EVA Air is one of my favorite airlines, due to their cappuccinos and Hello Kitty-themed aircraft, though to be honest I’ve never given much thought to their fabulously named Infinity MileageLands program.
The name itself is pretty much the gift that keeps on giving, so I’ve never really looked for rewards from the program beyond that. 😉
As of a few weeks ago though, EVA Air’s Infinity MileageLands (I can’t even) is now a transfer partner of select Citi ThankYou cards, so I thought it might be helpful to go through the basics of the program.
The Award Chart
EVA has a zone-based chart, and the regions themselves are pretty straightforward:
Award Zone | Countries Included |
|---|---|
North America | Canada, USA (excluding Hawaii) |
Hawaii, Central America | Bermuda, Caribbean, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hawaii, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico |
South America | Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela |
Europe | Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom |
Middle East | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen |
North Africa | Algeria, Canary Islands, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia |
Central Africa, South Africa | Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
Hong Kong / Macau | Hong Kong, Macau |
China | China |
North Asia | Guam, Japan, Micronesia, Palau, Russian Far East, South Korea |
South East Asia | Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam |
Central Asia, South Asia | Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan |
South West Pacific | Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu |
From North America, the redemption rates are as follows, but you can also find the full Star Alliance award chart here.
North America to: | Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|
North America | 39,000 | 58,000 | 77,000 |
Hawaii, Central America | 50,000 | 80,000 | 125,000 |
South America | 68,000 | 105,000 | 170,000 |
Europe | 68,000 | 130,000 | 170,000 |
Middle East | 86,000 | 135,000 | 210,000 |
North Africa | 93,000 | 160,000 | 250,000 |
Central Africa, South Africa | 100,000 | 185,000 | 290,000 |
Hong Kong / Macau | 115,000 | 175,000 | 210,000 |
China | 115,000 | 175,000 | 210,000 |
North Asia | 115,000 | 175,000 | 210,000 |
South East Asia | 120,000 | 195,000 | 225,000 |
Central Asia, South Asia | 120,000 | 195,000 | 290,000 |
South West Pacific | 120,000 | 195,000 | 290,000 |
I seriously love this chart, because it is just as nonsensical as I’d expect it to be from something called “Infinity MileageLands.”
- I find the range of mileage premiums for first over business to be fascinating. Taiwan to North America you pay a 35K mile premium for first over business, while Taiwan to Hawaii you pay a 105K mile premium. Yow!
- Zones are fascinating. Taiwan to Hawaii should be cheaper than Taiwan to mainland US, but it’s the opposite. And they group Hawaii with Central America, which should in fact be more expensive.
- “Rounding” on redemption rates is hilarious. Sometimes ends in “5” or “0”, other times rates are 81,000 miles or 90,500 miles. WTF?
One-ways are priced at half the cost of a round-trip, for what it’s worth.
Routing Rules
For the most part, EVA’s routing rules are pretty “typical,” and I don’t see anything that really stands out.
- Two stopovers are allowed on a round trip award ticket, including one on the outbound and one on the inbound
- Neither the turnaround point nor stopover cities can be in the same country as either the origin or destination
- Stopovers are not allowed on a one way ticket
- One open jaw segment is allowed for the entire itinerary;however, the open jaw must be at the origin/destination or turnaround point
- Open jaws between regions are not allowed
- For an award ticket containing more than one zone, the zone with the higher mileage requirement will be applied
- A maximum of six segments are allowed on an award ticket, but there doesn’t seem to be a MPM restriction
Changing Award Tickets
For a partially flown award ticket, the return flight can be changed three days before the return departure, but only the travel date or flight number can be changed. The carrier and route have to remain the same.
Otherwise, it’s $50 to change or refund the award ticket.
Fuel Surcharges
I’ve priced out several different awards, and in every case the taxes and fees were almost identical to what I’d expect to pay through Air Canada’s Aeroplan program.
This is interesting, as EVA doesn’t have fuel surcharges on their own award tickets, but it seems they’re happy to pass those fees on where other carriers include them.
Booking
All partner awards have to be booked over the phone, and the number for the North American service center is 310-362-6600. When you call, you’ll want to follow the prompts for “Passenger Services” then “Evergreen Club.” That was the name of EVA’s old mileage program, and apparently they haven’t updated their phone tree.
In speaking with several different agents it doesn’t seem like EVA offers holds on award tickets. Given that we have no idea how long transfers will take from Citi, I’d be very hesitant to transfer points to Infinity MileageLands.
Blocking Lufthansa First Class?
I haven’t done exhaustive research here, so I’m hesitant to say this is absolutely the case, but it appears that it isn’t currently possible to book Lufthansa First Class through the Infinity MileageLands program.
I’m not 100% confident this is the case, but multiple agents couldn’t see even a single seat this week, and there is plenty of space to and from Germany on various different routes, so if they aren’t intentionally blocking there is certainly a system issue.
Bottom Line
I certainly could be missing something, but doesn’t look like there are many unique opportunities, and I don’t see a longhaul option where it wouldn’t be more lucrative to book through Singapore KrisFlyer, which is also a ThankYou points transfer partner (and an American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest transfer partner).
Have you ever redeemed EVA Air miles? If so, what was your experience?
Thanks for the advise. I live in Taiwan and I'm trying to find out if I need an Eva milage card. Are the miles even done one for one? Meaning the plane flies one mile, and I get on point? I find the whole thing very confusing.
Hello all, I have 17k of EVA milages that is about to expire in June 2016, I have checked the options that I could benefit from redeeming those points but could not find any. right now I am in Italy and planning to fly back to my home in Indonesia in April and had booked a flight with QR also I will be flying back to Italy in May. Really sad to see this 17k milages expired without use. Any suggestions please?
Just wanted to comment...I think the reason the award price is higher between Asia to Hawaii than for Asia to North America (mainland US) is because EVA doesn't have their own direct flight to Hawaii from Asia (or Taiwan) anymore.
Hi, I only use EVA for one return flight per year for my wife and I - total 11500 miles each. From the comments so far it would seem that if I book elite seats and try to use my miles to reduce the cost that would not work, can anyone advise please.
Hi, how do you redeem miles online on EVA?
I went to the link "Redeeming Online" under Infinity Mileage Lands section and put in the travel time I desire. Then at the bottom it has number of adult and child. I put in 1 for adult and 0 for the child. Then there's a section open up as I enter "1 adult" on which I was asked to put in my membership number and...
Hi, how do you redeem miles online on EVA?
I went to the link "Redeeming Online" under Infinity Mileage Lands section and put in the travel time I desire. Then at the bottom it has number of adult and child. I put in 1 for adult and 0 for the child. Then there's a section open up as I enter "1 adult" on which I was asked to put in my membership number and password. Now.. what is the "confirm" box means? Is it automatically confirm or it means "submit"? If it actually means "submit", what is the next step? Will I get the option to choose my flights; as LAX-TPE has at least 2 flights daily? I'm afraid to try (in case it is confirm and my miles get deducted). Has anyone gone through this process before? Please give me insights. I have miles expiring in 3 months and don't want to wait till last minute to figure out how to use it. Thanks a lot!
@ Nat -- "Confirm" just means submit, so that you can see what's actually available.
First, of all, great website. Lots of great information. I am completely new to this game of collecting travel points. Any advice would appreciated.
I live in the U.S., but we have family in Taiwan, so we mostly fly EVA Air. I wanted to start collecting travel rewards points (is this the correct term?) to help us each time we buy or upgrade EVA tickets.
First, for clarity, here are the classes that...
First, of all, great website. Lots of great information. I am completely new to this game of collecting travel points. Any advice would appreciated.
I live in the U.S., but we have family in Taiwan, so we mostly fly EVA Air. I wanted to start collecting travel rewards points (is this the correct term?) to help us each time we buy or upgrade EVA tickets.
First, for clarity, here are the classes that EVA offers (as far a I understand):
--Elite (Premium Economy)
--Premium Laurel (Business)
--Royal Laurel (Premium Business)
My possible desired objectives are as follows (I know I list many possibilities here - I don't know if some require completely different strategies - please advise):
--Redeem miles for Elite ticket
--Redeem miles to upgrade from Economy to Elite
--Redeem miles for Premium Laurel ticket
--Redeem miles to upgrade from Economy to Premium Laurel
--Redeem miles for Royal Laurel ticket
--Redeem miles to upgrade from Economy to Royal Laurel
I already got approved for a Chase Sapphire card because I read so many good things about it on this site and others. But, now as I read more, I am not sure if Chase Sapphire is the right choice for me. Maybe I should have applied for Citi Thank You? I would like to only use one credit card if possible because I just don't like keeping track of so many accounts. Also, when it comes to travel rewards points redemption, I would like to be able to do it online if possible. I have read some stories on the internet where it sounds like EVA requires you to call them by phone in order to do things like apply your travel rewards points get an upgrade or purchase a ticket. I hope that is not true.
Which card(s) would best allow me to accomplish some of the possible objectives? Which strategies? If I just keep using only my Chase Sapphire card, is this foolish? If this question is too complicated to answer, can you give me some links to help me come up with the best strategy? I am completely confused here. HELP!
3) EVA has better availability to their own mileage program beyond the next 2 weeks.
This means that EVA opens award seats to partners usually only for the next 2 week. However on eva mileageland they open award seats even many months in advance.
What I have found is that if th eseat is available with EVA but not available to united/aeroplan, you can wait till exactly 2 weeks before departure date and tou should see it become available on United/aeroplan.
FYI,
I have done several thankyou point transfers to EVA over the past few weeks and I can tell you:
1) The names do not need to match for the transfer to go through, I tried this several times from different thank you accounts to different eva accounts and they all went through
2) transfer time is 1-2 business days.
@Andy I dont think you can upgarde from EVA/BR B class to business for long haul 777, you need to be in T/L/K Evergreen Delux (EY) to upgrade.
Of course for 330 with no EY and short haul 777 which wont sell EY, you can upgrade from B
Thanks for the quick response Ben (and for the great blog)!
Actually was looking to upgrade via B fare via UA/*SA (It looks like that works, but let me know if you've seen/heard otherwise).
Sounds like it's a gamble to see if they release more seats as date of departure gets closer.
Safe travels!
Trying to use the ana web-workaround to find up-gradable space before I buy a B class ticket, but not seeing many (if any) business class awards open. Have you seen them open up more space as departure date gets closer?
Thanks!
@ Andy -- They definitely do, yes. I'd keep monitoring.
well, i am a Evergreen Club member since 1994 (program began when EVA started to fly to US) and only thing i can tell you is EVA miles are better use as upgrade than award ticket.
it has been the way for the past 20 years.
For someone based here in the US EVA miles are virtually worthless as I couldn't find a way to use up my expiring miles. They expire every three years, their award chard isn't very enticing, and you can't transfer them to other people in the same way you would expect from a US-based airline. For example, one time I thought I could transfer the majority of my miles to my dad's account so he could...
For someone based here in the US EVA miles are virtually worthless as I couldn't find a way to use up my expiring miles. They expire every three years, their award chard isn't very enticing, and you can't transfer them to other people in the same way you would expect from a US-based airline. For example, one time I thought I could transfer the majority of my miles to my dad's account so he could have enough to upgrade to Elite Class. Well, turns out that for the recipient to actually use the transferred miles, the transferred amount must be equivalent to that of an award or upgrade. As I had already transferred the miles over, that meant those miles were basically useless. Even better, the transferred miles will retain their original expiration date. It was hard watching 10k miles just disappear.
As much as we gripe about Mileage Plus, I'm actually really grateful that we can now credit our EVA transpacific flights - even at a 50% earning rate for most cheap economy fares - into miles that we have more use for.
I'm an expat living in Taiwan, and a Gold Infinity Mileagelands member (*A Gold). Their Star Alliance redemption is absolutely horrible here. Non of the reps you call on the phone remotely know how to help or check for availability even when you've already sorted out all the routing for them.
It seems the best use of EVA miles is only to book EVA flights.
Any idea if their native award space is any better than the already generous allotment they give to Star?
@ Del -- That's a good question, and I really can't tell so far. Will see if I can find out more, but no promises.