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…
In this post:
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?
Sounds like people were scamming and airlines put an end to it. Who are these people?
Why aren't any commentors shouting indians are scammers blah blah blah?
Because the so called law abiding commentors are the scammers here.
I was just going to do this with my CX ticket departing in February and returning in March (business Lite). I'm currently OW Emerald through AA PlatinumPro. Because return trip is past February AA status qualifying, I'll be short for reaching Platinum Pro. So, I thought I would use this ticket to switch to Atmos strategy instead of AA Loyalty points jump starting it with a Delta Gold status match. The sacrifice now is not...
I was just going to do this with my CX ticket departing in February and returning in March (business Lite). I'm currently OW Emerald through AA PlatinumPro. Because return trip is past February AA status qualifying, I'll be short for reaching Platinum Pro. So, I thought I would use this ticket to switch to Atmos strategy instead of AA Loyalty points jump starting it with a Delta Gold status match. The sacrifice now is not getting into Quantas 1st LAX / Cathay Pier / (cathay bridge???-other current 1st lounge in HKG). But I could use AA status for outbound and switch to Atmos for return. I would just have to suffer using in HKG all those subpar business lounges that my actual ticket gives me full rights too. (3 lounges I think, 2 cathay, 1 Qantas???).
If I understand for 2026 Atmos earning strategy, one has to 1st decide how they want to accumulate points and if based on spend (5 points for every $) it's $15k (75,000 points) to get to platinum = OW Emerald. ??? Any good posts on 2026 Atmos program and strategies? I keep hearing it is lucrative.
I travelled on CX marketed and operated flights on 15 Nov and the boarding passes had my CX membership (Green tier). The check-in agent at Chengdu Airport denied me Sapphire status benefits associated Qantas and insisted that I had to put QFF on the boarding pass to receive the benefits. At Hong Kong airport (transit), I still could enter the Qantas Business Lounge by showing my digital QFF card to the lounge staff. I did...
I travelled on CX marketed and operated flights on 15 Nov and the boarding passes had my CX membership (Green tier). The check-in agent at Chengdu Airport denied me Sapphire status benefits associated Qantas and insisted that I had to put QFF on the boarding pass to receive the benefits. At Hong Kong airport (transit), I still could enter the Qantas Business Lounge by showing my digital QFF card to the lounge staff. I did not try the CX lounge so not sure if they would allow me in by just showing the digital QFF card.
I dealt with this last Thursday flying HKGSIN. HK-based BAEC Gold switching to QR, so since March I have been booking CX tickets with my BA# and switching to QR at the gate if my ticket is in a non-zero earning class. Caught me by surprise, to say the last, and had to arrive early at SIN for the return leg to do a physical check-in before T-60min to get the numbers flipped in advance...
I dealt with this last Thursday flying HKGSIN. HK-based BAEC Gold switching to QR, so since March I have been booking CX tickets with my BA# and switching to QR at the gate if my ticket is in a non-zero earning class. Caught me by surprise, to say the last, and had to arrive early at SIN for the return leg to do a physical check-in before T-60min to get the numbers flipped in advance as I can't do it online.
I find it odd that CX cares what BA members like me are doing: they will be getting compensated by either BA or QR, so should be indifferent. So I tend to agree with the comments that say this isn't the root cause of the changes.
CX have updated the terms for their Cathay programme, but I'm not a Cathay member so their terms are irrelevant to me. Does anyone have the internal memo--if there was one--that went out?
I don't know what the root cause of the changes were, but as Ben notes, one of the motivations is clearly to try to lock in loyalty and discourage switching, right? And Cathay, like other OW airlines, is currently watching what is happening at BA in real time - exactly what you are doing, switching over to another OW FF program that is potentially more favorable than BA for earning status. So it, some might...
I don't know what the root cause of the changes were, but as Ben notes, one of the motivations is clearly to try to lock in loyalty and discourage switching, right? And Cathay, like other OW airlines, is currently watching what is happening at BA in real time - exactly what you are doing, switching over to another OW FF program that is potentially more favorable than BA for earning status. So it, some might say smartly, made the policy change now, so that when it announces whatever it is going to announce in X months/years, this doesn't get announced at the same time. I don't know enough clearly, but I find it hard to believe that this is in response to a big problem Cathay is facing today.
Why can’t you just show your FF card with your status for entry to a club? Does it have to be indicated on your ticket to be granted entry?
@ gstork -- With other airlines, you typically can. But based on these new restrictions, you can't.
But this change only applies to CX members who receive the benefits from CX status. It doesn't say you cannot receive the benefits from other OW airline statuses unless you have that on the boarding passes.
Makes total sense and should have been implemented years ago!
No way they can enforce this when transferring.
I suppose if CX are going to be billed for their members using lounges all over the place, they want that to be recorded properly so they know who's doing it. And the revenue associated with that cost to be tied to their tickets that they get paid for.
“In terms of enforceability, this presumably applies primarily for actual flights on Cathay Pacific, since that’s what Cathay Pacific has control over.”
Or not allowing people into CX lounges unless the membership number with status is on the boarding pass regardless of whether they’re travelling on CX or not.
You can change your membership number at the boarding gate. Gate agents won't be thrilled about you increasing their workload over something so trivial, but it can be done (if you're not flying CX, that is, and there is no memo forbidding them).
I was raising the stupid CX FFP issue here several times over last month and OMAAT is just picking this up now from FT?
What is the impact if you're redeeming miles? If I have a CX flight in J booked through Asia Miles, can I access The Pier First with OW Emerald earned from AS?
@ Will -- As long as you can get your Atmos Rewards number on the reservation before check-in, which I think should be possible.
Hi Ben, it is actually worse than this. Cathay actually don't allow you to change or add FF number after booking until physical airport checkin. You might be able to add CX number (not a member never tried) but I have a reservation for March with CX, with no FF on, which their CS team refuse to add my QRPC number to until airport checkin. I've got WhatsApp and emails having tried several times, so...
Hi Ben, it is actually worse than this. Cathay actually don't allow you to change or add FF number after booking until physical airport checkin. You might be able to add CX number (not a member never tried) but I have a reservation for March with CX, with no FF on, which their CS team refuse to add my QRPC number to until airport checkin. I've got WhatsApp and emails having tried several times, so it wasn't a single CS agent who didn't know how to do it and just turned me a way.
@Ghostrider at least in my case, I have been able to add my AA FF number by going to the "Manage Booking" section of the Cathay website, logging in with my CX account (if you don't have one yet, you can easily create one), and then changing the CX FF number to my AA FF number.
I’m not sure if this is the same thing, but I had a flight booked on Cathay and then used the status match offer on Royal Jordanian after seeing it on the blog. Since then, I’ve been trying to update my frequent flyer program on my Cathay booking to the Royal Club membership number, but it won’t let me.
I did the same thing. You have to chat them
I have to imagine this is being triggered because of the mass exodus from BA Gold. Folks trying to use their BA status to access lounges while crediting all of their flights to another program they don't have status with yet.
I imagine that would be largely irrelavant to cathay though?
If a BA gold member uses a lounge, they get paid by BA for it's use.
When the flight is credited, Cathay then pays the FF program for the benefit received (status points + FF currency). If you switch from BA Gold to another program it isn't neccesarily bad for Cathay and if anything may be a pure positive if you switch to...
I imagine that would be largely irrelavant to cathay though?
If a BA gold member uses a lounge, they get paid by BA for it's use.
When the flight is credited, Cathay then pays the FF program for the benefit received (status points + FF currency). If you switch from BA Gold to another program it isn't neccesarily bad for Cathay and if anything may be a pure positive if you switch to Cathays own FF program.
More than likely it is what Ben is alluding to in the article.
They don't want people to use their cathay status to get into a lounge, which is a cost to them, before then switching to crediting it to a different FF program, which is a second cost to them.
Sure, but also not sure how widespread this is among Cathay status holders right now, while its happening with BA in real time. Cathay just made some tweaks to its own program, may be looking to make more, and is monitoring what is happening with BA. So - it's possible this was triggered by the exodus from BA Gold.
The world no longer revolves around the fallen empire ;) This has nothing to do with BA. Neither directly (as explained, CX has nothing to lose), nor indirectly (BA operates in a very different market than CX).
So the good folks at Cathay just woke up one morning and decided to add a restriction? I mean, that's fine of course, and while the sun may now set on the Empire (Commonwealth countries notwithstanding), I do have to wonder if they were reading the latest issue of "Oneworld Executive Magazine" and saw what was happening over in King Charles land...
There are some changes to CX Diamond recently too, but not as drastic as the BA revenue gutting
You know this is going to spread throughout oneworld now.
Likely because a lot of people photoshopped another FF status then status matched into BA Gold (last year) or AA Plat Pro (this year) then get into Pier F and credit their miles on AS or CX.
Nearly everything below full fare Y are 0% accrual on AA, and I hope this new policy can deter churners from abusing status match. AA and all other OW airlines should stop giving people free Emerald as well...
Likely because a lot of people photoshopped another FF status then status matched into BA Gold (last year) or AA Plat Pro (this year) then get into Pier F and credit their miles on AS or CX.
Nearly everything below full fare Y are 0% accrual on AA, and I hope this new policy can deter churners from abusing status match. AA and all other OW airlines should stop giving people free Emerald as well - Qatar is already depreciating lounge access for EMDs, and I hope they don’t have extra excuses- some airlines giving out massive free EMDs- to justify making it worse.
*Nearly everything below full fare Y on CX
That's most definitely not the reason because such behaviour would be a fantastic deal for CX - they get to pocket money for miles while not having to pay for the benefits (since those came from another program).
@Samo
You gotta admit that some status perks are zero-sum games. The more people using a certain lounge, the less exclusive / comfy it becomes. The more people asking for late c/o and early c/is, the less rooms hotels are available to manage. Should this continue, status will either become irrelevant (D1 C/I and Lounge, Polaris Lounge, EVA Infinity) or it will be bad for everyone (Marriott and Hilton hotel lounges, AA Flagship, NH/JL...
@Samo
You gotta admit that some status perks are zero-sum games. The more people using a certain lounge, the less exclusive / comfy it becomes. The more people asking for late c/o and early c/is, the less rooms hotels are available to manage. Should this continue, status will either become irrelevant (D1 C/I and Lounge, Polaris Lounge, EVA Infinity) or it will be bad for everyone (Marriott and Hilton hotel lounges, AA Flagship, NH/JL business lounges, most *A gold lounges in developed hubs). Oneworld is the only alliance that still recognizes alliance wide top tier. If that is abused, you can imagine what way it is going to. Cathay is opening a Diamond/First only area in its Bridge lounge and allowing only them to reserve massages at Pier First in advance. Qatar is making its Al Mourjan and Al Safwa lounges business class / Platinum / first / Platinum+business only.
So, it is really not just about money.
It’s not the fault of other frequent flier programs that Chinese users abuse the system by submitting fraudulent status matches.
The Chinese market consistently pushes ethical churning boundaries both in frequency and severity, ruining these programs for legitimate users and then crying when they get called out on it. See: Hyatt Elite Nights, Marriott Platinum Match, Chinese expats running up six figure debts in the West and then defaulting when they return and can’t...
It’s not the fault of other frequent flier programs that Chinese users abuse the system by submitting fraudulent status matches.
The Chinese market consistently pushes ethical churning boundaries both in frequency and severity, ruining these programs for legitimate users and then crying when they get called out on it. See: Hyatt Elite Nights, Marriott Platinum Match, Chinese expats running up six figure debts in the West and then defaulting when they return and can’t be collected from. Programs will tolerate abuse to the extent that it helps them grow market share, but in the meantime the measures that these companies have to take to protect their profitability in the face of (outside and beyond the normal) abuse in that market will continuously degrade the loyalty and FF experience for everyone else, given the outsize volume of Chinese consumers in each program relative to their individual impact.
Can I say I love your contributions to this site? Your comment on the Japan tourism thread was also excellent.
That being said, I've read a few posts that this year people were lining up for dining room of the Pier - That didn't happen with last year's BA Gold match.
So I think something changed this year. Could be the massively "democratized" fraud status match, or just a few goofish sellers kicked into high gear mode.