Cathay Pacific’s loyalty program has just added some noteworthy restrictions when it comes to changing your frequent flyer number on reservations, and it’s something that some flyers won’t be happy about…
Cathay Pacific limits changing loyalty number on reservation
Cathay Pacific has updated the terms of its loyalty program. Let me first share the full relevant terms, and then we can discuss the implications:
To access or use your Status Benefits, you must enter your Membership number into your booking prior to travelling on your booking. If you do not enter your Membership number into your booking prior to travelling or remove your Membership number from your booking, you will not be able to access or use your Status Benefits. You will not be able to remove your Membership number from the booking after you have completed check-in of your flight for which you have entered your Membership number.
To recap the two most important points:
- In order to take advantage of status benefits, you must have your frequent flyer membership number on your reservation
- You’re not able to remove your membership number from the booking after you have checked in
A thread on FlyerTalk suggests that this policy has recently started to be enforced consistently, so these aren’t just theoretical terms that don’t have practical implications.
Why does this matter, and what’s the motivation for this policy?
This change is bad news for those who like to take advantage of elite status perks with one program, while crediting their points to another program. I wouldn’t say people do that on a widespread basis, but among those who are really into miles & points, it’s not uncommon.
As an example, if you had oneworld Sapphire or oneworld Emerald status through one program and wanted to use that for lounge access, you couldn’t then credit the flight to another program. The same would apply for things like baggage allowances and other.
In terms of enforceability, this presumably applies primarily for actual flights on Cathay Pacific, since that’s what Cathay Pacific has control over. Meanwhile Cathay Pacific has no mechanism by which it can enforce this when traveling on partner airlines (though that’s not to say that the airline couldn’t somehow punish members, in theory).
This isn’t totally different than how the Alaska Atmos Rewards program has restrictions on switching frequent flyer program numbers, though the details do differ a little bit.
One would assume that the primary motivation for this is that Cathay Pacific doesn’t want its loyalty program members with elite status using their status perks through that program, while crediting flights to different programs.
For that matter, Cathay Pacific has made some loyalty program changes in recent times, and I know some people are looking to jump ship. So this new policy is also a way to prevent people from taking advantage of their elite perks while transitioning to another oneworld program. That makes any loyalty program transition significantly less seamless.
Bottom line
Cathay Pacific now has new restrictions on changing the frequent flyer number on reservations. You can only access elite perks based on the frequent flyer number on your reservation, and you can’t change your frequent flyer number after checking in for a flight.
Clearly Cathay Pacific is trying to avoid people “double dipping,” where they take advantage of elite perks with one program, while crediting rewards to another program. Cathay Pacific is still in the minority when it comes to having such a policy, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see this spread a bit more.
What do you make of Cathay Pacific’s policy change?
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