South Korea’s flag carrier, Korean Air, has improved the conditions of its “Cash and Miles” programme to allow customers to redeem more miles when purchasing tickets. According to a press statement by the airline, from August 10, the maximum amount of redeemable miles for a ‘Cash and Miles’ ticket has increased from 20 pc to 30 pc.
As with most other airline loyalty programmes, ‘Cash and Miles’ is an option that allows Korean Air Skypass members to pay for tickets using a combination of cash and award miles, and is available for all departure dates and booking classes. Korean Air introduced the ‘Cash and Miles’ programme in 2021 to provide more opportunities for customers to redeem their miles.
The airline says that now customers may redeem from 500 miles up to 30 pc of the fare, excluding taxes and fuel surcharges, with miles when purchasing tickets through the airline’s website or mobile app. The remaining 70 pc may be paid in Korean won or US dollars. It adds that redemption restrictions may apply to multi-segment itineraries and codeshare flights, and redemption rates will vary based on seasonal supply and demand.
The airline adds that it also offers special discount rates for award tickets on select international routes when purchased through the airline’s website or mobile app. Routes and departure dates for these special discount rates are selected every quarter and will be available in English on the airline’s website and mobile app from this October.
Korean Air says it is making more award seats available, and the number of award tickets issued in the first half of this year has exceeded the total number of award tickets for the full year of 2022. Mileage redeemed for award tickets in the first half of the year was 1.5 times the amount during the same period in 2019. The airline has vowed to provide ‘‘more convenient and valuable benefits’’ for its frequent fliers.