All You Need to Know About ASMALLWORLD Membership Program

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ASW is a membership-based online community that has been on the fringes of the miles and points radar for a couple of years now. What originally started as a fee-based social network focused on networking and social events globally has evolved to having a visible focus on luxury travel.

The program is a “global community with a shared passion for the good life.” It offers a tier-based membership model that unlocks benefits with some hotel and lifestyle brands and – depending on the tier you choose – potentially a tidy chunk of airline miles (Emirates Skywards, Lufthansa Miles & More, Turkish Miles & Smiles or Cathay Pacific Asia Miles) as well — all coming at a not insignificant cost as we’ll see below.

To be clear — this is a niche program that will not have mass appeal to the casual PMB reader — instead, it is meant for a particular demographic for whom the program’s overall value proposition may hold appeal. That being said, there could be some unique situations/ life events where the cost of potentially acquiring a large number of Lufthansa Miles & More points (“M&M”) via ASW could be worth considering. First, though – let’s take a quick look at the program and then we can dive a bit deeper into circumstances where it makes sense to consider signing up.

Overview of Membership Tiers and Benefits

ASW has been around for some years and has maintained the model of what it offers, though the airline partners and bonuses have rotated occasionally. Currently, the program provides four tiers: Premium, Advantage, Prestige, and Signature. The following table compares the benefits and costs across the four tiers:

Concierge is a new offering from ASMALLWORLD, as an in-house concierge service focused on travel and lifestyle with no points packages. Also new this time around is more packages offering Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and also a new partner in Marriott Bonvoy.

As shown in the chart, the cost of the three higher tiers (the only ones that come with airline miles) is high: an annual Advantage membership is $790/year for 35,000 miles. In the Advantage tier, the best option is Emirates Skywards because its acquisition cost (2.26 CPP) is lower than the Prestige tier (3 CPP for Skywards). Of course, with the limitation that only 35,000 miles are available at this price.

It’s the same story with Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and Turkish Miles & Smiles as you can buy 35,000 miles of either for $790/year at a 2.26 CPP acquisition cost, which is lower than through the Prestige membership (of course, Prestige comes with other perks). As part of the Advantage tier, you can also purchase 35,000 Lufthansa Miles & More for $800 (2.29 CPP) and 45,500 Marriott Bonvoy points for $570 (1.25 CPP).

Generally speaking, the most valuable membership (on a miles-purchasing perspective) is the Prestige membership, which is sometimes discounted to  €4,950 (EUR). This is the best promotion ASW runs (on right now): 5% off + an extra 50,000 Miles & More miles. It includes not just lots of airline miles, but also other tangible benefits.

Link to Lufthansa Miles & More Purchase

Prestige membership comes with a choice of 300,000 miles in Lufthansa Miles & More, 250,000 miles in Turkish Miles & Smiles, 250,000 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, 195,000 miles in Emirates Skywards, or 325,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. The acquisition costs are therefore 1.96 CPP for M&M, 2.35 CPP for Miles & Smiles and Asia Miles, 3 CPP for Emirates Skywards, and 1.2 CPP for Marriott Bonvoy.

The Signature membership comes with 500,000 miles in Turkish Miles & Smiles for $10,990 USD or 500,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for $5,795, resulting in a ~2 USD CPP cost for Miles & Smiles and a 1.1CPP USD cost for Mrariott Bonvoy. The remaining benefits are largely mirrored across the two tiers.

The Advantage membership ($990 USD) also comes with Hilton Honors Gold status for 90 days and can be maintained by staying 5 nights within that period. The Prestige membership (EUR 4,950) includes Diamond status for 90 days and can be maintained by staying 10 nights within 90 days. Between these two, Diamond is the most valuable, but neither should be your primary reason to buy an ASW membership — that should be purchasing the airline miles.

Link to ASMALLWORLD Membership Purchase

Is the cost of miles a good deal?

The obvious question, of course, is whether acquiring points via an ASW membership represents a deal at all. Here is a quick comparison of the cost to buy miles through ASW;

Lufthansa

Lufthansa’s Miles & More is the best option, despite Lufthansa also selling their own bundles (not dissimilar to what they were doing with ASW in partnership). Thus, it’s no surprise that the most economical cost to purchase points is similar across both avenues.

A couple of things  why someone would want to consider buying M&M miles through ASW would be:

• The ASW offer allows you to buy up to 300,000 miles, 50,000 more than the maximum permitted under M&M’s bundles.
• If an individual wants to buy significantly more than 250,000 miles, they could purchase up to 550,000 miles using both avenues.
• When comparing ASW and LH’s bundle partners and benefits, you will find that ASW’s partners are more beneficial for you.
• Lastly, ASW membership would be coded as a travel-related charge as opposed to M&M bundle purchases, which are processed through points.com and, therefore, do not code as travel.

Lufthansa Miles & More are best used for Miles & More Mileage Bargains, in which they offer discounted mileage rewards on specific routes – often up to 50% off redemption rates. Currently, for example, a round-trip business class redemption to New York (JFK) can be booked for 61,000 compared to the 125,000 points it would usually cost.

Emirates

If Emirates Skywards miles are what you’re after, you have the choice of raking in 35,000 or 195,000 for USD 2.83 or 3 CPP, respectively. Both options present a significant discount to the cost that Emirates usually sells miles for, and they often beat out or match the price offered during EK’s sales promotions. Even at the same price, ASW offers other tangible benefits like hotel status. Furthermore, as mentioned above, ASW purchases code as travel, unlocking further value for the savvy points maximizers amongst us.

In addition to that, Emirates has a relatively restrictive limit of being able to purchase up to 100,000 (not factoring in bonuses) miles in a given calendar year (you can purchase up to 200,000 if Gold or Platinum member). Anyone following EK’s raft of devaluations over the past few years can tell you that 100,000 is barely enough for a one-way business class flight for most of EK’s routes. Another thing to note is that Emirates requires you to have had some activity in your account to be eligible for the ‘bonus’ portion when they offer points sales.  However, the calendar year limit and activity requirement does not apply to acquiring miles through the ASW membership.

Unlike M&M miles, Emirates is a transfer partner of several major US credit card issuers. In 2025, however, Emirates has made sweeping changes in the land of credit card transfers and Amex US MR now transfers at 5:4 (instead of 1:1) and Capital One transfers at a 2:1.5 ratio (instead of the previous 1:1). Chase no longer transfers to Emirates and needless to say, accumulating lots of Skywards is harder than it’s ever been.

However, you need to have Emirates elite class in order to redeem for first class. For the aspirational redemptions, an ASW membership tier could make sense.

Link to Miles Purchase Page

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

In the case of Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, it is notable that Cathay does not sell miles directly. The only exception is if you have at least 70% of the miles required for a redemption and you can purchase a top up at the end: 2,000 for $60 USD or 3CPP.

Therefore, purchasing miles through ASW makes sense to top up for a specific redemption, and you do not have any flexible points to transfer. The best way to earn Asia Miles is through Amex Membership Rewards Canada, which has a transfer ratio of 1:0.75, or RBC Avion, with a 1:1 transfer ratio. Amex U.S. has a transfer ratio of 1:0.8.

Cathay Pacific does release the most premium cabin award space to its own program, so you’ll need Asia Miles to redeem on Cathay business or first class. A one-way business class redemption from Vancouver to Hong Kong costs 88,000 miles. Long-haul first class redemptions like Hong Kong – New York JFK costs 160,000 miles one-way.

Link to Miles Purchase Page

Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles

Other than having my favourite mileage program name, Turkish Miles & Smiles is known for best for redeeming on Turkish Airlines metal. You can also earn Turkish Miles & Smiles through Capital One and Citi as both transfer at a 1:1 ratio.

Turkish does sell miles directly to members usually at 1,000 miles for $30 USD or 3 CPP. Acquiring them through ASW is quite a bit cheaper, with Advantage membership ($990 for 35,000 miles) having a CPP of 2.83, Prestige membership having a CPP of 2.35 (EUR 4,950 for 250,000), and Signature at 2.2 CPP($10,990 for 500,000). If you are short for a redemption, picking up an Advantage package could make sense.

The number one use of Miles & Smiles is to book Turkish Airlines between North America and Istanbul at a cost of 65,000 miles one-way. This is great value for those on the West Coast because Turkish Airlines has a regional-based award chart with all of North America as one category. So those in Vancouver, Los Angeles, Seattle, or even as far south as Miami will greatly benefit.

Miles & Smiles are also great for domestic flights around North America on United Airlines, with 15,000 miles each way in economy or 22,500 miles in business class, but award space in premium cabins is very rare.

Link to Miles Purchase Page

Hotel Benefits & Lifestyle Benefits

While the main talking point thus far has been the points element of the ASW membership, several hotel and lifestyle benefits come with both the higher tiers. Here’s a quick rundown of the most meaningful ones:

GHA Discovery – Titanium Status

Global Hotel Alliance (“GHA”) is a collection of independent hospitality brands comprising over 40 brands with 800 hotels spread over 100 countries and exceptionally well represented across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Some brands in the GHA program included Anantara, Kempinski, Leela, Lungarno and Viceroy. Titanium is the highest of the four status levels within the program. It has many benefits that one would expect for a hotel chain, including room upgrades (two levels), early check-in at 11 am, late checkout at 4 pm, status sharing (notably missing complimentary breakfast across all brands) etc. You may visit the page for a complete list of benefits.

Our very own Sash recently had a fantastic stay at Qasr Al-Sarab – the magnificent hotel in the depths of the Wadi desert and enjoyed excellent treatment as a GHA Platinum member (one level below Titanium) while staying at this Anantara property.

GHA will also run status matches from other programs, so you might be able to match to Platinum or Titanium through other airline or hotel status.

Jumeirah One Gold Status

The Jumeirah chain of hotels may not have the number of properties like the more prominent programs – but the ones they do have are generally excellent hotels – one such example is the famous Burj Al Arab. With their footprint heavily concentrated in Dubai, they have a broader presence in the Middle East, along with a couple of properties in the Asia-Pacific region and some iconic properties in Europe. An ASW membership grants you Gold status, the second highest tier in the program.

Gold status in this program comes with many of the usual perks reserved for top-tier holders, such as complimentary breakfast and late checkout. In addition to that, it does seem to offer an impressive selection of more unique benefits- especially considering that Gold is not the highest status tier. These benefits include complimentary pressing during stays, a daily free mini bar for soft drinks, a 5th-night free on award stays, and a “Chef’s Welcome” when dining on the property. For a complete comparison of benefits, please click here.

Bicester Collection Level 3 Status, Crurated Membership, Exclusive Events

Bicester Collection is a family of 12 luxury shopping destinations around the world and Level 3 status offers perks like complimentary reserved parking, complimentary hands-free shopping and most excitingly, invitations to pop-ups, previews, new opening and exclusive events.

Crurated membership is a private fine wine club offering direct access to rare wines, direct access to producers, and exclusive collector experiences.

Aside from adding new memberships, ASMALLWORLD has stepped up its access to exclusive events such as F1, Royal Ascot, and access tickets to other events in this tier.

Sixt Platinum/Diamond Status

Typically requiring ten rentals for Platinum status, with an ASW Prestige membership, you instantly receive this status, making you eligible for free upgrades, free additional drivers and up to a 15% discount on rentals. An ASW Signature membership grants you Diamond status – typically an invite-only status level which gives members access to a Diamond lounge (at a car rental facility?) and guaranteed upgrades, the most notable benefits.

ASMALLWORLD Community

Lastly, as a member, you are part of the ASMALLWORLD Community, which allows you to participate in events across major cities globally. This includes events such as meeting up with local community members at restaurants for drinks and canapes or meals, and other activity-based events such as hikes or outdoor socials at a Christmas Market, for example –  the idea being to get likeminded individuals who enjoy travel/dining to come together and build up their respective social networks.

Who could this make sense for?

The apparent value here lies with the airline miles component of the benefits, with Lufthansa Miles & More miles being the most stand-out option as this is the package most frequently on sale and also for redeeming on Swiss First Class. For most, the significant cash outlay is a deterrent, which is to say nothing of the non-zero opportunity cost of holding miles and risking further devaluations.

Still, as with many things in this hobby, everyone’s circumstances are different, and there are situations where the numbers/ convenience of an ASW membership could make sense. Consider a newly married couple in Canada (i.e., no access to Emirates transfer partners) planning a honeymoon/babymoon in the Middle East/Asia with a budget to splurge a little. Acquiring 250k-500K EK miles can cover the cost of some business or first-class flights on a typical bucket list item.

Additionally, if they’re looking at flying on Emirates on the way to their final destination, they could consider some GHA properties to take advantage of their newfound elite status at one of many Middle Eastern properties by a GHA brand or Jumeirah One (Burj Al Arab anyone?) property.

Alternatively, consider a situation where a family of four would like to travel between Europe and North America during an upcoming popular travel season. The Prestige summer promo netting 300,000 M&M miles could make sense if paired with an M&M Mileage Bargain promo in which they can fly between Germany and an East Coast US city for ~61,000 M&M mile return. Not only would collecting the miles be a convenient one-step process, but it would also come with the peace of mind that award space for so many will be relatively easy to come by using miles in Lufthansa’s frequent flyer program.

Final Word

The upfront cash investment is significant, and for a currency that could get devalued on the whims of an airline, it warrants careful consideration before pulling the trigger on a membership. However, if you can benefit from the elite status on offer, a large haul of miles and membership in a well-established networking community, then it may be worth looking at the value on offer here.

Link to ASMALLWORLD Membership Purchase

Title Image Credit: ASmallWorld