Coronavirus: Cathay Pacific extends Marco Polo Club elite status
Marco Polo Club members will be given a helping hand to retain their elite membership for another year.

With the coronavirus brining international travel to a near standstill, Cathay Pacific is giving its Marco Polo Club frequent flyers a helping hand to retain their status.
The core of the initiative is a monthly serve of bonus Club Points issued to all Silver, Gold and Diamond members to help keep their status retention on track.
The airline currently has no plans to offer a blanket 12-month extension to all Macro Polo Club members – in line with what's been done by the likes of Singapore Airlines and Qantas – with a Cathay Pacific spokesperson telling Executive Traveller "our existing offer of Club Points relief and extension of mid-tier benefits remains unchanged."
However, the airline allows that "we have also granted discretionary extension to longstanding loyal members as a courtesy on a case-by-case basis."
This follows reports by several Executive Traveller readers that their Marco Polo Club Diamond status, due to expire in March 2020 following a dramatic downturn in travel, has been automatically extended to March 2021.
Other perks such as single-use lounge passes, upgrade credits and companion Marco Polo Club Gold membership which were due to expire soon are also being extended.
Bonus Club Points for Silver, Gold, Diamond
All Marco Polo Club members will receive bonus Club Points across February, March and April, and this could be extended for additional months depending on how long most Cathay Pacific flights remain grounded and per-country travel restrictions – including Hong Kong's own ban on transit passengers – remain in place.
Here’s how that looks for members at each tier:
Status |
February |
March |
April |
Total |
Needed to retain |
Marco Polo Club Silver |
30 Club Points |
30 Club Points |
30 Club Points |
90 Club Points |
300 Club Points |
Marco Polo Club Gold |
65 Club Points |
65 Club Points |
65 Club Points |
195 Club Points |
600 Club Points |
Marco Polo Club Diamond |
140 Club Points |
140 Club Points |
140 Club Points |
420 Club Points |
1,200 Club Points |
“We understand that concerns about the coronavirus and travel restrictions imposed by different countries may have affected your travel plans recently, making it challenging to reach your normal tier requirement,” Cathay Pacific noted in an email sent to elite Marco Polo Club members.
“In recognition of your support, we are offering club points relief and extending your benefits. We will continue to monitor the situation beyond April and will announce any changes at the appropriate time.”
Lounge passes, upgrades, companion cards extended
All Marco Polo Club members who have airport lounge passes linked to their account – including eligible, entry-level MPC Green cardholders – will find the validity of these extended by six months, if they were due to expire in February, March or April 2020.
These passes can still be used as normal by members who continue to travel, but if the pass reaches its expiry date between February and April 2020 and hasn’t been used, Cathay Pacific will re-issue the pass with seven days of expiry, with a new expiration date six months down the line.
The same treatment will apply for members who have flight upgrade credits on their account – “bookable upgrades”, in Cathay Pacific lingo – which will similarly be extended by six months if unused by a February, March or April 2020 expiry date.
Finally, high-flying Marco Polo Club Diamond members who’ve reached 1,800 Club Points and unlocked the gift of a companion MPC Gold card as their “mid-tier benefit” will also have more time to nominate that companion, with any ‘due dates’ for this which originally fell in February, March or April 2020 being similarly extended by six months.
Executive Traveller guide: These airline loyalty programs will extend your frequent flyer status
Additional reporting by David Flynn
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1098
Cathay's offer is very generous. You'd think just extending the qualifying date would have been easier but I guess Cathay's approach also encourages goodwill amongst its high value customers at a time when the airline is under major stress.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
20 May 2019
Total posts 7
Will QF do the same?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Feb 2015
Total posts 8
No way would Qantas do anything like this, since they will not benefit, and it will cost them.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1098
Qantas would only consider something like this if they, like Cathay, had nearly 1/2 of their fleet grounded and services cancelled so, hopefully, no.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Sep 2012
Total posts 32
I'm hopeful! Yes there overall fleet isn't affected in the same way but many of its corporate travellers are (i.e ME as I look after APAC and have been restricted from travelling to most of the region..thus won't hit my next tier in time)
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 Apr 2011
Total posts 12
Qantas did extend many members QFF status by a year during the GFC as so many business travelers were effected. May depend on how much more QF travel is effected in the coming period.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Sep 2012
Total posts 32
Great point Danny..in fact I benefited from that as well! Fingers crossed...
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Feb 2015
Total posts 8
Good on Cathay and Singapore.
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