Asiana Mileage Kept for 10 Years... Bonus Seats to Expand

[Anchor]

The Fair Trade Commission has decided to grant final approval for the integration plan of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines' mileage programs. Existing customers can maintain their Asiana mileage for 10 years or convert it to Korean Air at a ratio of up to 1-to-1, with the scope of usage—including bonus tickets and seats—also expanding.

This is reported by Lee Tae-gwon.

[Reporter]

The Fair Trade Commission announced that it decided to grant final approval for the Asiana mileage integration plan submitted by Korean Air last year, following four rounds of requests for revisions and supplements.

According to the integration plan, existing Asiana customers will be able to use their Asiana mileage as-is, with their existing mileage deduction standards and expiration periods guaranteed for 10 years from the date of the merger.

When converting to Korean Air mileage, flight mileage can be exchanged at a 1-to-1 ratio, while partner mileage accumulated through credit card usage and other means can be exchanged at a ratio of 1 to 0.82.

After 10 years, any remaining Asiana mileage held by customers will be automatically converted at these ratios.

The options for consumers to use their mileage will also increase.

Bonus tickets bookable with mileage and upgradable bonus seats will be supplied over the next 10 years at or above the level of 2023, which marked the highest boarding performance for both airlines over the past 10 years.

In addition, the Fair Trade Commission imposed an obligation to manage the total annual mileage usage, requiring that based on the combined annual mileage usage of both airlines' members in 2025, usage must reach 106% from next year through 2028, 112% in 2029, and 121% from 2030 to 2036.

Accordingly, the integrated Korean Air must also submit the current status of peak-season bonus seat supplies by year to the Implementation Monitoring Committee.

The scope of mixed payment options allowing consumers to combine mileage with cash or cards will also be expanded from a minimum of 500 miles and a maximum of 30% of the fare to a minimum of 100 miles and a maximum of 40% of the fare.

This integration plan is scheduled to take effect in line with the merger of the two airlines on December 17.

(Camera: Lee Jae-young, Video Editing: So Ji-hye)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.