Cathay World Elite Mastercard Review

The Cathay World Elite Mastercard – powered by Neo, is the new Canadian partner of Cathay Pacific for co-branded credit cards. Having the card go to Neo Financial was a bit of a surprise since RBC held the business for so long. The card still lacks airline-specific benefits, and the earning rate is not great, but using the card is the best way to earn Asia Miles in Canada. Read my Neo Cathay World Elite Mastercard review now for the full details.

Cathay World Elite Mastercard

Welcome bonus and earn rate

The Cathay World Elite Mastercard typically has a welcome of 30,000 Asia Miles. You usually get 15,000 Asia Miles after your first purchase and another 15,000 Asia Miles when spending $3,000 in the first three months. Since this is Canada’s only Cathay Pacific co-branded credit card, it’s the best way to collect Asia miles.

While the welcome bonus is generous, the earning rate of the Cathay World Elite Mastercard is comparable to most airline co-branded cards in Canada. According to the website, you’ll earn 2 Asia Miles per dollar spent outside Canada. I assume this actually means purchases made in foreign currencies. You’ll also earn 2 Asia Miles per dollar spent on Cathay Pacific, while all other purchases earn you 1 Asia Mile per dollar spent.

Clearly, this card is aimed at international travellers, but there’s one major problem – the card has a 2.5% foreign transaction fee, so it negates any value from the Asia Miles earned. On a positive note, Neo has thousands of partners across the country where you can earn up to 5 Asia Miles per dollar spent on purchases.

Benefits and perks

The Cathay World Elite Mastercard has an annual fee of $180, so it’s a bit shocking at how few benefits come with the card. In fact, you get zero Cathay Pacific benefits. All you get are World Elite Mastercard benefits.

Travel insurance

• Travel medical – $1,000,000 – 14 days for those 60 and under 
• Trip cancellation/interruption – $1,000 per person / $5,000 total
• Flight delay/missed connection – $250 / 4 hours
• Delayed and lost baggage –$1,000 total / 6 hours
• Hotel burglary – up to $1,000
• Auto rental collision/loss damage – 48 consecutive days / $65,000
• Common carrier travel accident – $500,000

The included travel insurance package is pretty good and comparable to other cards. The only downside is that if you’re 61 or older, you don’t get travel medical insurance included.

Purchase insurance

• Purchase security – 90 days
• Extended protection – Up to one additional year

With purchase security, purchases made to your Cathay World Elite Mastercard are covered from loss, theft, and damage for up to 90 days. There is a $1,000 limit per claim. As for the extended protection, it doubles your manufacturer’s warranty by up to one additional year.

Mastercard DragonPass membership

Cathay World Elite Mastercard cardholders receive free membership to MasterCard DragonPass, which provides access to airport lounges at a reduced price. Note that the card doesn’t offer any free passes to lounge. You’d still have to pay for each visit. 

Free global Wi-Fi with Boingo

Boingo is a worldwide Wi-Fi service that connects its members to over 1 million public Wi-Fi hotspots. You get an unlimited Boingo membership as a Cathay Pacific World Elite cardholder. This benefit normally costs US$15 a month, so there’s some value to be had.

How to redeem your points

Cathay Pacific flies to 200 destinations from its Hong Kong hub. The only two Canadian destinations they fly to are Vancouver and Toronto. That means your points have limited use in Canada.

Cathay Pacific has a fixed miles award chart based on distance. A one-way on Cathay Pacific between Hong Kong and Vancouver is 27,000 miles in economy, 50,000 miles in premium economy and 84,000 miles in business. Between Hong Kong and Toronto, the redemption costs are 38,000 miles in economy, 75,000 miles in premium economy and 110,000 miles in business.

You can book shorter flights for fewer miles. For example, a one-way flight in economy between Hong Kong and Tokyo would be 12,500 miles.

Note that you will need to pay taxes and fees on top of the Asia Miles redemption cost.

To further complicate things, Cathay Pacific doesn’t make every seat available like Aeroplan does. That means redeeming your points may be difficult.

Redeeming your points on partner airlines

Cathay Pacific is part of the One World alliance, and you can redeem your Asia miles for flights with partner airlines, including Alaska, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, Fiji Airways, etc.

The redemption cost follows the same distance-based award chart as for flights on Cathay Pacific. The availability will vary for each route and date, and so will taxes and fees.

For example, you could book Vancouver-Seattle-Honolulu on Alaska Airlines with Asia Miles. Assuming you can find the reward space, this is a decent value.

Cathay World Elite Mastercard eligibility

To apply to the Neo Cathay Pacific World Elite Mastercard you need to meet the following requirements:

• You are a Canadian resident
• You have reached the age of majority in the province in which you reside
• You have an annual income of at least $80,000 or a household income of at least $150,000

Although the card doesn’t list a formal credit score requirement, I recommend having a score of at least 700 before applying.

The Neo Cathay Pacific World Elite Mastercard is currently unavailable in Quebec.

How the Cathay World Elite Mastercard compares

Technically speaking, there are no other co-branded Asia Miles cards in Canada, so there’s no direct comparison. That said, let’s look at some other cards that can help you earn airline points/miles.

Cathay World Elite Mastercard vs. TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card

Since Air Canada is Canada’s top airline, it makes sense to compare an Aeroplan credit card. The TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card earns 1.5 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on gas, groceries, and Air Canada purchases. All other purchases earn you 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent. In addition, the primary cardholder and up to 8 travelling companions get their first checked bag free.

What sets Aeroplan apart from Cathay’s Asia Miles is that Aeroplan allows you to book any seat available on Air Canada. Although Aeroplan uses dynamic pricing for its rewards, the ability to book any empty seat makes Aeroplan a great travel rewards program.

Cathay World Elite Mastercard vs. Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard

Some would argue that the most similar card to the Cathay World Elite Mastercard in Canada is the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard. Similar to Cathay Pacific, KLM, and Air France have limited flights to Canada, so the co-branded credit card is for a specific niche. If you’re looking to travel to Asia, the Cathay World Elite Mastercard might be a good fit, but if you prefer to travel to Europe, look at the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard.

Interestingly, neither credit card comes with any airline benefits. This will likely be a major concern for anyone looking for value from the annual fees charged. Note that Air France and KLM are part of the SkyTeam alliance, so you can access other airlines with your miles.

Cathay World Elite Mastercard vs American Express Gold Rewards Card

The American Express Gold Rewards Card has a higher annual fee of $250, but it comes with an annual $100 travel credit and 4 annual Plaza Premium Airport lounge passes. If you use up all your benefits, you’re getting more value than what you pay in annual fees.

The American Express Gold Rewards Card earns you 2 Membership Rewards point per dollar spent on grocery, gas, pharmacy and travel purchases.  Since you can convert Membership Rewards to Asia Miles at a rate of 1:0.75. This means you can earn 1.5 Asia Miles per dollar spent in these categories. All other purchases earn you 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar spent or .75 Asia Miles.

Final thoughts

My Cathay World Elite Mastercard review is mixed. This card is ideal for people in the following situations:

• You want to earn Asia Miles – This is the only co-branded Asia Miles credit card
• You want to fly Cathay Pacific on points – Cathay Pacific is known for their service and their business class is one of the best.

While I’m glad to see more competition in Canada for premium travel credit cards, the Cathay World Elite Mastercard earning rate and benefits are low, considering the $180 annual fee.

If you aim to earn Asia Miles from credit card spending, you may be better off getting the RBC Avion Visa Infinite, the American Express Cobalt Card or the American Express Platinum Card since they have better benefits and you can transfer your points to Asia Miles.