My Silver Elite membership with Cathay Pacific's Marco Polo Club needed exactly 4,322 miles to renew this year. After reviewing possible routes on partner airline American Airlines, I decided on the JFK-LAX as each secto
But what's with being a member of Marco Polo Club?
Airlines always compete for passengers and one way of ensuring loyalty from their customers is to offer perks to their frequent fliers. Virtually all airlines these days have their own loyalty programmes. Cathay Pacific has its Asiamiles, a programme that r
I've been a member of Asiamiles since 1999 and was upgraded to a Silver Elite membership with Cathay Pacific's Marco Polo Club after accumulating enough miles. The advantage of being an elite member becomes apparent even before I fly a Cathay Pacific flight. At its reservation offices, I get preferential treatment (I don't have to queue!) and I can choose my favorite seat in the plane (that's the emergency exit-window which has plenty of space!)). During check-in, I use the Business Class counter even with an Economy Class ticket and if the
As Cathay Pacific is a member of Oneworld, an alliance of airlines that includes American Airlines, British Airways, Lan Chile, Qantas, Iberia, Finnair, Dragonair and Air Lengus, my earning potential while flying has increased. I fly with American Airlines exclusively within the United States and I credit my flights to my Marco Polo Club account. In other words, I don't have to fly Cathay Pacific all the time to maintain my membership. The added beauty here again is that I also get preferential treatment during check-in (I could use American Airlines business class counters but I prefer the convenience of self-service kiosks whenever I have no luggage to check-in) and I get priority boarding as well (group 1!)
Flying, especially the long-haul kind, can be stressful but in the end, it can also be rewarding. For those travellers who maintain a special relationship with an airline, the experience becomes more than just flying from point A to point B. They are the previleged: pampered before, during and after every flight, making each flight more enjoyable and memorable.
It does pay dividends to fly more!
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