Extremely underrated transfer bonus

Gooooooooood morning from my cozy villa in Bogor! I’m spending a few days holed up in the woods here to enjoy some peace and quiet.

But there’s nothing peaceful or quiet about today’s content (in a good way) 🔥:

• ✈️ 15% transfer bonus to Cathay Pacific

• 💳 Use your year-end credits NOW

• 👂 Sponsored by Hear.com

✈️ 15% transfer bonus to Cathay Pacific

A 15% transfer bonus to a Hong Kong-based airline might sound meaningless to you. But it’s not.

This new 15% bonus from MR points to Cathay Pacific is relevant to everyone, and I’m going to tell you why.

Cathay miles are freaking awesome

I actually burn through a LOT of Cathay miles. I just used 32,000 miles last week to fly from China back home to Indonesia via Hong Kong in business class (which is very nice).

But even if you’re flying economy, Cathay has one of the best award charts in the biz.

You can fly from anywhere in the U.S. to anywhere in Asia for a maximum of 38,000 Cathay miles in economy. 👇

That’s a fantastic deal, and there are even some lower-priced awards. Flying to Hong Kong from certain West Coast cities will cost just 27,000 miles, for example.

Saving 15% on these already-great deals just sweetens things even more.

Cathay miles aren’t just good for Asia travel

Cathay miles are also super useful for booking premium flights on British Airways, but with lower fuel surcharges.

Atmos rewards is one of the best ways to book British Airways business class from the U.S. to London.

For example, a flight from Washington, D.C. to London is just 55,000 Atmos points.👇

But… as you can see, this also comes with almost $1,000 in taxes and fees. 🤮

Instead, you can pay 63,000 Cathay miles and just $223 in taxes and fees. In other words, you’re paying extra points to avoid paying extra cash.

But with this transfer bonus, you’re paying the exact same points to save almost $800 in cash, which is CRAZY.

Wanna go down unda?

I was just looking at a last-minute trip to Australia and New Zealand for Christmas, and was having trouble finding affordable flights from Auckland to Melbourne.

Qantas flights were crazy expensive, and even my favorite programs were charging way too much…

… except Cathay.

I found this four-hour business-class flight on Qantas on the exact day I needed it for 33,000 Cathay miles.

And now for the bad news

This transfer bonus is timed interestingly, because the same bank recently announced that it will be changing its transfer ratios to Cathay soon.

Instead of a normal 1:1 transfer ratio, it’ll become 5:4, so transferring 1,000 MR points will yield just 800 Cathay miles.

The only little baby silver lining is that this change doesn’t take effect until March 1, 2026.

Anyway, here’s the bottom line:

Cathay is great… if you use miles on Cathay Pacific itself, you’ll get some amazing deals. But don’t undersell the partner flight rates either.

With the current transfer bonus and impending devaluation of MR points as a transfer partner, now is the time to take advantage of this.

💳 Use your year-end credits NOW

It’s that time of year again, folks.

The time when you realize you signed up for these cards with tons of great credits and perks…. Which you now have like 3 weeks to use or lose.

If you hold a premium card like this one or this one, you probably have some credits that expire on December 31st.

For example, this card has two $250 semi-annual credits to use at The Edit hotels through its portal.

Personally, I was stressing out for a little while to use this one.

I finished all of my travels for this year, and couldn’t find any The Edit hotels that weren’t jacked up $250 in price (which would cancel out any potential value).

But here’s what saved the day:

Just because you use the credits this year doesn’t mean you need to travel this year.

Personally, I decided to put that credit to use in London for a trip I’m taking. I can make the purchase and get the credit this year, even though the stay is in 2026.

I landed on The Standard in London.

Yes, it’s expensive, but I’ll shave off $250 on my two-night stay, get elite night credit toward Hyatt status, earn World of Hyatt points, and even get a $100 property credit.

Plus, since it’s a Hyatt hotel, I can use points to book another couple of nights to have one long stay at the same hotel, even though it’s spread across multiple bookings.

Anyway, this is just a reminder to take a look at your cards and credits. Some of them can be used now for travel next year, so get creative!

That’s all for today, my friends!

Stay tuned tomorrow, when I’ll share some tips for booking domestic flights with points and tell you how I just booked a $30,000 trip for basically nothing.

Peace out,

6.9175° S, 107.6191° E

With contributions by McKay Moffitt