Originally Posted by
TomYoung
As far as I am concerned it is yet another Cathay Pacific enhancement. I used to have a free Cathay Pacific credit card provided through AMEX. That has been cancelled. If I wish I can apply for a Standard Chartered credit card that is called Cathay. I would have to go through the hassle of opening a new banking relation and reduce my financial flexibility to gain some marginal reward benefit. I can only imagine that Cathay will save some subsidy it used to pass to AMEX and/or will received a kickback from SCB. Thank you for nothing Cathay. Another reason to reduce the weighting I give to buying tickets to fly with you.
for the old AMEX CX card, you need to spend enough (or hold status at MPC) to have your annual fee wavied (at least on paper), while now you need to have a banking relationships. some may prefer the later
and, since the HK1 million banking relationship can include a number of things (e.g. MPF, mortgage, stock, bond), "free cash" is not a must. for example, one just need to choose it for mortgage. most banks offer very similar interest rates and cash rebate, and the 4 annual lounge acceses could be a deal breaker