Cathay points expiring

[pn1]

I have more than 180,000 Cathay Pacific points due to expire on 31 January 2023 unless I take some action on my account. My partner is a similar position but with a much smaller balance.

We don't have any immediate travel plans but saw on the Cathay Pacific site that it's possible to make a donation to a nominated charity. So would a minimum donation count as activity on my account and enable the bulk of the points to be retained?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Paul in Melbourne

 

[pangwen]

I have more than 180,000 Cathay Pacific points due to expire on 31 January 2023 unless I take some action on my account. My partner is a similar position but with a much smaller balance.

We don't have any immediate travel plans but saw on the Cathay Pacific site that it's possible to make a donation to a nominated charity. So would a minimum donation count as activity on my account and enable the bulk of the points to be retained?

Are these "new" CX miles earned post 1/1/2020? If so, then any value of donation should count, as per https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en...eem-after-1jan20-to-keep-my-miles-active.html

There isn’t a minimum amount of Miles required. So long as you earn or redeem your Miles at least once every 18 months*, your Miles will remain active.

If these are "old" CX miles earned pre-1/1/2020, then a donation won't do the trick. The points will expire 3 years after you earn them. However(!), there is a chance you can convert these to 'new' CX miles if you transfer sufficient miles from your credit card. See https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_HK/offers/mileage-renewal.html

You can renew your unused miles earned before 1 January 2020, free of charge by meeting one of the following requirements:

• Register and earn 30,000 miles from finance partners by converting credit card points to miles

 

[NinnyPoo]

I have more than 180,000 Cathay Pacific points due to expire on 31 January 2023 unless I take some action on my account. My partner is a similar position but with a much smaller balance.

We don't have any immediate travel plans but saw on the Cathay Pacific site that it's possible to make a donation to a nominated charity. So would a minimum donation count as activity on my account and enable the bulk of the points to be retained?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Paul in Melbourne

I have a similar problem. They are older points from 2018/19. I was able to have them extended by 12 months by talking to Cathy. My points balance was under 50,000 though. I once has Cathy gold, but no longer. Not sure if this was a reason.

 

[pn1]

I believe I solved my issue by using some of my points balance to book accommodation for a forthcoming overnight stop in Singapore.
However, my partner has an issue. She has forgotten her account number and is therefore unable to log in to the Cathay Pacific website. She has tried to contact Cathay Pacific by phone but has experienced "longer than usual call waiting times". Is there any other way to contact Cathay Pacific? Or is it best to forget about it and let her relatively small (about 15,000) points balance lapse?

 

[M@rcoPolo]

I believe I solved my issue by using some of my points balance to book accommodation for a forthcoming overnight stop in Singapore.
However, my partner has an issue. She has forgotten her account number and is therefore unable to log in to the Cathay Pacific website. She has tried to contact Cathay Pacific by phone but has experienced "longer than usual call waiting times". Is there any other way to contact Cathay Pacific? Or is it best to forget about it and let her relatively small (about 15,000) points balance lapse?

You can log in to the Cathay Pacific website using your email address or mobile phone number, no need to use your account number.

 

[pn1]

The saga continues and I have almost given up. I tried to contact Cathay Pacific via their WhatsApp service and, after a wait of more than eight hours, I got through to an agent who took some time to understand my issue but eventually "got it". I was advised that the matter would be escalated to "a different team" and I waited for a further 24 hours with no result. I then got up at 0300 Melbourne time and called the Cathay Pacific phone number. I got through to a helpful agent who understood my issue and said the points would be credited within 72 hours. That was a week ago. But delving further into the fine print on the Cathay Pacific website it does say it takes six to 12 weeks to process any reinstatement of frequent flyer points. I have a theoretical balance of more than 140,000 points. I feel I should wait until the 12 weeks have expired (that's around 25 April) to see what happens in the meantime.

The helpful agent explained that waits of 12-24 hours on either the WhatsApp or phone are commonplace "due to higher than normal call volumes" so I reckon I didn't do too badly after all.

I would appreciate any further thoughts. Thank you.

Paul in Melbourne (Australia)