GEORGE CHEN

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Hong Kong's Collective Memory

I have been an American Express Cathay Pacific (國泰航空) co-branded credit card holder since 2008 and it’s been always one of my go-to cards, especially when I travel around the world. Sometimes I may be very proud to tell the cashier if s/he was wondering what this brand meant. “Oh yes, that’s Hong Kong’s very own airline!”

Unfortunately, this AmEx-CX card will be discontinued from June 1. It will be replaced with the new AmEx Explorer card (without CX logo, just AmEx). The partnership between AmEx and CX collapsed. I guess it’s also a victim of the Covid-19 pandemic.

No one travels; so why bother still collecting miles? The end of this CX card is also the end of collective memory of many Hongkongers. The pandemic will be gone someday. But many old and good things won’t recover any more.

R.I.P. 2021, my American Express Cathay Pacific credit card.