Questions and Answers

I planned to use K.A. for all of my asia travel plans thanks to Chase U.R. transfer portal. Now that is no longer an option.

So I looked into other Chase UR partners. The only other Asia based carrier I have interest in is Singapore Airlines (S.A.). But the miles required to travel are extremely high. I did the example flight of LAX-ICN business class. It came to 262,000 miles. The same flight for KA is 125,000. Should I just bite the bullet and get the KA credit card?

I am fairly loyal to Skyteam airlines (or I would like to be anyway). I have the Delta gold card and I plan to get the Hyatt card, Freedom Unlimited card, and Sapphire Reserve. I looked into award booking via skyteam partners but the mileage is still very high for redeeming. I used the TPG skyteam award search guide (I don’t want to post the link because I am not sure if it is allowed) to look for flights with KA. I used KLM to find an award flight with KA business class from LAX-ICN for 230,000 miles. Still quite a bit higher then the KA award flight.

So my question is, what should I do. KA was a great option thanks to Chase UR. Now I am looking at SA or the KA credit card. The award rates don’t seem that great. This is all new to me so sorry if this is a silly question.

If you are willing to take on a bit of risk, you could always just speculatively transfer your Chase points to Korean. They are valid from 10 years – I assume this trip to Asia you’re planning is before then?!

I would do that but I am just starting the whole points game. So I don’t have the Chase cards or points yet. I am wondering if there is any work around. But thanks for your help.

Ah, makes sense. The Korean credit card may be the best option – but I am not that familiar with it.

The new Marriott program should allow transfers to Korean as well, so you could look at signing up for any of their new cards, as well.

Sounds like you are a Delta flyer, so you could also start crediting paid Delta flights to Korean. Looks like most fare classes (even basic economy) earn at least something on Korean – [URL]https://www.wheretocredit.com/delta-air-lines[/URL]

Do you have any advice for SA. It seems like booking on their award flights cost an arm and a leg. It seems like they have a great product but it costs way to many miles. But I know they are a transfer partner with Chase UR.

I assume by SA you mean Singapore Airlines? Their code is SQ. But don’t forget you can book them with United miles though UA does charge a bit more to book on partners. I’ve not compared their charts to what SQ charges for their own flights but it’s worth a look.