Korean Flyers Complain of Unusable Air Miles

Source: The Chosun Ilbo    Author:    07/24/2007

Subject Concerned: Opinion   Airlines   

A growing number of users of credit cards affiliated with Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are complaining about their air miles programs, saying it is extremely difficult to book an airplane seat with their mileage points.

There are two kinds of air mile rewards: mileage bonuses that are added to your account whenever you fly, and credit card bonuses for which you receive 0.66 to 1.5 miles for every W1,000 (US$1=W915) you put on your credit card.

An estimated seven billion credit card miles were awarded last year alone. That's enough for 100,000 round-trip flights between Incheon and Los Angeles, and 20 percent of the total number of miles that Korean Air has rewarded.

But some flyers say that the airlines allot too few seats -- X-class seats for Asiana and U-class seats for Korean Air -- to accommodate all the people who want to buy tickets with their points.

Korean Air and Asiana refused to give specifics, only saying they set aside about 10 percent of all economy-class seats during off-season months and about five percent during high-demand months (July-August and December-February) for mileage users.

This means that the already small number of mileage seats is halved during the months when most people want to fly. As a result, it is almost impossible to make reservations for mileage seats even five to six months in advance.

In addition, those credit cards miles are not free. Credit card companies have to buy them from the airlines in order to offer them to their customers.

A former executive of a credit card company said the price for miles depends on the credit card company. "Credit card companies buy Korean Air miles for W15 to W18 per mile, and Asiana's for W7 to W10 per mile."

Credit card companies paid the two airlines some W150 billion for miles from July 2006 to June 2007.

So why are the airlines so stingy with their mileage seats? Asiana spokesman Cho Yong-moo said, "A mileage ticket costs about half to one-tenth the normal ticket price. Airlines need to make a profit, so they have to be flexible in allotting mileage seats."

But consumers reject this explanation. "Lee", 44, uses a credit card affiliated with Korean Air. "When you buy something for a discount price it's supposed to be as good as if you paid the regular price. It's nonsense to sell something of lower quality and fewer functions."

Lee added, "The airlines are making fools of consumers by selling mileage that turns out to be useless. They should return all the accumulated miles to their customers in cash."