Neo and Cathay have revealed a new increased welcome bonus offer on the Cathay World Elite Mastercard – powered by Neo and they have also increased the accelerated earn rate for Cathay Pacific flight purchases!
When you apply for and are approved for the card you can receive up to 60,000 bonus Asia Miles. This is now the highest bonus ever seen on the card since it was introduced in late 2023 (the previous best offer was the wait list bonus of 45K) and is 20,000 more miles than the offer that was previously available.
The up to 60,000 Asia Miles welcome bonus
Here is how the limited time 60,000 miles bonus is awarded:
- 35,000 Asia Miles on approval
- 25,000 Asia Miles after $5,000 spend
60,000 Asia Miles are more than enough to get a round trip economy class award flight between Vancouver and Hong Kong which start at 54,000 miles!
The Cathay World Elite Mastercard has an annual fee of $180. This is the second highest annual fee on a premium card in Canada. You can add additional cardholders for $10 annually per card.
We value Asia Miles as 1.5 cents each which puts the 60,000 miles welcome bonus value at $900. Subtract the $180 fee and you get a baseline value of $720.
Recommended reading: RWRDS Canada’s full review of the Cathay World Elite Mastercard – powered by Neo
Earning Asia Miles (New increased earn rate on Cathay purchases!)
The card earns Asia Miles as follows:
- 2 Asia Miles for every $1 spent on purchases made in foreign currencies
- 4 Asia Miles for every $1 spent on Cathay Pacific flights**.
- 5 Asia Miles for every $1 spent at thousands of Neo partners nationwide.
- 1 Asia Miles for every $1 spent on purchases in Canada.
Up until May 31 the earn rate for Cathay Pacific flights was 2 Asia Miles for every $1 spent and as you can see that has been doubled to 4 Asia Miles per dollar spent! That’s a big increase and it just made this card that much more appealing to anyone who buys Cathay flights with any regular frequency as this represents a 6% return or more. And guess what? You still get the up to 15% discount on Cathay Pacific flight purchases in addition to this increased earn rate.
Redeeming
As with any airline co-brand credit card this is where the strength lies as frequent flyer programs can and do provide an opportunity to receive outsized value per mile. This is particularly the case when redeeming for business or first class flights on Cathay Pacific.
You can redeem for reward tickets on the airline’s own flights out of Vancouver and Toronto or anywhere they and their partners fly in the world. Those partners include Air Canada (only select routes), American Airlines, British Airways and all the oneworld Alliance airlines.
Cathay, which is the name of Cathay Pacific’s frequent flyer program (it used to be called Asia Miles which happens to remain as the name of the currency used in the Cathay program) still utilizes a fixed amount award chart for redemptions. This recently underwent some changes where economy class award flights out of Canada actually became cheaper however business class award flights became more expensive.
Asia Miles required by Distance zone (one-way) (These are for flights on Cathay Pacific only)
| Distance zone
(Example – From/To Hong Kong) |
Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra-short 1-750 miles | 7,000 | 11,000 | 16,000 | N/A |
| Short – Type 1 751-2,750 miles | 9,000 | 20,000 | 28,000 | 43,000 |
| Short – Type 2 751-2,750 miles | 13,000 | 23,000 | 32,000 | 50,000 |
| Medium 2,751-5,000 miles | 20,000 | 38,000 | 58,000 | 90,000 |
| Long 5,001-7,500 miles (Vancouver – Hong Kong) |
27,000 | 50,000 | 88,000 | 125,000 |
| Ultra-long 7,501+ miles (Toronto – Hong Kong) |
38,000 | 75,000 | 115,000 | 160,000 |
Features and Benefits
The Cathay World Elite Mastercard has one benefit that is exclusive to the card and the rest are the standard benefits found on all World Elite Mastercards issued in Canada
Up to a 15% discount on Cathay Pacific Flights
Cardholders who use the promo code CXNEO15OFF and pay with their Cathay World Elite Mastercard – powered by Neo card will receive up to a 15% discount on Cathay Pacific flights departing from Canada. The discounts also applies to Cathay’s code share connecting flights on Air Canada and WestJet from various cities in Canada. The code is valid for bookings made until December 31, 2025
The discounts are as follows:
Western Canada – YVR (Vancouver), YYJ (Victoria) , YLW (Kelowna), YXS (Prince George), YYC (Calgary), YEG (Edmonton), YXE (Saskatoon), YQR (Regina), YWG (Winnipeg):
- 10% off Business: J, C, D, P, I and Premium Economy: W, R, E
- 15% off Economy (Flex/ Essential): Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N, Q
- 5% off Economy (Light): Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N, Q
Eastern Canada – YYZ (Toronto), YUL (Montreal), YQB (Quebec City), YHZ (Halifax), YYT (St. John’s), YQM (Greater Moncton), YOW (Ottawa):
- 10% off Business: J, C, D, P, I and Premium Economy: W, R, E
- 5% off Economy (Flex/ Essential): Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N, Q
The discount is valid on one way or round trip flights between Canada and Hong Kong SAR, Australia, Cambodia, Chinese Mainland, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan China, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates
World Elite Mastercard benefits
- Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass Complimentary membership to Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass gives access to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide at discounted rate of $32 USD per person per visit
- FlexiRoam Global Data Roaming Stay connected around the world without a SIM card and get up to 15% off a Global Data Roaming plan plus up to 3GB of data, free.
- Fubo Discount Access 50+ live-stream sports channels and save $30 on your first three months of Fubo
- H&R Block Discount Save up to 30% when you pay for your tax preparation services using your eligible Mastercard
- Booking.com Discount Up to 7% off prepaid stays and save as you explore
Insurance
The Cathay World Elite Mastercard has quite good insurance coverage included with it. The coverage is as follows:
- Out of Province/Country Emergency Medical Insurance (up to 14 days for those under age 60)
- Trip Cancellation Insurance
- Trip Interruption Insurance
- Flight Delay Insurance
- Baggage Delay Insurance
- Lost or Stolen Baggage Insurance
- Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance (up to $65,000 MSRP)
- Hotel Burglary Insurance
- Purchase Security
- Extended warranty
Click here to apply for the Cathay World Elite® Mastercard® – powered by Neo
Originally posted on February 1, 2025 @ 12:25 pm
