Korean Air Skypass - Korean milage CC?

Here is my situation:
* Living in Korea, will probably stay here for a couple of years.
* SkyTeam/Flying Blue: Gold (~100k miles in account)
* Korean Air Skypass: only membership to use web booking, zero miles.
* SAS/Star Alliance: no status, few miles
* FinnAir/Oneworld: no status, few miles

I thought it would be time now to get a CC with some sort of points/mileage accural. I looked at the CCs branded with Skypass (13 different!) and I guess the 1 mile/1000KRW is an ok deal.

But it feels kind of lame to start collecting Skypass miles, since I'd rather get the miles to my Flying Blue account, and as far as I understand, it is not possible to convert miles between the programs.

So..

1) Are there any other CCs issued in Korea that allow transfer of points to Flying Blue? Like hotel chains or whatever?

2) Or should I just burn the Flying Blue miles, and start over with Skypass, pooling both CC miles and SkyTeam miles?

3) Or should I get a CC for some other Alliance and try to shift my flying pattern to *A or Oneworld?

:confused::confused::confused:

Haven't seen anythng for FlyingBlue over here.

I got my credit card through KEB Bank ... pretty much the only bank I know here that is foreigner friendly http://bank.keb.co.kr/index_en.jsp ... Global Card is 10k a year and their ExPat card is 120k (with different benefits)

Thanks for the info! I still haven't got myself a Korean CC, but now I've started to look into it again.

I see that the Expat Card (120 k/year) can be Yes point (5 Yes point/1000 KRW) or Korean Air (1.5 miles/1500 KRW in Korea & 3 miles/1500 KRW-equivalent abroad). You also get Priority Pass.

For the Global Card (10 k/year) Yes points are 5/200 KRW and Korean Air are 1 mile/2000 KRW. Also, Starbucks and Pascucci are 10 % discount! ;)

Do you know what % they add to foreign transactions? Can't seem to find that info.

According to the back of my statement its a 1% surcharge for overseas use

Ok, that's pretty resonable/standard. Thanks!

I was on an OZ flight the other day and noticed the advertisements displayed on the IFE screen. One of them was for a Citibank card and I believe it gives 1.3 miles per 1000 KRW spent to your Asiana account. A lot of times the Korean companies have the same deal with OZ and KE, so it might be worthwhile checking them out if earning a few more miles per KRW spent is important to you. I'd think with them being an international bank, they might be a bit foreigner friendly, but who knows.

After comparing, the situation looks like this to me:

KEB
Expat card / KE
1 mile/1000 KRW (domestic)
2 mile/1000 KRW (abroad) ^
Priority pass
120 000 KRW/year fee

Expat signature card / KE
0.67 mile/1000 KRW :td:
Priority pass
150 000 KRW/year fee

Expat signature card /OZ
1 mile/1000 KRW
Priority pass
150 000 KRW/year fee

Signature card /KE
0.67 mile/1000 KRW (domestic) :td:
2 mile/1000 KRW (abroad)
Priority pass
150 000 KRW/year fee

Signature card /OZ
1 mile/1000 KRW (domestic)
2 mile/1000 KRW (abroad) ^
Priority pass
150 000 KRW/year fee

Citibank
Visa /KE
1 mile/1000 KRW
Priorit pass (for Plat)
20/30/130 000 KRW/year fee (silver/gold/plat)

MasterCard /KE
1.2 mile/1000 KRW
Priorit pass (for Plat)
30/50/140 000 KRW/year fee (silver/gold/plat)

MasterCard /OZ
1.33 mile/1000 KRW ^
No Priority pass, but "MasterCard Lounge" for Gold/Plat.
20/30/130 000 KRW/year fee (silver/gold/plat).

Now I'll visit a KEB and Citi office to clear out if I understod this right or not.
Another thing to take into account are of course the levels and miles earned on actually flying. OZ seems a lot more generous there compared to KE.


I was on an OZ flight the other day and noticed the advertisements displayed on the IFE screen. One of them was for a Citibank card and I believe it gives 1.3 miles per 1000 KRW spent to your Asiana account. A lot of times the Korean companies have the same deal with OZ and KE, so it might be worthwhile checking them out if earning a few more miles per KRW spent is important to you. I'd think with them being an international bank, they might be a bit foreigner friendly, but who knows.

Are you Korean, have a Korean spouse? I have a D2 visa and KEB said I cannot get any type of credit here.

Are you Korean, have a Korean spouse? I have a D2 visa and KEB said I cannot get any type of credit here.

I'm not Korean and I do not have Korean spouse. When I visited Citibank, they asked me if I had visa and what I worked with, after that they presented a range of CCs. Also, the info didn't always correlate with their webpage. Haven't visited KEB yet. My visa is D-8-1.

Or maybe your question was directed to mattlindsaynz, since he actually has a card. :p

Are you Korean, have a Korean spouse? I have a D2 visa and KEB said I cannot get any type of credit here.

I just googled the Korean D-2 visa and it appears you're just in Korea on a student visa. As with any bank in the world, they're not likely to issue a credit card to someone unless they have a regular job or other provable steady income, collateral, or other means to prove their financial soundness. Even if you have a part-time job, based on my experience trying to help a student in that situation before, the banks will consider all money earned by a student as going towards their educational expenses, so will not issue a credit card.

I do know KEB will issue credit cards to foreigners working in Korea at regular jobs, though don't know if there's certain visa types that are included/excluded from that.

Hco, nice job on the summary of the different cards available in Korea from KEB and Citibank.

I just had a look around on the KEB website (a major undertaking in itself with the need to install all sorts of plug-ins to just get to the information), and found something interesting.

For the OZ Signature card, it looks like you get an annual free gift of your choice of:
1) Shilla duty free 150,000 KRW coupon
2) Free partner domestic ticket on KE or OZ
That right there pays for the annual card fee, plus you get the Priority Pass and all the other goodies. They list 10% off international airfares if booked through their online travel agent. Not quite sure how well that might work. Overall, looks like quite a good deal for someone who travels a lot.

One point worth noting for people who might use the card a lot for very small purchases, the KE card shows the mileage earned based on 1,500 KRW, not 1,000 KRW. This might be significant in that I believe the miles are earned for each purchase individually, (ie. rounded down to the nearest 1,500KRW) so if you buy something for 1,400 KRW, you don't get any miles. If you buy something for 2,900 KRW, you only earn the mile as if the purchase was 1,500 KRW. So having a card with a 1,000 KRW base is much preferable to having a 1,500 KRW base, if you do a lot of these small purchases.

Correct, all of the KEB "signature" cards include a Shilla duty free voucher for the same amount as the yearly fee.

Strangely, the "Expat card" (but not the "Expat Signature card") is excluded from this. The domestic free flight for your partner is included though.

After more discussions and reviewing I've come to the conclusion that these are the best cards, offered by banks that have good services to foreigners. There are tons of other cards by other banks, and I'm sure that foreigners can get good service from them also, if you find a good contact person. But one of my requirements was that they have an English version of their website and that they speak out to the English speaking community, thus leaving only KEB and Citi.

Requirement: more than 1.0 mile/1000 KRW. Other cards are excluded.

(bank / card name / airline / mile earning per 1000 KRW in Korea / mile earning per 1000 KRW abroad / MC or VISA / PP / duty free voucher / foreign exchange fee / yearly fee)

KEB, Expat card, KE, 1, 2, VISA, PP, No, 1.0%, 120,000 KRW

KEB, Signature, OZ, 1, 2, VISA, PP, Yes (150,000), 1.0%, 150,000 KRW

Citi, Platinum, KE, 1.2, 1.2, MC, PP? (Platinum), No, 0.75%, 40,000 KRW? 140,000 KRW? (*)

Citi, Platinum, OZ, 1.33, 1.33, MC, No, No, 0.75%, 30,000 KRW

Citi, Premier miles, You choose(**), based on airline(**), based on airline(**), VISA, PP, No(***), ?%, 120,000 KRW

(*) Conflicting info on paper info from bank and bank website regarding price with PP. Check with Citi if card looks interesting for you.

(**) OZ 1.35, KE 1.0, Singapore/Delta/Thai 1.2, Cathay 0.48. Citi premier miles are transfered upon request to whatever program you choose.

(***) But there is first year bonus of 5000 miles and also different spending bonuses (5k, 8k, 50k) if you spend more than 20, 40 or 100 million KRW/year.

The more expensive cards also give you a lot of discounts (CGV, amusement parks, etc) and other stuff (valet parking etc). All include travel insurance if you pay 100% with your card. The Shilla Duty Free voucher for KEB Signature cards is only valid if you spend the fixed amount or more, i.e. you cannot buy stuff for 100,000 KRW if the voucher is on 150,000 KRW (thus trying to save 50,000 KRW for another time).

In the end, the parameters low yearly fee, high mileage earning and low foreign exchange was important for me, so I choose the Citi OZ MC. But it was a close call with the KEB OZ Signature VISA (despite the high yearly fee), and for others some of the other cards might be more suitable. How much you spend domestic vs outside of Korea, will of course influence your choice between KEB and Citi.

The fact that I'm guessing my work will put me on more OZ flights than KE flights in the future, also influenced my choice.

Hope this guide can be helpful to others! :)

(should this post be somewhere else? since it not only about KE now? moderator guidance please!)

I'd say the thread seems fine here to me, but might be nice to make a post in the OZ forum linking to this thread, as I'm sure some member of that forum never come over here.

Did you happen to check out HSBC? They don't have very many branches in Korea, but they're definitely foreigner friendly and have English versions available for most all their materials from what I've heard. Have no idea though if they have any sort of credit cards that earn mileage.

I can see that some people might even be interested in getting two different cards to get the best of both worlds. Such as the Citi OZ MC and the KEB Signature Visa. Then use the appropriate card which has the better benefits for whatever situation you're in.

Thanks so much for sharing what you found out.

I did not see HSBC when I scanned OZ and KE websites for CC partners. I checked their website out now and - I might might be blind but - I found zero info about CCs at all. Slightly confusing. Saw that they have 11 branches in Korea though.

And yes, I totally agree. For some it might be wise to get two cards, and I would choose the same as you. If you shop for more than 150,000 KRW (which I don't) at Shilla Duty Free, then KEB's signature visa is a no-brainer.


Did you happen to check out HSBC? They don't have very many branches in Korea, but they're definitely foreigner friendly and have English versions available for most all their materials from what I've heard. Have no idea though if they have any sort of credit cards that earn mileage.

I can see that some people might even be interested in getting two different cards to get the best of both worlds. Such as the Citi OZ MC and the KEB Signature Visa. Then use the appropriate card which has the better benefits for whatever situation you're in.

Thanks so much for sharing what you found out.

I'd say the thread seems fine here to me, but might be nice to make a post in the OZ forum linking to this thread, as I'm sure some member of that forum never come over here.

Did you happen to check out HSBC? They don't have very many branches in Korea, but they're definitely foreigner friendly and have English versions available for most all their materials from what I've heard. Have no idea though if they have any sort of credit cards that earn mileage.

I can see that some people might even be interested in getting two different cards to get the best of both worlds. Such as the Citi OZ MC and the KEB Signature Visa. Then use the appropriate card which has the better benefits for whatever situation you're in.

Thanks so much for sharing what you found out.

HSBC is not available for private banking in Korea unless you make a permanent deposit of at least 100 million Won, and even then, you get very limited service. If you are an HSBC customer from another country, the story was apparently different. But when I tried (with my F-visa) to open an account with them, they sent me a looong email detailing all their requirements and restrictions, some of them were just nonsense. So I sent them a long email back with all the reasosn I would NOT become their customer. Strangely no reply....:D

Anyway, Samsung Card is the easiest CC for foreigners to get in Korea, but as far as I know, they only offer miles on use inside Korea.

All other banks should be able to give mileage CC's, but it can be a long and ardous process. Although I do my banking with KB, I agree with OP that KEB is probably the best bet for non-permanent foreign residents.

As 1000 won is currently less than 1$, you get a pretty nice return for your spending. We bought a car last year on our CC and got 50 000 miles for our trouble!

I stumbled across this link which seems to contain a wealth of information about various cards in Korea:
http://cardskorea.wordpress.com/

Also Standard Chartered in Korea seems to have an interesting program. If I'm reading it right, you can earn 1 mile per 10,000 KRW deposited in a bank account, up to 30,000 miles per month. You'd need a quite large balance of 300,000,000 KRW to reach that limit. I'm looking myself to open up a bank account in Korea where I'll deposit a fair amount into it (no where near that previously mentioned amount though), so I might look into this. I couldn't see off-hand if the miles are good for KE, OZ, both, or some other airline.

http://www.scfirstbank.com/gw/index.html

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.282 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/299)

Wow, and I've just started to look for saving options in Korea. I'll definately look closer at the SC milaege account. (I've had my eyes on savings accounts in Tomato bank, which seems to give pretty good interest rates).

If you check into the SC account, please inform us of anything interesting you find out. I'm going to check it out myself, but it probably won't be for a few more weeks.

The direct link is http://www.scfirstbank.com/hp/kr/fp/cm/HP_FP_CM_ProductView.jsp?id=1107&type=BP1005&lang=LN1002.

I just looked at is quickly now, and the miles for money in the account is connected to having a mileage earning CC with them. But yearly fee is only 30,000 KRW/year.

Earning on the card is 0.67 miles/1000 KRW in Korea (lower than average. average is 1.0/1000 KRW and some banks give 1.33) and 1.33 miles/1000 KRW abroad (which is OK but not the best (2.0).

Minimum spending per month (average 3 months): 300,000 KRW/month. Otherwise, no miles.

Will look closer at this to see if it's a good second CC.

An update on these cards.

I applied for the KEB Signature card and already received it. As stated, I got the 150,000 KRW duty free gift certificate. The whole package I received along with the card was very nicely done, unfortunately all the material is in Korean. They do have a great English hotline so maybe I'll try giving them a call and see if they happen to have an English version of the materials, even if it's only online. I don't care actually if I have a fancy printed brochure or not.

Another disappointment is I was looking forward to booking discount travel online but the website (yestour.co.kr) seems to be Korean only.

Overall though I'm still pleased with it and it looks to be the best overall card for my needs.

I also went into a SC First bank. Unlike the KEB branch where they had some staff who spoke very good English, the employee I had to speak to at SC First couldn't speak any English, so I had to get by with my extremely poor pidgin Korean. My first question was about the card where I could get 1 mile per 10,000 KRW deposit (the Platinum card) and if it was available for Asiana Club and Korean Air Skypass. She confirmed it was available for either. I made a big mistake though in not printing out the page, and she spent about an hour getting me all filled out for the account and application for their regular mileage card, not the platinum one. At the end she mentioned the fee was only 20,000 KRW for the first year. I told her no, it should be 30,000 KRW. Finally it dawned on her that she signed me up for their basic card, so she had to redo some work, though it only took maybe another 10 minutes. The big disappointment though was after all that, she informed me that the Platinum card is not available for Asiana Club. Korean Air Skypass only. After all the hassle, I decided to go ahead with it though. After all, I don't really have a better place to park my money at the moment. She said I should hear next week whether my card is approved or not.

For anyone applying for any credit cards, you really should make a printout of the webpage first before going to the bank. I'd recommend that even if going to KEB. That way the staff can be sure of which card exactly you want to apply for.

I just received my SC First "The Mileage Platinum" card. All of the materials were only in Korean. Neither the card nor bank seem to be prepared for handling the needs of expats who cannot speak Korean. Not that much of a problem for me being I can squeak by with my limited Korean and rely on Koreans to help me when needed. If you were to go it alone though without any Korean language ability, it would probably be impossible.

The verification process for qualifying for this card was much more in-depth and took longer than my KEB card did, but they ended up giving me a much higher spending limit. I'd actually have preferred just the opposite as I'll likely use my KEB card for making most of my purchases, and only use the SC First card for a minimum of purchases, being the earning rates are higher for the KEB card.

I just received my SC First "The Mileage Platinum" card. All of the materials were only in Korean. Neither the card nor bank seem to be prepared for handling the needs of expats who cannot speak Korean. Not that much of a problem for me being I can squeak by with my limited Korean and rely on Koreans to help me when needed. If you were to go it alone though without any Korean language ability, it would probably be impossible.

The verification process for qualifying for this card was much more in-depth and took longer than my KEB card did, but they ended up giving me a much higher spending limit. I'd actually have preferred just the opposite as I'll likely use my KEB card for making most of my purchases, and only use the SC First card for a minimum of purchases, being the earning rates are higher for the KEB card.

Thanks for the updates on this SC card A_Lee. ^

I got my Citi Asiana Plat MC just a week ago. Apparently there was some problem in determining if I make any money at all in Korea :p. In the end I faxed them pages from my passbook in another Korean bank where I get my salary. I'm surprised they cannot check themselves with the national tax agency or something.

Do you know what the foreign transaction/exchange fee is on the SC Platinum card? I've confirmed now that it is 0.75 % on the Citi card I got.

Sorry, I don't have a clue and there's nothing in the materials that I can where it's specified. I'm only planning to charge the minimum required on domestic Korean purchases and then all my other charges will go on my KEB card. The only reason I got the SC First card is for earning mileage on my savings account.

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I have some new information that might be useful to some looking to get a credit card in Korea. On my flight today with OZ, I noticed an ad on the IFE system for NongHyup. In trying to read the Korean text, to the best of my limited ability, I think it said that the standard for their mileage credit card is 1 mile per 1000 KRW charged, but they have double miles which give 2 miles per 1000 KRW. I have no idea under what conditions the double miles apply. Then they also had something which seemed to me to indicate that they also have triple miles. I have no idea if NongHyup has a KE version of this card as well. If anyone ends up checking into the details of this, please post in this thread to keep it up to date.

I went into a KEB branch today and notice they have a new card launching next month. The details as I understand them, based on my limited ability to read Korea are:

Card name is Crossmile Reward

There are two types, a KE and an OZ card.

You can earn miles on either KE or OZ, depending on which card you have, but also on a number of other airline programs. Mileage earning, based on 1,500 KRW base units are:
Korean Air: 1.0
Asiana: 1.2
Cathay Pacific: 1.0
Thai: 1.0
Delta: 1.0
Malaysia: 1.0
China Southern: 1.0
Hilton: 2.0

There is a basic card and a "Special Edition" card. The Special Edition gets you Priority Pass, a "Welcome Service" and "Bonus Mileage". I couldn't figure out any details about those items.

The card is an American Express card.

If you already have a KEB Asiana card, you cannot get this card as well in the Asiana version, you'd have to get the Korean Air version. I'm not sure but imagine it works the other way as well.

I probably won't get this card being I've already got plenty of Korea-based credit cards, but it looks to be quite useful to expats, many of which might not care about earning mileage on OZ or KE.

I went into a KEB branch today and notice they have a new card launching next month. The details as I understand them, based on my limited ability to read Korea are:

Card name is Crossmile Reward

There are two types, a KE and an OZ card.

You can earn miles on either KE or OZ, depending on which card you have, but also on a number of other airline programs. Mileage earning, based on 1,500 KRW base units are:
Korean Air: 1.0
Asiana: 1.2
Cathay Pacific: 1.0
Thai: 1.0
Delta: 1.0
Malaysia: 1.0
China Southern: 1.0
Hilton: 2.0


Ah, this ought to compete a bit the the Citi PremierMiles card which also allows crediting (actually transferring) to about the same airlines.

Nice info.

The card is an American Express card.

Can someone tell me how commonly accepted AMEX is in Korea? Is it similar to the U.S. where AMEX is a lot of places but not nearly as many as VISA and Mastercard?

Shinhan do a VISA charge card linked with KAL Skypass miles.