What's Going on With Cathay Pacific Award Availability?
Last month, Cathay Pacific announced a devaluation of its Asia Miles program, increasing the number of miles needed for many award flights. The changes took effect on Friday, June 22, but there appear to be some bumps in the road in regards to the switchover.
Normally, in order to search for Cathay award availability, you'll want to use either British Airways' or Qantas' websites. But according to TPG reader Matt and others, Cathay currently isn't showing award availability to either of these Oneworld partners. Another report from Point Me to the Plane confirms that the airline's normal award availability has vanished, not just on long-haul routes but intra-Asia as well.
TPG readers report they've checked with American Airlines agents over the phone, who were also unable to see Cathay award space. TPG Senior Contributor Richard Kerr has been checking the Asia Miles booking system and reports experiencing a large number of glitches. He also noted that calls to Asia Miles phone agents are going straight to voicemail.
It's possible the airline is experiencing an IT issue from transitioning to the new award chart, which is preventing partners from seeing availability along with causing other issues. We'll have to wait and see how things shake out over the next few days, but in the meantime, it might be wise to hold off on any transfers from American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou points or SPG to Asia Miles until this is cleared up. The same goes for those wanting to transfer to British Airways Avios in order to redeem for awards on Cathay Pacific.
We've contacted Cathay for comment on this issue but have not yet heard back. However, we'll update this story when we have more information.
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