Cathay Shop at Cityplaza lets you spend spare miles

Are you sitting on a small stash of Asia Miles in Cathay Pacific’s loyalty program, Cathay? Perhaps, a few thousand miles – enough to notice, but not enough to take you travelling? On your next visit to Hong Kong, Cathay Shop at Cityplaza could help you take care of that problem.

This isn’t your typical retail store. Sure, you can walk in and spend dollars to buy anything on the shelves. But interestingly, you can also pay using Asia Miles. You don’t need a hefty balance to get a meaningful reward. A mere 2,340 Asia Miles is enough for a snazzy Cathay Pacific keychain, for instance.

On a recent visit to Hong Kong, I couldn’t help but stop by to check out Cathay Shop.

Where is Cathay Shop in Hong Kong?

Cathay Shop is located within the Cityplaza shopping complex on Hong Kong Island. It is directly above Tai Koo station on the MTR, which makes it easy to access from just about anywhere else in Hong Kong via the MTR’s Island Line.

Once you’re in Cityplaza, venture to the second floor. Reflective of its lifestyle tilt, Cathay Shop is a short stroll from Polo Ralph Lauren, around the corner from Chanel Beauté and opposite a Godiva store.

Cathay Shop is like any other store in Cityplaza, except that you can spend miles.

This sure beats spending miles for products online.

The store is easy to visit after a busy day of work or on the weekends too. You’ll find the store opening daily at 11 am and closing at 9 pm.

Our vision was to bring together all that we love about travel and lifestyle. Shopping is a core pillar of this concept, and this experiential space gives us a fantastic platform upon which to showcase the very best of the premium lifestyle that Cathay represents.

– Paul Smitton, Cathay’s Director of Customer Lifestyle

What’s available at Cathay Shop?

Here’s the fun part. Cathay Shop is an ‘avgeek’ dream. For instance, you can use your miles (or dollars) to buy a model plane. And not just models of aircraft currently in the Cathay Pacific fleet. I spot a Boeing 747 model with a retro livery. Now we’re cooking!

Need some new baby clothes? You can dress your child up as a flight attendant or pilot. Running short of bathroom amenities? Stock up on the Bamford products you’d expect to see in Cathay Pacific’s lounges. How’s your wine collection looking? Here, you’ll find your favourite drops from the front of the plane.

The shop offers a wide selection of items you can buy using miles.

Didn’t fly into Hong Kong in Cathay Pacific Business Class? Pick up an amenity kit here.

Browse from a range of model aircraft in old and new liveries.

Bring a taste of Cathay to your daily coffee.

You can even bring Cathay flare to your home cooking.

Avgeeks should be pleased with the range of retro merchandise stocked here.

Turn miles into wine.

But then come the more interesting choices. If you’ve been eyeing off the crockery from Cathay Pacific Business Class, you’ll find it here too. How about a retro Cathay Pacific baggage tag or bowling bag? You guessed it – they’re here as well. How about a scaled-down airline-style bar cart that doubles as the perfect bedside table? Yep, that’s an option.

There’s plenty more for you to explore. From keychains and fragrances to amenity kits, Hong Kong Sevens merchandise, Cathay-branded travel mugs and water bottles… the list goes on.

Earning Asia Miles at the store

Remember, you don’t need to spend Asia Miles at Cathay Shop. You can simply pay in Hong Kong dollars. If that’s your plan, you can then earn Asia Miles on your spending.

The number of miles you’ll receive depends on your tier status and the product’s category. Cathay’s elite members can earn as much as one mile per HK$2 spent (that’s about 2.5 miles per AU$1).

Here’s a hack, though. You can pre-order your preferred items online via Cathay Shop for free pick-up in the store. This can guarantee that your preferred item is available if you’re going to make the journey out to the store. What’s more, if you shop online and spend HK$500 for an in-store pickup, you’ll earn 500 bonus miles.

Spending Asia Miles at the store

If you simply want to visit Cathay Shop, browse, and pay using miles, you can, too. Every item has a price tag in dollars and miles. To use your miles, simply scan the QR code on the item and complete the checkout process. You’ll just need to be able to log in to your Cathay account, so have your membership number and password handy.

Whether you have just a couple of thousand miles to spend or fancy burning through a greater balance, you’ll find many options here. We still maintain that the best use of miles is to book flights or secure upgrades. But a mile used is better than a mile wasted. And if you don’t have enough miles for a flight, something small like a baggage tag could be just the ticket.

Also read: Cathay’s loyalty boss talks alliance-wide upgrades, lifetime status and more

Photography by Chris Chamberlin, who travelled to Hong Kong as a guest of Cathay Pacific.