Air China, China Eastern, China Southern or Cathay: Which Loyalty Programme to Credit in 2026

Tier benefits apply mainly on that airline's own flights and on its alliance. Air China PhoenixMiles maps to Star Alliance, China Eastern's Eastern Miles maps to SkyTeam, and Cathay's membership programme (Asia Miles) maps to oneworld. China Southern Sky Pearl Club (南航明珠俱乐部) has been outside SkyTeam since 1 January 2020. The official programme pages do not say which airline flies from which city, and this guide does not rank the programmes. Route yourself by the airline you already fly most.

The four programmes side by side

Notes on the table:

• Air China figures come from the PhoenixMiles elite member handbook, Chinese version, effective 19 March 2025. It says the Chinese version prevails over other languages. "Segments" are qualifying segments.
• China Eastern figures come from the Eastern Miles level page, which applies them from 1 January 2025. The table prints the spend figures without a currency sign, so this guide adds none. Star levels 1 to 6 sit below Silver.
• China Southern figures come from the Sky Pearl Club member handbook, effective 1 January 2025 and valid until 31 December 2027.
• Cathay figures are from its Status Points page. You also need at least one eligible Cathay Pacific sector.

How to qualify, and what the rules add

Air China. Upgrades go one level at a time. Lifetime Platinum (1 million km on one Air China Group airline, or 2 million km across the group) and Annual Premium Lifetime Platinum are the exceptions. Renewal is rated over the 12 months before the month your status expires: Silver 35,000 km or 23 segments, Gold 70,000 km or 36 segments, Platinum 145,000 km or 80 segments.

China Eastern. You need a flying figure and an annual spend figure together. From 1 July 2025, renewal uses the same table, but a second and a third or later consecutive renewal need fewer segments and less mileage (not less spend): Silver 12 then 11 segments, Gold 24 then 23, Platinum 43 then 41. Annual spend is mandatory, and segments or miles are either/or.

China Southern. Qualifying mileage is not flight distance. For cash-bought CZ or OQ tickets with 784 ticket numbers, operated by China Southern, Chongqing Airlines or an airline partner, it is cash spend times a category factor when China Southern can obtain the fare (the handbook gives 0.8 for air tickets). For CZ or OQ flights operated by China Southern, Chongqing Airlines or a China Southern airline partner on tickets without a 784 ticket number, it is standard miles times a booking-class ratio. Group tickets, award tickets, travel-agent or other special discount tickets, free tickets, charter tickets and R class do not count. Gold and Platinum members can carry excess qualifying mileage or segments into the next calendar year only. A trial to 31 December 2027 lets members who reached status in 2024 renew in 2025 at 80% (Platinum), 85% (Gold) or 90% (Silver) of the standard in the first year, with deeper cuts for consecutive years.

What the lower and middle tiers give on the airline's own flights

Each cell reads Silver / Gold / Platinum.

Scope of each column:

• Air China: flights operated by Air China Group airlines under their own codes. A lounge guest must be at least 2 years old and fly the same departure flight.
• China Eastern: China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines flights.
• China Southern: flights with CZ or OQ numbers, 784 ticket numbers, operated by China Southern or Chongqing Airlines. China Southern provides lounge service only in lounges it operates or has a service agreement for. Companions must fly the same flight and must appear together with the member when access is checked.

What status gives on alliance partners

Air China and Star Alliance. PhoenixMiles Silver equals Star Alliance Silver. Gold, Platinum, Lifetime Platinum and Annual Premium Lifetime Platinum equal Star Alliance Gold. On the Star Alliance Gold page, Gold covers priority check-in, 20 kg or 1 extra piece of baggage, Gold Track lanes where available, lounge access, priority boarding, priority baggage, priority waitlisting and priority standby; baggage, waitlisting and standby are subject to each member airline's fare conditions. Silver gets priority waitlisting and priority standby only. Star Alliance Gold lounge entry, with 1 guest on the same departure flight, does not apply on Air China or Shenzhen Airlines flights, where Air China's own lounge rules apply. The handbook excludes award tickets from standby and waitlisting.

China Eastern and SkyTeam. On the Eastern Miles level page, Platinum and Gold map to SkyTeam's top tier, Elite Plus, and Silver maps to Elite. Platinum and Gold get lounge access at specific airports with 1 guest on the same SkyTeam flight, 20 kg or 1 piece of extra baggage, priority check-in, boarding and baggage, and bonus miles of 50% (Platinum) or 30% (Gold). The bonus miles do not apply to booking classes that earn no qualifying mileage. On flights where both the marketing and operating airline are MU, FM or KN, China Eastern's own tier benefits apply instead. They can also ask the operating airline for a full-fare Economy seat on international flights over 6 hours, at least 24 hours before departure. Silver gets 10 kg or 1 piece, priority boarding, check-in and waitlists, and 15% bonus miles, with no lounge in the table. Ask the SkyTeam airline at booking to add your Eastern Miles number, so it recognises your status.

SkyTeam added domestic lounge access for Elite Plus members from 1 April 2025 at selected lounges. Its release of 6 October 2025 says 32 participating lounges in China are operated by China Eastern and Xiamen Airlines.

Cathay and oneworld. Cathay's Frequent flyer benefits page maps Silver to Ruby, Gold to Sapphire and Diamond to Emerald.

The extra baggage allowance does not apply to British Airways "Hand Baggage Only" fares, and priority baggage does not apply to flights marketed and operated by British Airways. Extra baggage is added to the ticketed allowance. On weight-system itineraries, Gold gets 15 kg above the ticketed Economy allowance and Diamond gets 20 kg above the ticketed-cabin allowance. On piece-system itineraries, Gold gets one extra bag of up to 23 kg on international trips when the ticketed allowance is one bag, or one checked bag of up to 23 kg when there is no ticketed allowance, with a maximum of two checked bags; on purely domestic trips, Gold gets one checked bag of up to 23 kg only when the ticket has no free checked bag. Diamond gets one extra piece.

Cathay's own membership article, dated 7 February 2026, says differently on two points. It says Silver members get an extra 10 kg cabin allowance, the Business counter and the Business class lounge before departure on Cathay flights. It also says Diamond members may bring two guests when travelling with Cathay and oneworld airlines. The oneworld table above shows no Silver lounge and 1 Diamond guest. The pages do not explain the difference, so ask Cathay which applies to your ticket.

Is China Southern still in an alliance?

China Southern's notice dated 24 December 2019 says it finished leaving SkyTeam on 31 December 2019 and was formally out from 1 January 2020. The SkyTeam members list and the oneworld members list name no China Southern. The notice says China Southern kept bilateral frequent-flyer cooperation with 14 SkyTeam airlines, which it names, and that Sky Pearl Club members keep earning, redemption and elite services on those airlines' flights. It replaced the "SkyPriority" brand with "CZ Priority" from 1 January 2020 for priority check-in, baggage, boarding and lounge use. It also names bilateral codeshare cooperation with American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Qantas and Japan Airlines, and says full frequent-flyer cooperation with American began on 20 March 2019.

All of that is 2019 wording, not a partner list for 2026. The handbook says elite benefits on partner flights and the partner list are on China Southern's website. The handbook points to the website for both, so this guide gives no partner list. Check China Southern's partner pages before you count on status on a given airline.

Do miles expire, and how do you keep them alive?

• Air China: the PhoenixMiles member's guide says redeemable mileage is valid for 36 months, counted from the month of the flight or purchase. The elite handbook lets Annual Premium Lifetime Platinum members apply once a month to extend unused miles due to expire that month, until the end of the 13th month from a successful application; extended miles can be used only for redemption, and the extension is not automatic.
• China Eastern: points expire at the end of 31 December of the third calendar year after they are credited. The FAQ's example: points earned on 1 May 2016 are valid until 31 December 2019.
• China Southern: miles from tickets are valid for 36 months from the flight date. When elite status ends, miles that would have expired stay valid for 12 more months. During a trial from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027, Platinum and Gold members' ticket miles, including elite bonus miles, are valid for life when earned during their status validity on CZ or OQ flights with 784 ticket numbers operated by China Southern or Chongqing Airlines. The same flight and ticket conditions apply to real-name verified members aged 70 and above, and to real-name verified members who buy tickets with cash in original booking classes F, J, C, D, W or Y.
• Cathay: Asia Miles earned from 1 January 2020 expire 18 months after your last earning or redeeming activity, so one eligible action every 18 months keeps the account active. Eligible: earning, redeeming, bonus miles, gift miles you receive. Not eligible: cancellation or refund, miles expiration, miles top-up, points exchange, miles transfer, miles renewal. The page does not state the rule for miles credited on or before 31 December 2019.

Can you get status without flying?

• Eastern Miles: if you fall short on flying, the level page lets you buy Silver, Gold or Platinum for one year with mileage points. The price is shown at purchase, and the purchase is not refundable. The page does not state the points price.
• Cathay: the Status Points page also lists spending on co-branded credit cards as a way to earn Status Points, and says those cards are available for Hong Kong only. From 1 January 2027, the key changes page adds Diamond membership reserve: members who have held Diamond or above for any five years get one free Diamond membership, lasting one membership period, for every 6,000 Status Points earned since 2016.
• Status match or challenge: the PhoenixMiles handbook and member's guide, the Sky Pearl Club handbook, the Eastern Miles level page and Cathay's Status Points and key changes pages describe none.

Cathay in 2026 and 2027

• 1 January to 31 December 2026 is a transition year. Your status and benefits stay as they are, but any renewal, upgrade or downgrade resets your Status Points to zero, and your membership ends on 31 December 2026.
• Your 2027 status comes from Status Points earned from 1 January to 31 December 2026 (Hong Kong Time): 0 to 299 Green, 300 to 599 Silver, 600 to 1,199 Gold, 1,200 to 2,399 Diamond, 2,400 or above Diamond Exec.
• From 1 January 2027 there is one Status Points earning period per calendar year, and points no longer reset after each upgrade. Gold, Diamond and Diamond Exec members can roll over Status Points earned above their qualification requirements, up to 300, 600 and 1,200 respectively. Diamond Exec is a new status above Diamond.
• Gold and Diamond mid-status benefits end on 1 January 2027. Diamond members get Upgrade Passes and Diamond Exec members get Upgrade Passes and a Gold companion membership as status benefits instead; Gold members get no replacement. The membership article dated 7 February 2026 lists two Gold mid-status benefits: two Business class lounge passes at 800 Status Points and four bookable upgrades at 1,000 Status Points. Silver mid-status benefits continue as Silver milestone benefits. Mid-status benefits earned in 2026 stay valid for 12 months from the date of issue.
• How long a 2027 status lasts: the key changes page gives this example: if you earn enough Status Points to attain Silver in 2027, you stay Silver until 11.59pm on 31 January 2029.

Can one flight credit two programmes?

No, on the pages that address it. The PhoenixMiles member's guide says you cannot earn mileage with more than one carrier for the same flight, and to give your membership number when you book and check in. The Sky Pearl Club handbook says you can choose only one airline's programme per segment, and that if you buy from China Southern without asking to credit a partner, the system credits China Southern. The Eastern Miles level page and Cathay's Status Points page state no such rule.

Cathay Status Points count when you fly eligible classes with oneworld member airlines: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Fiji Airways, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian and SriLankan Airlines. Cathay's oneworld benefits page gives no Status Points earning rate per fare class.

Which should you choose?

If you fly fewer than the entry thresholds in a year, read the first table before chasing status. The lowest are Air China Silver at 25 segments, China Eastern Silver at 13 segments plus spend, China Southern Silver at 20 segments and Cathay Silver at 300 Status Points. None of the programme pages discuss the value of status for people who fly rarely, so this guide does not guess.

Need a flight quote?

Send us your route and dates for a quote through our contact page.