All posts tagged: Marco Polo Club

Cathay Pacific to merge Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club in new programme to launch in 2022

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’. 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 …

Covid-19: Airlines and hotels extend elite status for select members

Several airlines frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programmes have announced membership extensions for affected members. Here are the details. LAST UPDATED: 29 April 2020 With Covid-19 entering now heading into its fifth month soon and seeing no signs of easing, global travel has taken a severe beating. Airlines have made drastic cuts to their capacity, while hotels are reporting all-time low occupancy rates. Moreover, China now makes up one of the most significant group of members that any airline or hotel will want, so I will imagine any loyalty programme manager will want to ensure that this group returns to the fold once the crisis is over. Several programmes have announced expiry extensions for their elite members, almost most of them are targeted at members in Greater China. See below for details. Frequent flyer programmes:Singapore AirlinesCathay PacificQantas Frequent Flyer Hotel loyalty programmes:Marriott Bonvoy (Updated)Hilton HonorsWorld of HyattIHG Rewards ClubAccor Live LimitlessGlobal Hotel Alliance DISCOVERY (New) Singapore Airlines [Updated] Singapore Airlines have announced a one-year extension for all KrisFlyer Elite Silver, Elite Gold, PPS Club and …

How I got my Qantas Frequent Flyer Gold in 2019

Although I’m based in Singapore, personally I’m more of a fan of Oneworld airlines rather than Star Alliance (and by extension, Singapore Airlines). As a matter of habit, I find myself booking on Oneworld carriers more than on Singapore Airlines, given the relative higher price of the latter out of Singapore. Back in 2018, I paid good money to be part of Marco Polo Club (which is separate from the Asia Miles programme) and managed to get myself to silver after making several trips. The perks at this Oneworld Ruby level is pretty decent: while I’m flying Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon, I’ll get lounge access. So after having a year of Marco Polo Club Silver and enjoying its pretty good perks, I thought I’ll try out Qantas Frequent Flyer and see how far I will get. I knew I was going to fly more in 2019 so I wanted to see if I will be able to fly enough to qualify for Gold, which will offer me more perks. For a start, joining Qantas …

Cathay Pacific reopens lounge at Shanghai Pudong Airport

The lounge reopens after nine months of upgrading works. Cathay Pacific has reopened its lounge at Shanghai Pudong International Airport earlier this week (18 July), offering an upgraded lounge experience for its customers. The new space, located near gate D69 in Terminal 2, can seat up to 305 customers. Opened from 0530H to 2100H, it primarily caters to the Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights, although eligible frequent flyer members of other oneworld carriers may also use it. This is what the PR promises out of the new lounge: Cathay Pacific is “moving beyond” for its customers with a superior experience at every stage of their journey. The new Shanghai Pudong Cathay Pacific Lounge will be another reason for customers to arrive early, rest and recharge in the welcoming atmosphere of comfort and wellbeing before their flight. Cathay Pacific press release What can you expect out of the new lounge? The marketing photos honestly look amazing, and one should expect no less from a Cathay Pacific lounge. This is what you can expect from the …