Launched in the fall of 2023, the Cathay World Elite Mastercard - powered by Neo is one of the newest rewards credit cards in Canada and replaces the previous Cathay card that was issued by RBC. If you are someone who flies with Cathay Pacific on a regular basis you'll want to consider having this card in your wallet.
The review of the Cathay World Elite Mastercard is broken down into the following sections:
Overview
The Cathay World Elite Mastercard is a card targeted towards Canadians who fly with Cathay Pacific and it is the only one in Canada to earn Asia Miles directly. The card provides increased Asia Miles earn rates on Cathay Pacific flights and purchases made in foreign currencies. It also comes with valuable World Elite Mastercard benefits and at the moment also has a limited time discount of up to 10% off Cathay Pacific flights.
Costs & Sign up Features
The Cathay World Elite Mastercard has an annual fee of $180. This is the second highest annual fee on a premium card in Canada - only the Brim World Elite Mastercard is higher at $199 per year. You can add additional cardholders for $10 annually per card.
The current welcome bonus offer on the card provides up to 30,000 Asia Miles. The bonus is awarded as 15,000 miles upon card activation and another 15,000 when you spend $3,000 in the first three months after card activation
Income requirements for the card are $80,000 annual personal income or $150,000 annual household income.
Earning
The card earns Asia Miles as follows:
- 2 Asia Miles for every $1 spent on purchases made in foreign currencies*
- 2 Asia Miles for every $1 spent on Cathay Pacific flights.
- 5 Asia Miles for every $1 spent at thousands of Neo partners nationwide.
- 1 Asia Miles for every $1 spent on purchases in Canada.
* The Neo website currently has this published as "purchases outside of Canada" which makes it seem like it is location based however we reached out to Neo and they have confirmed to RWRDS Canada this accelerator is based on Foreign Currency transactions.
This means if you are shopping online with retailers in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world from your home in Canada and the transaction is charged in US$ or any currency other than C$ you'll earn this accelerator.
Likewise if you are travelling abroad and have a point of sale terminal that offers you to make the purchase in C$ you will not earn the accelerator (You should never choose this option anyway as the exchange rates tend to be the absolute worst!)
Unlike most co-brand cards in Canada that only post mile/points once per month, the miles earned from your purchases on the Cathay Pacific World Elite Mastercard get deposited into your Cathay within 3 days after the purchase.
Point Valuation Chart
| Spending Category | Miles earned per dollar spent | Effective Rate of return (Travel) * |
|---|---|---|
| Cathay flights | 2 | 3% to 10+% |
| Purchases made in foreign currencies | 2 | 3% to 10+% |
| All other spending | 1 | 1.5% to 5+% |
| * This is a low minimum valuation. In most cases you should be able to easily pull more value than this especially if you redeem for business class or first class flights. | ||
Redeeming
As with any airline co-brand credit card this is where the strength lies as frequent flyer programs can and do provide an opportunity to receive outsized value per mile. This is particularly the case when redeeming for business or first class flights on Cathay Pacific.
You can redeem for reward tickets on the airline's flights out of Vancouver and Toronto or anywhere they and their partners fly in the world. Those partners include Air Canada (only select routes), American Airlines, British Airways and all the oneworld Alliance airlines.
Cathay, which is the name of Cathay Pacific's frequent flyer program (it used to be called Asia Miles which happens to remain as the name of the currency used in the Cathay program) still utilizes a fixed amount award chart for redemptions. This recently underwent some changes where economy class award flights out of Canada actually became cheaper however business class award flights became more expensive.
Asia Miles required by Distance zone (one-way) (These are for flights on Cathay Pacific only)
| Distance zone (Example - From/To Hong Kong) |
Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ultra-short 1-750 miles |
7,500 | 11,000 | 16,000 | N/A |
Short – Type 1 751-2,750 miles |
10,000 | 20,000 | 28,000 | 43,000 |
Short – Type 2 751-2,750 miles |
12,500 | 23,000 | 32,000 | 50,000 |
Medium 2,751-5,000 miles |
20,000 | 38,000 | 58,000 | 90,000 |
Long 5,001-7,500 miles |
27,000 | 50,000 | 84,000 | 125,000 |
Ultra-long 7,501+ miles |
38,000 | 75,000 | 110,000 | 160,000 |
Cathay no longer publishes a chart for redeeming miles with their partner airlines. Those can be found by logging in to Cathay site and searching for award flights.
The program also features a Miles Plus Cash option where you can use a mix of Asia Miles and cash when booking on the Cathay site. This option requires a minimum redemption of 5,000 miles and there is no cap on the number of miles you can use.
There are also options to use miles for upgrades, companion tickets (if you booked a business or first class revenue ticket), extra baggage and for seat reservations.
As a cardholder you can also redeem miles to access select Cathay Pacific business class lounges. Their lounge in Vancouver is included and members can redeem 11,000 miles per person for access (Current as of May 2024) Click here to learn more about using miles for lounge access. (Cathay log in required) You don't have to be flying with Cathay to redeem for the lounge access.
Outside of the above reward options you can also convert Asia Miles to Marriott Bonvoy points and there are numerous non-travel options including the ability to donate miles to charity.
Features and Benefits
The Cathay World Elite Mastercard has one benefit that is exclusive to the card and the rest are the standard benefits found on all World Elite Mastercards issued in Canada
Up to a 10% discount on Cathay Pacific Flights
Cardholders who use the promo code CXNEO10OFF and pay with their Cathay World Elite Mastercard – powered by Neo card will receive a 10% discount on Business, Premium Economy and Economy Flex flights or a 5% discount on Economy Essential flights on Cathay Pacific departing from Canada. The code is valid for bookings made until December 31, 2024
The discount is valid on one way or round trip flights between Canada and Hong Kong SAR, Australia, Cambodia, Chinese Mainland, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan China, Thailand, or United Arab Emirates.
World Elite Mastercard benefits
- Airport Lounge Access The card comes with Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass which is a standard feature across all World Elite Mastercards in Canada. This means you get free membership in the lounge access program that is pretty much the same as Priority Pass. While the card covers your annual membership it does not cover the actual lounge visit fees which are currently US$35 per person.
- Boingo Wi-Fi Boingo Wi-Fi for Mastercard Cardholders provides access to more than 1 million premium Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide at no charge. This also covers Wi-Fi on several airlines including WestJet. As of March 9, 2023 members are limited twelve 90 minute in-flight sessions per year.
- McAfee Receive a discount when you purchase McAfee Total Protection
Insurance
The Cathay World Elite Mastercard has quite good insurance coverage included with it. The coverage is as follows:
- Out of Province/Country Emergency Medical Insurance (up to 14 days for those under age 60)
- Trip Cancellation Insurance
- Trip Interruption Insurance
- Flight Delay Insurance
- Baggage Delay Insurance
- Lost or Stolen Baggage Insurance
- Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance (up to $65,000 MSRP)
- Hotel Burglary Insurance
- Purchase Security
- Extended warranty
What is good about this card
The 2x miles earned when purchasing Cathay Pacific flights and for making foreign currency purchases is good. While the card does charge a 2.5% foreign transaction fee the 2x miles can easily provide value of 3% or more.
The continuous deposit of miles into your Cathay account. Most co-brand cards only post miles from your purchases once per month after your statement closing day. Not so with this card, the miles post per purchase and typically within three days.
The welcome bonus is decent, 30,000 miles isn't the highest in the market but it makes for a good injection of miles and does provide a lot value if you are looking for some justification in paying the $180 annual fee.
The World Elite Mastercard benefits such as Mastercard TravelPass and Boingo Wi-Fi are always good to have and being a Mastercard you can count on the card being accepted almost everywhere including Costco warehouses in Canada!
What is not so good about this card
No extra benefits specific to this card outside of the up to 10% discount on Cathay flights. In particular there are no extras when flying with Cathay that used to be seen on the RBC version of this card like premium economy check-in and boarding. And unlike some of this card's major competitors there is no first checked bag free benefit.
The annual fee at $180 is not so good. It is the second highest in Canada and you don't get anything extra for paying that higher fee. The up to 10% discount can pay for the annual fee but if you buy the cheapest economy class seats with a 5% discount it may take a few flights to earn back the entire value of the annual fee. Most notable however is all the primary benefits are offered on all World Elite Mastercards in Canada and except for one, all those other Mastercards have lower annual fees (some are even no fee!)
The out of province medical coverage is weaker when compared to competing cards in Canada. It provides coverage for up to 14 days - which is a day short of many other cards. However, the big issue with Neo's coverage is that is only good for those under the age of 60. The majority of other cards cover to age 64 and then some even provide coverage, albeit for a shorter duration, for those 65 and over.
Who should get this card
- Consumers who purchase tickets and fly with Cathay Pacific at least several times per year
- Consumers who are looking to redeem for Transpacific rewards, particularly in Economy Class
Conclusion
Overall, the Cathay World Elite Mastercard is a card that nicely fits a niche space in Canadian market and that's for those who purchase tickets and fly with Cathay Pacific on a regular or at least, semi-regular basis. Outside of that, when compared to other options for Canadians, it is a mediocre credit card, especially for the $180 per year price tag. There are cards in the Canada that have the potential to earn more Asia Miles (American Express Cobalt Card) and many other cards that provide equal or better features, benefits and insurance coverage.
Latest card details:
Cathay World Elite® Mastercard® – powered by Neo
Get up to 30,000 Asia Miles¹ and 10% off flights
Annual Fee: $180 | Additional Card Fee: $10 | 19.99%-26.99% on purchases 22.99%-28.99% on cash advances and balance transfers | Minimum Annual Income: $80,000 (individual), $150,000 (household)
- The 30,000 Asia Miles bonus is awarded as 15,000 miles upon card activation and another 15,000 when you spend $3,000 in the first three months after card activation.
- 2 Asia Miles for every $1 spent on purchases outside Canada.
- 2 Asia Miles for every $1 spent on Cathay Pacific flights.
- 5 Asia Miles for every $1 spent at thousands of Neo partners nationwide.
- 1 Asia Miles for every $1 spent on purchases in Canada.
- Airport Lounge Access with Mastercard TravelPass by DragonPass
- Free Boingo Wi-Fi at 1M+ hotspots
Other cards to consider if you are looking at this card:
- Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard powered by Brim
- American Express Cobalt® Card
- American Express® Gold Rewards Card
- RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card
- RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card
- TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card
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