Cathay Pacific (CX) is reportedly poised to make big changes to its Marco Polo Club (MPC) programme with the introduction of a revenue-based mileage accrual system.
Cathay’s chief executive, Ivan Chu, said the system is consistent with an ongoing industry trend already adopted by British Airways (see here) and United Airlines (see here), Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper reported following an interview on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) annual general meeting in Miami.
Based on the report, by calculating the amount of mileage earned according to the price of each individual fare, passengers on cheaper fares would earn significantly fewer miles than they currently do.
On the flip side, those that purchase the more pricey flexible fares, typically more than double the cost of discounted tickets, could earn up to 65 per cent more miles than they currently do, the newspaper reported.
Cabin classes offered by Cathay Pacific
Business Traveller Asia-Pacific contacted Cathay to obtain official confirmation of the report, but a spokesperson would only confirm that a review of MPC was under way.
“We’re aware of the [Apple Daily] report, but the comments were made in passing at the IATA AGM, and not through CX’s [official channels]. Therefore, we can’t comment more on this,” she said.
The existing mileage accrual system is based on fare classes, in which customers that pay for pricier economy class fares earn 100 per cent of total miles travelled.
While several fare classes do grant only 25 per cent or no miles at all, these are only applicable for heavily discounted fares.
Lounge access for Silver tier members to be capped
Other reported changes to the programme include reducing the perks that Green and Silver tier members can enjoy. In particular, Chu was quoted saying the airline would limit lounge access privileges for Silver cardholders.
Silver tier members are currently able to enjoy unlimited use of any CX business class lounges, but Chu said the airline would soon introduce an annual cap for these visits as a means of reducing crowds at its lounges.
For those holding the Green card, which requires US$50 to join, the report said planned changes include cutting priority check-in and priority boarding privileges, in order to reduce queues at the airport and boarding gates.
For more information, visit cathaypacific.com
Clement Huang and Samuel Chan
Cabin classes offered by Cathay Pacific
Business Traveller Asia-Pacific contacted Cathay to obtain official confirmation of the report, but a spokesperson would only confirm that a review of MPC was under way.
“We’re aware of the [Apple Daily] report, but the comments were made in passing at the IATA AGM, and not through CX’s [official channels]. Therefore, we can’t comment more on this,” she said.
The existing mileage accrual system is based on fare classes, in which customers that pay for pricier economy class fares earn 100 per cent of total miles travelled.
While several fare classes do grant only 25 per cent or no miles at all, these are only applicable for heavily discounted fares.
Lounge access for Silver tier members to be capped
Other reported changes to the programme include reducing the perks that Green and Silver tier members can enjoy. In particular, Chu was quoted saying the airline would limit lounge access privileges for Silver cardholders.
Silver tier members are currently able to enjoy unlimited use of any CX business class lounges, but Chu said the airline would soon introduce an annual cap for these visits as a means of reducing crowds at its lounges.
For those holding the Green card, which requires US$50 to join, the report said planned changes include cutting priority check-in and priority boarding privileges, in order to reduce queues at the airport and boarding gates.
For more information, visit cathaypacific.com
Clement Huang and Samuel Chan 
