This is both a genuine question and a bit of a cautionary tale…
In this post:
How I acquired a lot of Korean Air SkyPass miles
I have roughly 600K Korean Air SkyPass miles, which I’ve had in my account since 2018. You see, the Chase Ultimate Rewards program used to have Korean Air SkyPass as a transfer partner, but that partnership ended in late 2018.
Ahead of it ending, many of us were trying to decide whether or not to make a speculative transfer. While I’d usually prefer not to make a speculative points transfer, Korean Air SkyPass was a unique partner for a variety of reasons:
- The program had incredibly low redemption rates for travel on Korean Air
- The program allowed you to redeem miles for Korean Air first class, and Korean Air was one of the most consistent airlines with making first class award seats available
- The program had generous policies in general, ranging from the ability to hold awards, to stopover on one-way awards, and more
- The program offered value for SkyTeam partner redemptions as well; for example, you could redeem SkyPass miles for China Eastern first class and Saudia first class, even though reciprocal first class redemptions in SkyTeam are incredibly rare
- Korean Air SkyPass didn’t partner with any other major transferable points currency, so it was pretty clear that this was the last opportunity to rack up a lot of SkyPass miles
At the time, my logic in making the transfer was that 600K miles would be enough for two roundtrip first class tickets for two people to Asia. Given how virtually no other airline made first class award seats available across the Pacific in advance (especially for more than one person), I figured that was a risk worth taking, given the upside.
Well, suffice it to say that my feelings on that have changed somewhat…
Korean Air has basically cut first class awards
When I speculatively transfered Chase points to Korean Air, my goal was to redeem all those miles within several years. I hadn’t planned for the coronavirus pandemic, which meant that travel to Asia wasn’t practical for nearly three years.
Now as Asia has fully reopened, I’m looking to redeem my Korean Air SkyPass miles, though I’m realizing that I’m having a hard time getting excited about redeeming them.
Let’s start with what hasn’t changed — Korean Air SkyPass redemption rates are actually the same now as back then. Korean Air wanted to devalue its SkyPass program during the pandemic, but ended up postponing that indefinitely. The reason? South Korea has strong consumer protections, and Korean Air is currently trying to acquire Asiana, so the airline didn’t want to do anything that consumers could view as a negative change.
What has changed, unfortunately, is the ability to redeem Korean Air SkyPass miles for first class. Korean Air seems to have basically completely eliminated first class awards, no matter whether you’re booking last minute or far in advance.
Admittedly transpacific demand has been very high recently, given how limited capacity is from mainland Chinese carriers. However, I’m even seeing Korean Air flights within a few days of departure where six or more first class seats are for sale, yet there are no award seats.
So it seems that Korean Air has had a change of heart, and no longer makes first class award seats available, at least between the United States and Asia. What makes the situation even worse is that before the pandemic, Korean Air announced it would greatly reduce its first class footprint, so there aren’t nearly as many planes with first class as before.
Korean Air even has a handy award availability calendar, where you can see first class award availability for an entire year in a particular route in a matter of minutes. There you can easily see just how bad the situation has become.
So it’s interesting how the program has avoided increasing mileage costs, but rather the devaluation seems to be coming in the form of simply not releasing award seats in first class anymore.
So, what should I do with Korean Air SkyPass miles?
I know I’m not the only one who is in this situation, so I figured it would be interesting to discuss the best ways to redeem Korean Air SkyPass miles. A few thoughts:
- Without Korean Air first class, I suppose the only redemptions possible through SkyPass but not other programs would be China Eastern first class and Saudia first class, and I don’t necessarily have some huge urge to fly with those airlines again
- You can always redeem SkyPass miles for Korean Air business class; I suppose I’ll book one of those again soon, but I’m not necessarily looking to fly Korean Air business class that often, so I won’t go through all of my SkyPass miles that way
- I suppose I could redeem for other SkyTeam partner airline travel, but generally SkyPass doesn’t have the best redemption rates, plus the program requires roundtrip awards on partners, which isn’t ideal; I’d rather book most SkyTeam awards through Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- You can’t even use SkyPass miles for redemptions for friends, since the program only lets you redeem for yourself or family members
Bottom line
In life we take all kinds of risks, and some pay off, while others don’t. In my case, I transfered lots of Chase points to Korean Air years ago, before that partnership ended. Unfortunately that didn’t end up being a great decision, as Korean Air makes virtually no first class awards available anymore (which was my primary motive in collecting these miles).
I’m not beating myself up too much, since I couldn’t have predicted the pandemic, and for that matter, I’ll still find a use for these miles. However, at a minimum I think this is a good reminder of the risks of speculative transfers.
Anyone else still have a big sum of Korean Air SkyPass miles? Any requests for how I should redeem these and what you’d like me to review with these SkyPass miles?
please bring back Korean air as a transfer partner Chase!
There's no Business Class availability either! Nada. Zip. Nothing for any flight from the USA to Korea from today out as far as their system will allow you to look. Not one single day, not one seat. This is a complete F you to everyone who earned miles or points for Korean Air. They should be ashamed of themselves. I hope someone starts a class action lawsuit.
First class is hardly worth the fuss over business class. I flew it a few times just because the redemption rate was nearly the same and while yes, it's better, it's not something I'm going to write an article about. It does suck that they aren't putting out any tickets at all, but whatever.
I had loads of shipping going on during Covid and couldn't take out and close AMEX gold cards fast enough to...
First class is hardly worth the fuss over business class. I flew it a few times just because the redemption rate was nearly the same and while yes, it's better, it's not something I'm going to write an article about. It does suck that they aren't putting out any tickets at all, but whatever.
I had loads of shipping going on during Covid and couldn't take out and close AMEX gold cards fast enough to keep up with the spend so I wound up dumping all of the extra spend to Marriot Bonvoy and then transferred over to Korean Air miles; I still have about a million miles outstanding and I started traveling again OFTEN in 2021 as soon as Asia started opening back up. Now, I live in Asia and will probably only redeem a flight to and from the USA once a year.
My issue is that they really don't release enough business award tickets. You can look out a year and it'll be tough to find 1 ticket available in business, never mind 2 if you're trying to bring someone along. I do use ATL and it's competitive and I know that LAX and ORD tend to have more options but they are not convenient for me. The worst part is I have no idea when I want to go home or come back so I've found myself trying to book a flight each way every month and see if I can hit a ticket with a flight time change that grants me free cancellation up until an hour before the flight. Even if that doesn't happen, I still get 91 days to cancel it for free. So I am probably one of those hogs sucking up all the award tickets as soon as they're spotted.
I think it's a combo of people finding cheap miles and KE reducing the available award tickets. I recall 10 years ago getting onto a flight that only had a couple of award business tickets available and I was the only one in business class for that 15 hour flight to Korea! A year later on a totally different airlane, one of the stewardesses remembered me and approached me, then talking to her co-worker, speaking in Korean and giggling. Maybe I should have tried to join the mile high club that day but I was tired lol
I think until Korean air finally jacks up the cost of their award tickets, it's going to remain a scramble to get them. I'm not going to complain too much since the cost for my to fly buiness is about 35% tax considering the opportunity loss I had when I accumulated all of these miles. And now that Amex has dropped shipping as a bonus category with their gold card, I can get miles whenever I want dirt cheap again. I probably won't need many more though.
Watch out for the consequences of Covid and online business transactions; there was a lot of talk about the purchase of business class seats declining rapidly after Covid and that's how a lot of these long flights basically get funded. We might see business class start to disappear as an award availability all together. And i cannot fly economy anymore so I guess I'll be dishing out the money if I have to.
I love Korean Air miles for domestic economy on Delta (search and buy at the Korean Air website as a "Sky Team" award). They always price out at 12,500 miles per one-way leg or 25,000 miles round trip. The ticket is issued in Delta Main with free reserved seat selection (not Basic Economy). Nowadays, when you price out any halfway desirable, non-redeye long haul domestic route on Delta that's not Basic Economy, it prices out...
I love Korean Air miles for domestic economy on Delta (search and buy at the Korean Air website as a "Sky Team" award). They always price out at 12,500 miles per one-way leg or 25,000 miles round trip. The ticket is issued in Delta Main with free reserved seat selection (not Basic Economy). Nowadays, when you price out any halfway desirable, non-redeye long haul domestic route on Delta that's not Basic Economy, it prices out at > 50K Skymiles miles roundtrip, so the Korean Air miiles represents a huge savings for domestic economy travel on Delta.
Wow! I didn't realize that you could finally book USA domestic flights with Korean Air now. The website used to tell you that you couldn't book a ticket going to the same region or something like that.
I'm not seeing such low point value redemptions though. Lowest for any non-connection trip I see is 70k miles. Yeah, Delta miles are both expensive and the flights are costly compared to Korean Air but I already...
Wow! I didn't realize that you could finally book USA domestic flights with Korean Air now. The website used to tell you that you couldn't book a ticket going to the same region or something like that.
I'm not seeing such low point value redemptions though. Lowest for any non-connection trip I see is 70k miles. Yeah, Delta miles are both expensive and the flights are costly compared to Korean Air but I already have loads of Delta miles to blow and I'll probably opt to purchase the short flight I need to get to ATL and catch my KE flight than waste a lot of miles on an economy ticket. I need business class anyway because I'm hauling 3 x 32KG bags with me on every flight.
We just booked two J tickets JFK ICN SIN (75K/each) in two weeks. I am giving up on finding first class inventory. perfectly happy booking the 380 and at least enjoying the onboard bar. We had 170,000 miles and probably will just not use the remaining 20 K? We did enjoy KE 380 F several years ago and it was fantastic but not sure there is much difference in the soft product these days?
I am also in the same boat.
It was a great program with limited earning routes.
I suspect I will burn them on J.... better get going.
May be best for you to use them before a devaluation or before it gets even more limited. If they really eliminate or are working toward eliminating first, then what will you do with the points...
i am in the same position. i'm willing to use these for delta domestic but can never find delta domestic first class seats. am i doing the search wrong?
The points and miles game is not for people who don't do their research and stay updated on current developments. Airlines clearly state that your miles belong to them, not you, for instance. But so many people are surprised to be informed of this by a new article or blog post. It's unfortunate that you've lost your miles, but it's part of the game. You can only win the game by being smarter than the...
The points and miles game is not for people who don't do their research and stay updated on current developments. Airlines clearly state that your miles belong to them, not you, for instance. But so many people are surprised to be informed of this by a new article or blog post. It's unfortunate that you've lost your miles, but it's part of the game. You can only win the game by being smarter than the airline. One of the very basic rules is that you transfer miles into an airline loyalty account only when you're ready to book a tix. Everybody needs to read the fine print and stay abreast of any changes.
He made an educated gamble and lost. As was stated, the miles can still be used for coach or business class. Not a huge loss.
I led signing airline/hotel points transfer partners for Chase UR when it launched in 2009-11. Korean Air was my baby!!! I still recall the glazed eyes on some of the Sapphire product folks who said "why would anyone want to points transfer to Korean Air, our cardmembers want to transfer to Southwest so they can redeem for a trip to Disney World?". Would have been nice to have Ben as my sherpa back then in...
I led signing airline/hotel points transfer partners for Chase UR when it launched in 2009-11. Korean Air was my baby!!! I still recall the glazed eyes on some of the Sapphire product folks who said "why would anyone want to points transfer to Korean Air, our cardmembers want to transfer to Southwest so they can redeem for a trip to Disney World?". Would have been nice to have Ben as my sherpa back then in Wilmington HQ meetings LOL. Nevertheless, I got KE into UR, and enjoyed working with our KE USA contact (Jennifer was awesome)!! When I asked her why KE USA left MR years earlier, she said Seoul HQ pulled the plug mostly because the Amex relationship caused disproportionate premium cabin redemptions from MR points transfers that went way over expectations (and this was before OMMAT/TPG etc gained the traction it has today), and the cost per mile paid by KE to Amex was not worth it. “The juice is not worth the squeeze”. At the time for Chase, our sell-in to KE Seoul HQ was Chase UR would not put KE in that position. And all decisions were made in Seoul… So years later (I left Chase in 2011), as an external observer I could see the writing on the wall that KE would leave UR as stuff was happening like people were speculatively transferring miles into their program. Heck, even I finally redeemed some KE miles for a First Class trip ICN-JFK and the flight was awesome…
p.s. Ask me about the adventure of trying to get Aeroplan into UR back in 2009-10 at UR / Sapphire / Ink launch! Bottom line, the deal was done, contract was waiting for a signature from Aeroplan, then last minute, Aeroplan leadership pulled the plug due to a “re-org”. Needless to say, I was not impressed wit them after going to Toronto and taking these bozos to an expensive meal and even got in trouble with Chase expense guidelines. ☹
Correction: Miles were paid by Amex to KE, not other way around. Wish there is a way to edit comments. Ben? :)
@gideyup11
How exactly did you convince KE that UR would not put KE in that position.
Besides a botched golf game followed by a very very heavy drinking right before signing, I can't imagine any reasonable explanation.
Karaoke night instead of golf game for KE senior executives I think :)
What foreign airlines were looking for at the time (2009-10) was brand exposure and incremental spend lift over baseline points transfer revenue. Chase's customer base was more mass affluent vs. Amex which were more concentrated in coastal urban / suburban areas. KE already had higher brand exposure with these customers. So KE was interested in getting the national brand / marketing exposure that Chase could provide (or I just did a good job pitching, whatever...
What foreign airlines were looking for at the time (2009-10) was brand exposure and incremental spend lift over baseline points transfer revenue. Chase's customer base was more mass affluent vs. Amex which were more concentrated in coastal urban / suburban areas. KE already had higher brand exposure with these customers. So KE was interested in getting the national brand / marketing exposure that Chase could provide (or I just did a good job pitching, whatever you want to believe LOL).
Keep in mind, this was 2009-10, so this was years before Sapphire Reserve. By time Reserve launched, as an external observer it was clear to me KE wanted no part of that, which is Amex Gold/Platinum customers all over again!
Oh... also that they were at the time the only SkyTeam partner in UR also helped. It was a way to get Delta (i.e. Amex customers) incremental marketing exposure for KE. If you look back into the UR / Sapphire marketing back in the early days 2011+, you will see that KE's SkyTeam membership was featured as prominently as we could...
Super interesting. Thanks for sharing your historical insights
I flew round-trip F award JFK-ICN-CGK ticket as the pandemic was starting at the end of February (Seoul was already devoid of Chinese tourists) so I lucked out. I only have 20,000 stranded miles which I'll probably convert to Marriott.
You'll have better luck waitlisting. Although, even if it doesn't clear and you have to "settle" for a back-up flight in C, you're really not missing much. Take photos of the F cabin, review everything in C, and no one will know the difference. In all seriousness, some little tricks are to look the first few days of a "high season" period (blacked out to partner redemptions, and they charge a higher price), and try west coast gateways.
Business class award are also very had to get,unless you book a year in advance
I think the writers should not forget the majority of their readers travel in economy. Always focusing on first class that very few can afford is not good business
But awards in economy are cheap and easy. It's the biz class awards that are elusive, and we up-front flyers appreciate any intel we can grab on to. It's a fascinating game.
If it were me, I'd use the miles for Korean business class. But I haven't gotten as used to first as you have, so Korean business would still thrill me and my family.
I have flown Krean Air first class. It's a great flight and I would consider holding out for that, assuming the miles do not expire. I used that first class flight to fly LAX to Tokyo with a free stopover in Seoul and was delighted with Seoul.
I looked at the routemap for Korean Air. It looks like they go many common destinations but I notice that they also fly to New UlaanBaatar (...
I have flown Krean Air first class. It's a great flight and I would consider holding out for that, assuming the miles do not expire. I used that first class flight to fly LAX to Tokyo with a free stopover in Seoul and was delighted with Seoul.
I looked at the routemap for Korean Air. It looks like they go many common destinations but I notice that they also fly to New UlaanBaatar ( their spelling ) in Mongolia. Why not stopover in Seoul and review some hotel and then continue on to Mongolia and review something there? I know only one person who has been to Mongolia. Have you ever been?
Pass them to me Ben, I need to fly to a funeral in Singapore in 3 weeks and can’t afford lt
We have a similar situation with ANA miles. We transferred 300,000 miles to the program for 2 round trip first class tickets in 2020. CoVid cancelled that trip, re-booked for 2021. Cancelled again. I find it impossible to find any award space on ANA in either First or Business. Every request is a wait list even a year out. Do not know how we’ll be able to use them.
Exact same situation as you. Was so excited to fly ANA first. ANA still has good partner availability, so you might try that. We've booked a trip to Africa and are planning on booking a 2nd using the ANA miles. Flying TAP biz is not the same as ANA first, to put it mildly, but at least they aren't going to waste.
Ana biz in the old cabin is alright but nothing special. Agree re tap. Small help but usually quite a lot of space ana to Sydney. Can connect to United quite often (but all close in)
I'm sure there are thousands of us with credits and miles as a result of the virus disaster. Delta has $6K of mine, plus a hundred thousand miles that I will lose on 12/31. They refuse to allow me to use the credits/redeposit the miles online, insisting that I call them. But they won't answer the phone. I'll appeal the 12/31 deadline, but don't hold out much hope. I'm just tired of it all ... and of course that's what they're counting on.
How are you losing miles? I thought Delta changed so that miles never expire?
Book Hawaiian Airlines through the Korean Air website using miles.
AFAIK, Hawaiian isn't on the list of partner airlines you can book with SkyPass miles.
I cant even find a business class seat from Korea to NYC in august, Am I doing anything wrong. no availability in august
Check boston, maybe not ideal but best of luck.
It’s end of July and you want a Biz class award seat from Korea to NYC in August. You don’t know what you’re doing wrong????? Geezus!!
You can exchange them for Marriott points. It’s what I did when Korean gutted their award availability. At least you’re getting something.
Every time I have tried flying, I waitlisted for First class on Korean air, I get a call a few days to a week before the departure date confirming a seat. It seems like they do not really fill their cabin last minute. From what I have heard, they go through the waitlist a lot and still do not fill the cabin because most people do not wait that long to get a confirmed seat. But my travel plans have been flexible thankfully so am able to take advantage of it.
How did you go about waitlisting?
How is transpacific business class availability on KE as of late? It's still a decent product (and they get bonus points for still flying the 747).
I looked at the the award availability calendar that Ben posted for Seattle to ICN in April next year and it looked like it had availability every day.
From where and when you plan to travel? No idea. But the calendar makes it easy to find out.
There's no way to transfer them to someone else right? I go to India frequently and haven't flown Korean since they got removed as a transfer partner. I have someone I've been meaning to visit there so would be able to find a use for them and could barter for some other points but I'm not sure that's possible?
KE only allows awards for family members.
I just flew Prestige Class on Korean. Round-trip from ICN-KLL. The difference between First and Prestige was absolutely nothing as far as cabin service and food service. Prestige lounge at ICN has showers and good food as well. The lounge in KLL that they share with Malaysia Air is fantastic. Fresh food made to order, showers as well. I suggest taking another look at Prestige (Business) class. US airlines can learn alot from Korean Air....
I just flew Prestige Class on Korean. Round-trip from ICN-KLL. The difference between First and Prestige was absolutely nothing as far as cabin service and food service. Prestige lounge at ICN has showers and good food as well. The lounge in KLL that they share with Malaysia Air is fantastic. Fresh food made to order, showers as well. I suggest taking another look at Prestige (Business) class. US airlines can learn alot from Korean Air. Especially in lounge offerings, friendly flight attendants, and quality of food. Difference between day and night. Just my humble opinion.
I'd agree, unless you are lucky to get on the 747. In which case the First class are in the special area of the plane (individual seats along the sides). I was booked on that before COVID hit. Oh well.
It's a sunk cost. You paid for them, so get whatever value you can out of them. Who cares if partner redemptions aren't as good a value as on Flying Blue? Your choice is either get something back for what you paid, or flush them for zero return.
I think Ben was just asking for suggestions on HOW to get something back
SkyPass Miles expire after 10 years once earned. The last opportunity to transfer Chase UR points was August of 2018, which is when we all did our speculative transfers, myself included. That means five years have elapsed and we have five more to use them. Thank goodness it's ten years (unlike Singapore and Turkish Airlines) and the pandemic is over, or we would be really stuck. I think a number of suggestions mentioned in the...
SkyPass Miles expire after 10 years once earned. The last opportunity to transfer Chase UR points was August of 2018, which is when we all did our speculative transfers, myself included. That means five years have elapsed and we have five more to use them. Thank goodness it's ten years (unlike Singapore and Turkish Airlines) and the pandemic is over, or we would be really stuck. I think a number of suggestions mentioned in the comment section, especially @Alvin/YTHK, express good options. The business-class product is very good and it's great to have some more redemption options for the next five years. I'm especially interested if wait listing F could work...?
Yeah, me, too. P2 and I each transferred 250K Chase URs over to Korean just before that option was eliminated. I figured TEN YEARS for expiration, what's gonna happen, right?, like there's not going to be a pandemic that shuts down international travel for 2-3 years, hah- hah... Well, OK, now I've booked a trip to japan (via Korea) for next spring. We need to use the rest, I figure we can squeeze one more...
Yeah, me, too. P2 and I each transferred 250K Chase URs over to Korean just before that option was eliminated. I figured TEN YEARS for expiration, what's gonna happen, right?, like there's not going to be a pandemic that shuts down international travel for 2-3 years, hah- hah... Well, OK, now I've booked a trip to japan (via Korea) for next spring. We need to use the rest, I figure we can squeeze one more R/T to Asia out of our remaining miles and it will take care of that; we have almost 5 more years to pull that off so I think we'll manage - maybe I'll even get to try their new business class seats (though I do love the Apex suites and I'll be happy with those). But I'm making it a priority...
Is there that big of a difference between J and F? Or are you wanting to do F for reviewing?
At least you 5 more years to rant about it.
I used up all my Skypass miles and did not make a speculative transfer before the partnership ended. Flew Korean in business and first, and while they were good solid products, I wanted to get a taste of what other airlines offered. Another big sticking point was how Skypass did not allow one-ways on non-Korean Air itineraries.
If I were to offer my suggestions as to how to redeem them... I don't think you have...
I used up all my Skypass miles and did not make a speculative transfer before the partnership ended. Flew Korean in business and first, and while they were good solid products, I wanted to get a taste of what other airlines offered. Another big sticking point was how Skypass did not allow one-ways on non-Korean Air itineraries.
If I were to offer my suggestions as to how to redeem them... I don't think you have flown business class on Garuda Indonesia or Aerolineas Argentinas so those would get my vote. Though not sure what kind of itin if any would encompass both airlines at once...
Yes, same here. I transferred speculatively before Chase ended the relationship. Then booked First for Maldives, but due to COVID had to cancel that twice. Now, cannot book first anywhere with KE (only cash tickets are bookable in First). Tried to use on round-trip Delta, but the KE site never finds anything (same with Flying Blue), so not sure if it's a Delta thing or I have to call in and manually feed dates to...
Yes, same here. I transferred speculatively before Chase ended the relationship. Then booked First for Maldives, but due to COVID had to cancel that twice. Now, cannot book first anywhere with KE (only cash tickets are bookable in First). Tried to use on round-trip Delta, but the KE site never finds anything (same with Flying Blue), so not sure if it's a Delta thing or I have to call in and manually feed dates to the agent. I have accepted the miles are flushed down the toilet for now (I think they expire in 6 years now). Oh well.
Was MLE with a partner? KE doesn't seem to fly there.
Before COVID, KE did fly to MLE from Colombo. Since COVID, you're stuck getting to Singapore and then have to transit on another airline (which is where we got screwed the 2nd time we tried to rebook because even though we had Singapore Airlines tickets, we couldn't transit without an additional 2 week quarantine at our expense in Singapore).
I am in the same boat. Transferred all Chase to SkyPass before and really am having trouble using it in F that I intended. Also 50k Asiana miles transferred from SPG days sitting in my account thinking booking US-EUR F one way but it's hard to use these days other than Lufthansa F which is better off booked with LifeMiles with no fuel surcharges.
1) Wait until Korean Air releases their business class suite and be the first to fly it.
2) Fly Aeromexico's reverse herringbone seat.
3) Try and get yourself a joyride on Korean Air's A321neo and A220.
4) Recreate what you did in 2014 with Delta, except spend miles instead of accruing them (for entertainment's sake).
5) Wait until Miles turns 18 and send him off to Korea for university.
For #4, I thought the only things you can "spend" KE miles on is actual KE merchandise?
For #5, the KE miles have a hard expiration and since Ben (and myself) transferred speculatively via Chase UR, I think he has (at most) 4 years left before the miles expire. I'm fairly certain Miles will not be 18 in 4 years.
You have no idea how fast kids grow these days
I'm surprised you still have the miles. KE expired all of mine (which I transferred from Chase around the same time).
Do Skypass miles expire? If so that’s one more stress point
Yes, they do expire, unfortunately.
You have a decade to stress about it.
If you procrastinate that long, you have bigger issues.
Sorta. If you transferred before Chase ended, you have 3.6 years left (at least according to my Award Wallet tally). Unfortunately the 2+ years of COVID kinda nuked the KE prospects.
Yes they expire after 10 years
SkyPass miles expire in 10 years, with no option to extend them.
No disrespect Ben, but you sound extremely entitled with the mindset that Korean Air should release award space simply because they have first class seats for sale. Korean Air clearly isn’t finding it profitable by putting people in first with the current redemption rates and rather fly with the seats empty than pollute the exclusivity of the product. You can still fly their business class, which is an excellent product and has good availability and...
No disrespect Ben, but you sound extremely entitled with the mindset that Korean Air should release award space simply because they have first class seats for sale. Korean Air clearly isn’t finding it profitable by putting people in first with the current redemption rates and rather fly with the seats empty than pollute the exclusivity of the product. You can still fly their business class, which is an excellent product and has good availability and has extremely appealing redemption rates.
You not liking skyteam partner airlines isn’t the fault of the company.
But the whole point of travel blogs is to highlight super aspirational awards such as the room like suite in row 1 on the 747. Why "waste" miles on mere business class and do a "mundane" write up on that?
Sorry I completely disagree. This blog already has way more than enough first class reviews; how many more first class reviews do we need before it starts to get boring? What this blog does not have enough of is a balanced review of economy class, economy class award redemption strategy, how to provide guidance to plebeians on when, and where and how to redeem their points for every day travels on global airlines in economy...
Sorry I completely disagree. This blog already has way more than enough first class reviews; how many more first class reviews do we need before it starts to get boring? What this blog does not have enough of is a balanced review of economy class, economy class award redemption strategy, how to provide guidance to plebeians on when, and where and how to redeem their points for every day travels on global airlines in economy class, not least because they are the most applicable to the most people. How does promoting "super aspirational" first class trips help out anyone? All it does is stimulating demand for an overrated, overpriced product that is in very short supply, the result of which is that few if any class enthusiasts may end up getting their seats after being bought into "first class is great" mentality. And for those of us who only care about value redemptions on economy, first class review articles are frankly worth next to nothing.
There are dozens of blogs devoted to economy flying using miles. Have you not heard of TPG? Seriously, man. Google is your friend.
Honestly, between this comment and those of people who have demonstrably invested $$$ in the miles/points game without a clear understanding of what they're doing, I'm not worried about J/F redemption opportunities long-term on any carrier.
Sir, I have heard of TPG and they are doing a commendable job in covering both economy and premium cabins. That is my whole point. I am not saying bloggers should not cover any premium cabin reviews. Not at all. Ben and bloggers can keep flying premium class as they wish. I am just pointing out that this blog (and many others frankly speaking) is already tilting so heavily towards premium cabins, it creates an...
Sir, I have heard of TPG and they are doing a commendable job in covering both economy and premium cabins. That is my whole point. I am not saying bloggers should not cover any premium cabin reviews. Not at all. Ben and bloggers can keep flying premium class as they wish. I am just pointing out that this blog (and many others frankly speaking) is already tilting so heavily towards premium cabins, it creates an unhealthy atmosphere as if economy class (people and redemption) does not exist.
My recommendation is very clear: provide a fair and balanced coverage of both worlds. It absolutely amazes me that many people in your camp have a strange tendency to essentially excommunicate us, pretend "we" don't exist. How arrogant of us to silence our voice or kick us out? Travel blogs should be a place to serve audience from all walks of life, not just premium class enthusiasts. There are many dimensions to award redemptions and flights and travel; premium cabin and luxury travel is just one aspect of it. Ignoring one side and only covering the other side does not serve any good.
While this blog is obviously a living for Ben, it's also obviously reflects his passion, which is luxe travel on the cheap. You might want a different kind of coverage, but that coverage doesn't interest him, so he's not going to write about it. I'm assume there are blogs that might better fit what you want.
Does Korean business class have good availability? Not that I've found and I search a month at a time between ICN and all their US gateways...
How on earth is it “entitled”? He’s not asking Korean Air to open up award space for him because he thinks he’s so special and the seat is available. In fact, he doesn’t even say Korean should release those seat for award availability. He’s just pointing out that Korean is making the decision not to do so, because the seats are open. I’m really done with people overusing “entitled” and robbing the word of all meaning…
Is this some sort of weird joke that I'm not following? How is it "entitled" to express surprise that an airline doesn't follow its own historical pattern, which is in line with industry best financial practices from an accounting standpoint? I'm genuinely bewildered here. Without more persuasive reasoning, I'm forced to conclude that some folks are simply envious of the life that Ben has achieved for himself and bitter at how theirs/their families' turned out.
...Is this some sort of weird joke that I'm not following? How is it "entitled" to express surprise that an airline doesn't follow its own historical pattern, which is in line with industry best financial practices from an accounting standpoint? I'm genuinely bewildered here. Without more persuasive reasoning, I'm forced to conclude that some folks are simply envious of the life that Ben has achieved for himself and bitter at how theirs/their families' turned out.
I'm sorry, friend. Help is out there.
Have you tried waitlisting for a Korean Air first award? Have 80k miles I'm hoping to spend on a first award as well and was planning to try and waitlist but wasn't sure if they would actually clear you assuming seats are open near departure.
Can you book confirmed biz and then wait list for first if you have the incremental miles in your account?
How does one waitlist for a F award?