Asia Miles, another devaluation coming: Cathay raises surcharges again and also tweaks award tables

For us Italians who look to Asia Miles as one of the smartest shortcuts to fly to Asia without bleeding out on cash tickets, bad news comes.

Cathay Pacific has in fact decided to Increase fuel supplements for the second time in a few weeks applied to premium tickets as well, with the new price hike taking effect on tickets issued starting tomorrow, April 1.

In parallel, from the May 1, 2026 Instead, an update to the Asia Miles table for Cathay Pacific flights will go into effect, with an increase in the mileage cost on several long haul routes, including those closely affecting those departing from Italy via Hong Kong, such as Milan e Rome to Asia.

The increase in surcharges is far from marginal. Cathay has announced a further increase of 34% from current levels, after there had already been an initial sharp rise in mid-March. Reuters reports that, when the latest interventions are added up, the increase over February leads to an overall aggravation around the 140%. The company also explained that, given the volatility of the energy market related to the crisis in the Middle East, it will temporarily switch from a monthly review to a fortnightly review of surcharges. Translated: those booking an Asia Miles award will have to look not only at the availability of seats, but also at the schedule, because a few days' difference could change the final bill quite a bit.

For those departing from Europe, and therefore also from Italy, the most penalized segment is the connections between Hong Kong and the long haul destinations of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In this group, the supplement per single route goes from HKD 1,164 to HKD 1,560, that is, still +34%. On a round-trip award ticket, it means a significantly higher cash expenditure even with the same number of miles used.

And then there is the second blow, the one that is of even greater interest to those who use Asia Miles strategically. From May 1, 2026 Cathay will retract the mileage cost of some awards on its flights. Business class routes in the 5,001-7,500 miles, the one in which links such as Hong Kong-Milan, will go up from 88,000 to 91,000 Asia Miles leg; the upper range 7,501+ miles will instead go from 115,000 to 119,000 miles. We are not talking about a devastating blow in absolute value, but the point is that we are facing the third touch-up in less than 12 months on some premium routes, and this changes the perception of the program for those who used to use it as a refuge from expensive fares.

Asia Miles doesn't stop being helpful, indeed it often remains a very viable option to get your hands on Cathay seats that other partner programs see less or not at all. You have to be quicker and more cynical today, though. If you find interesting availability from Italy or Europe to Asia, block before May 1 may make sense to at least stop the current cost in miles; and, where possible, it also makes sense to issue the ticket before subsequent updates to the surcharges, because by now Cathay has made it clear that those values may change more frequently.

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