Update 4/15/25: Card now live, sign up bonus is 38,000 miles.
In November the Synchrony Cathay Pacific card stopped taking new applicants. At the time it was unclear if Cathay Pacific was moving card issuers or Synchrony was refreshing the card. Details of the new card are now live and Synchrony will continue to be the issuing bank, but it’s not possible to apply. New card details are as follows:
- $99 annual fee
- Card earns at the following rates:
- Earn 3 per USD1 spent on all eligible Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Express travel and in-flight purchases
- Earn 2 per USD1 spent on dining and eligible dining delivery services
- Earn 1 per USD1 spent on all purchases where Mastercard is accepted worldwide
- Earn 10 Status Points for every USD5,000 in eligible purchases made​ each month up to a maximum of 100 Status Points per calendar year
- Priority boarding
- Priority check-in
- No foreign transaction fees
- 10% redemption discount on hotel, car rental and experiences awards with Asia Miles
- 10% savings on Asia Miles Gift Miles and Mileage Transfer Fee transactions
- 15% discount on eligible flights until 12/31/25
Doesn’t seem to be a huge change when compared to the previous card, hopefully we see an increased sign up bonus when it launches.
Hat tip to C-MontgomeryChurns
why would anyone get this
same question here
Applying for the card is now live.
Downside is that it’s run by Synchrony, which has bad reviews. Why couldn’t they get Chase or Amex?
$99 fee for lackluster rewards is also completely not worth it. You’ll also probably not find any awards availability either. At best should have a $0 annual fee.
Citi Strata Premier has better rewards and it’s $4 cheaper.
TIL different credit cards from different issuing banks targeting different customers may have different value propositions.
Maybe the toughest airline ever to find F or J award availability on.
Nah with their own program you can find availability. They just don’t release many to partners and I believe they still haven’t brought back all of their pre-Covid US routes so capacity is lower.
You must be luckier than I or booking a year in advance. Everytime I look at their inventory I can never find anything, even last minute.
I Stopped flying Cathay since they started charging 2nd bag. :/
$40 really makes that much of a difference on a 14 hour international flight, huh?
Card love you long time!
I fly often and sometimes take Cathay Pacific. I would actually pay the fee for this just to get priority check in. Economy check in lines can be very long as people seem to have a ton of luggage when flying overseas.
For the same annual fee, you have 3x for all airlines and travel agency + dining with Citi Premier….
No lounge passes attached with the card
why bother with Cathay card…?
For the status points, probably.
What do you do if you already have that card or have gotten it within 24 months?
What if you’ve already gotten most other cards?
Why bother getting any card outside of the CSP 100k offer?
There is no lounge passes associated with the Citi Strata either.
Comparing the two cards is ridiculous. They’re different cards, from different banks, offering different benefits, targeting different consumers.