB flights, so be sure to check your email or contact your travel agent for next steps.
Seats availability very low from 6 Dec
With the bubble deferred for two weeks, passengers who were originally planning to travel between 22 Nov and 5 Dec will be scrambling to rebook flights.
Unfortunately, seats are scarce. On Singapore Airlines, there are no longer any seats available for booking on the ATB-designated daily flights SQ890 and SQ891 from the entire month of December. This is more likely to be a pre-emptive measure on SIA’s part, to accommodate affected customers who wish to rebook their flights.
For Cathay Pacific, there are barely a few seats available on select days in December, but these are expected to be fully taken up with the rebookings for the coming days. However, economy class fares have breached the S$1,000 mark, with round-trip tickets for the week of 7 Dec going at about S$1,200.
Final thoughts
Many people have probably joked about how the bubble will burst even before it begins at one point or another, no thanks to the term ‘bubble’.
The unfortunate thing has indeed happen, tragically hours before the first flight was slated to take off.
With the whole world keeping an eye on how the ATB will work out, it is indeed unfortunate that the arrangement has to be postponed as a result of a potential fresh outbreak. As Singapore Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung puts it: “it is a sobering reminder that the virus is still with us”.
Even as details of the new launch dates come up in the weeks ahead, how Hong Kong manages its cases will also be very critical. If the situation doesn’t come under control, it’s likely that the ATB will be further delayed, perhaps till 2021.
Details of the Singapore-Hong Kong ‘Air Travel Bubble’ has been announced. Here’s what you need to know from testing to flights, landing arrangements and more.
As promised, the Singapore authorities today shed more light on the details of the first Air Travel Bubble (ATB) arrangements between Singapore and Hong Kong.
From 22 Nov, there will be one flight a day with an initial quota of 200 passengers. This increases to 2 flights a day from 7 December, with a total of 400 visitors to be carried each day.
The story so far…
When the bilateral ATB was first announced back in October 2020 by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung, it was met with much excitement by residents on both ends. The excitement arose from the fact that this is the first true leisure travel arrangement, with no restrictions on the type of travel and, more importantly, no quarantine required at either end of the journey.
These are some of the facts that were put out for those who wanted to travel via the ATB:
Travellers must have stayed in Singapore or Hong Kong wholly for the preceding 14 days before travel. This excludes select groups of foreign workers (Holders of Work Permits or S Passes working in the construction, marine shipyard and process sectors), as requested by the Hong Kong government.
Travellers must take mutually recognised COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and will need to have negative test results.
Travellers will not be subject to any quarantine or Stay-Home Notice requirements, or a controlled itinerary.
Travellers must travel on dedicated flights for this ATB, i.e. these flights will only fly point-to-point between Singapore and Hong Kong and carry only ATB travellers. No transit passengers nor non-ATB travellers (e.g. travellers on business green lane arrangements) will be allowed on board.
New details
With the announcement today, the ATB will set to begin from 22 November 2020, starting with one daily flight dedicated to the ATB. A maximum of 200 passengers will be allowed on the flight.
If this goes well, the number of flights will go up to two a day, with no change to the maximum number of passengers on the flight. This effectively doubles the number of passengers to be carried.
Cathay Pacific business class
The air travel bubble will be suspended for two weeks if the seven-day moving average of the daily number of unlinked COVID-19 cases is more than five in either Singapore or Hong Kong.
Both governments have been very careful since the first announcement of the ATB to point out that the initial numbers will be deliberately kept very small, with the ability to scale up or down, depending on the Covid-19 situation in both countries.
Testing requirements
There will be a total of three tests required: two when you are departing Singapore to Hong Kong, but only one when you are departing Hong Kong travelling to Singapore.
From Singapore
Travellers will need to take a PCR test within 72 hours before the departure time. Those departing from Singapore must apply for approval to take their PCR test at least seven days before departure, and will need a confirmed flight ticket to Hong Kong to do so.
The PCR test will be from a sample obtained through a nasal swab, and currently priced at about S$200 per test.
Upon arrival in Hong Kong, you will need to take another test at the airport, and wait at the airport for test results before you can leave. The test will cost HK$499 (S$90).
From Hong Kong
Travellers will be required to take a PCR nucleic acid test in the city at most 72 hours before departure with test results available before flight. This can be done at any of the government-approved clinics and laboratories, or at the community testing facilities. Depending on where you go, the test can be a nasal swab or a deep throat saliva sample.
At the time of writing, the cost of taking a test at a private facility is between HK$700 to HK$2000 (S$122 to S$350), while the community testing facility is estimated to be HK$240 (S$42). At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether visitors to Hong Kong can use the community testing facility.
Note: Regardless of which city you are departing from, if your return flight is less than 72 hours from the time you last took a Covid-19 test, you will not be required to take the second pre-departure test.
E.g. If you arrive in Hong Kong from Singapore on 10 Dec at 1900H and took the arrival Covid-19 test at 2000H. If you are scheduled to return to Singapore on 13 Dec at 0910H, you will not be required to take the pre-departure test out of Hong Kong.
Flights for ATB
Both Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific have announced flights under the ATB, as follow:
Singapore Airlines (using an Airbus A350-900 Regional)
Sector
Flight No.
Departure
Arrival
Days Operating (22 Nov – 6 Dec)
Days Operating (From 7 Dec)
SIN-HKG
SQ890
1000
1400
22 Nov (Sun)
SQ890
0800
1145
23 Nov (Mon)
SQ890
0735
1120
25, 27, 29, 30 Nov 2, 4 Dec
Daily
HKG-SIN
SQ891
1255
1655
23 Nov (Mon)
SQ891
1230
1630
25, 27, 29, 30 Nov 2, 4 Dec
Daily
Cathay Pacific (using an Airbus A350-900)
Sector
Flight No.
Departure
Arrival
Days Operating (22 Nov – 6 Dec)
Days Operating (From 7 Dec)
SIN-HKG
CX734
1500
1900
24, 26, 28 Nov 1, 3, 5, 6 Dec
Daily
HKG-SIN
CX759
0910
1300
22, 24, 26, 28 Nov 1, 3, 5, 6 Dec
Daily
For the first two weeks from 22 Nov, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific will both operate the first outbound ATB service from their respective countries, and then proceed to alternate days in a week to operate the once-daily ATB flight, with Singapore Airlines taking Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and Cathay Pacific taking Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
For the first two Sundays, SIA will operate ATB service on 29 Nov, Sunday, while Cathay will operate the ATB service on 6 December, Sunday.
Both airlines will increase to a daily service from 7 December, when the quota increases to two flights a day.
With those services serving the ATB facility, the following flights will continue to serve non-ATB passengers, including transit passengers and RGL visitors. Passengers previously booked on Singapore Airlines for non ATB purposes will be transferred to Scoot.
Airline
Sector
Flight No.
Departure
Arrival
Days of Ops
Aircraft
Singapore Airlines
SIN-HKG
SQ872
1450
1850
Wed, Thu, Sat
B787-10
HKG-SIN
SQ871
1955
2355
Wed, Thu, Sat
B787-10
Scoot
SIN-HKG
TR980
1415
1815
Tue, Fri, Sun
B787-9
HKG-SIN
TR981
1915
2320
Tue, Fri, Sun
B787-9
Award tickets and fares
When in-principle agreement for the ATB was first announced last month, flight searches jumped 400% and fares rose 40% in response to the news, despite specific ATB flights not yet being confirmed.
There have been previous news reports on how airfares to and from Hong Kong have jumped, despite details of the ATB not being released yet.
For those who are looking to use miles to redeem for tickets on this route, our only advice is to keep your miles back in your wallet.
At the time of writing, there are no longer any award seats available on Singapore Airlines’ services between Singapore and Hong Kong all through end January 2021.
Cathay Pacific have also greyed out all its award availability across all cabins, even right up to the most expensive ‘Choice’ and ‘Tailored’ awards through end of January 2021. You may however place yourself on the waitlist and hope it comes through.
As such, your best bet will be a cash ticket instead.
Cathay Pacific has done up a dedicated page for the ATB, with flights now going on sale. Flights for the ATB are marked with a Travel Bubble label, so you know which ones you can book.
The cheapest fares available for Cathay Pacific seems to be the following:
Cabin Class
Fare Class
All-in fare (S$)
Economy
V
$557
L
$682
M
$787
Premium Economy
E
$1157
R
$1262
Business
I
$1789
P
$2149
D
$2619
C
$3224
Cathay Pacific indicative fares
Singapore Airlines has not released any information on the ATB flights, but based on a quick search on its website, fares begin from $557 round-trip out of Singapore:
Cabin Class
Fare Class
All-in fare (S$)
Economy
W
$558
H
$697
M
$802
E
$872
Business
U
$1961
J
$2729
C
$3334
Singapore Airlines indicative fares
Of course, the lower fare classes have all been snapped up or closed off by now, so be prepared to shell out a premium.
For those who are more price-sensitive, you might want to go with Cathay Pacific. While the return flight is a tad early, the difference in price between both airlines may not be worth the additional time in Hong Kong.
More information
Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoint Authority has set up a dedicated page with more information on the ATB.
There is a dedicated website set up by Hong Kong Tourism Board on the Air Travel Bubble, which you can refer to for more information.
The international airline was originally planning to axe up to 8,000 staff, but reduced it to 6,000 after government intervention.
The airline will also remove another close to 2,600 unfilled positions, bringing the total tally of positions lost to 8,500.
With a total workforce of 33,000 staff, the 6,000 employees axed come to under 20% of its staff strength, signifying a smaller cut that what some other airlines have undertaken.
The cuts came after Cathay Pacific Group took up a government aid worth HK$27.3 billion (S$4.8 billion) in June, which came with the condition that the airline must appoint two government selected observers to the board to oversee the investment and protect taxpayers’ money.
According to the airline, affected staff will be offered “severance packages that go well beyond statutory requirements”, and extending medical benefits and staff travel entitlements, as well as providing counselling and job transition support services.
Cathay Dragon brand to cease
As part of the cost reduction programme, Cathay Pacific Group will also sunset its Cathay Dragon brand immediately.
Cathay Dragon
According to SCMP, Cathay Dragon has 48 aircraft primarily flying to mainland China and other regional destinations, including Kuala Lumpur, Okinawa and Dhaka.
While the regional airline will cease to exist, most of the airline assets and staff will be merged into the Cathay Pacific group to be redeployed.
The airline is also seeking regulatory approval for the majority of the regional carrier’s routes to be absorbed and operated by Cathay Pacific and budget carrier HK Express within the group.
It’s likely that HK Express may take over most of the the mainland China routes, particularly those served by the smaller A320 and A321s. Cathay Pacific will most likely take over destinations served by the A330s, although we may expect some of these destinations to close altogether given the slow recovery rate over the next couple of years.
Other cost measures
Cathay Pacific will also be implementing some other cost measures to bring down its cash-burn rate, including salary freezes and new union contracts for its cabin crew and pilots.
Cabin crew and pilots will be asked to change their collective agreement terms, most likely will result in lower wages, so that “their conditions of service which are designed to match remuneration more closely to productivity and to enhance market competitiveness”, according to Cathay Pacific.
Separately, Cathay Pacific will continue to cut their executives’ pay through 2021. For all staff, there will also be no salary increases across 2021.
The airline will continue to initiate another voluntary Special Leave Scheme for non-flying employees for the first half of next year.
CEO commentary
Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang said: “The global pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on aviation and the hard truth is we must fundamentally restructure the Group to survive. We have to do this to protect as many jobs as possible, and meet our responsibilities to the Hong Kong aviation hub and our customers.
“Our immediate priority is to support those affected by today’s announcement. We are deeply saddened to part ways with our talented and respected colleagues, and I want to thank them for their hard work, achievements and dedication.”
“We have taken every possible action to avoid job losses up to this point. We have scaled back capacity to match demand, deferred new aircraft deliveries, suspended non-essential spend, implemented a recruitment freeze, executive pay cuts and two rounds of Special Leave Schemes.
“But in spite of these efforts, we continue to burn HK$1.5-2 billion cash per month. This is simply unsustainable. The changes announced today will reduce our cash burn by about HK$500 million per month.
“We have studied multiple scenarios and have adopted the most responsible approach to retain as many jobs as possible. Even so, it is quite clear now recovery is going to be slow. We expect to operate well under 25% of 2019 passenger capacity in the first half of 2021 and below 50% for the entire year.”
Final thoughts
This won’t be the last of downsizing by airlines, but it’s definitely saddening that yet another international airline is now forced to shed jobs and staff in a bid to stay afloat.
Cathay Pacific has earlier this week predicted that it will reinstate no more than 50% of its capacity by the end of 2021, and this will certainly mean that the network will be significantly reduced.
If anything, the cessation of Cathay Dragon may be the silver lining for the airline group in this pandemic.
By dropping the regional carrier, Cathay Pacific may be able to clearly segment their destinations between the mainline carrier and its budget arm HK Express, which may work out better for the group in terms of cost efficiencies and customer offering.
The regional carrier role of Cathay Dragon has long been questioned, given that the offering was similar to what is already on Cathay Pacific, making customers and investors wonder why there’s a need for two separate brands.
