Chase has stopped transfers to Korean Air [now back]
Nov 23, 2014, 12:17 am
#31
Used to be 'flymanbeast'
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: Delta silver/marriot platinum
Posts: 2,795
Honestly if this happened because of Korean air then this situation might be temporary so i would not panic yet also Singapore is way better then KAL just a bit more expensive to use miles for .
Nov 23, 2014, 12:57 am
#32
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 466
I thought Singapore is cheaper than KAL? (fewer miles required for first class, 60 something instead of 80000).
Nov 23, 2014, 4:58 am
#33
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SJC/PIT
Programs: AA EXP, AS 75K, TK Elite
Posts: 519
I got this response to my secure message inquiring about the missing KE transfer option:
On the surface it does sound like a temporary thing, but I'm not optimistic about the credibility given that the second half of the reply doesn't make sense at all...
Dear MtRoot,
Thank you for contacting Chase about the option to
transfer points to your Korean Air SKYPASS program.
Chase is not currently processing point transfers to the
Korean Air SKYPASS program. We will update the Ultimate
Rewards Web site when the functionality returns.
You can purchase a ticket using your credit card and then
redeem your rewards for a statement credit.
If you have any further questions, please reply using the
Secure Message Center.
Thank you,
**** ****
Customer Service Specialist
Thank you for contacting Chase about the option to
transfer points to your Korean Air SKYPASS program.
Chase is not currently processing point transfers to the
Korean Air SKYPASS program. We will update the Ultimate
Rewards Web site when the functionality returns.
You can purchase a ticket using your credit card and then
redeem your rewards for a statement credit.
If you have any further questions, please reply using the
Secure Message Center.
Thank you,
**** ****
Customer Service Specialist
Nov 23, 2014, 7:19 am
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 99
They responded to me saying they would forward my message to the appropriate department and I should hear back within 2 days.
Even if its temporary, my tickets on hold will probably expire, so ill have to find an alternative.
Even if its temporary, my tickets on hold will probably expire, so ill have to find an alternative.
Nov 23, 2014, 9:03 am
#35
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DFW,OVB (Russia)
Programs: AA HH Gold SPG Gold BA
Posts: 1,823
Per view from the wing
Korean air transfers are expected to return
http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com
Korean air transfers are expected to return
http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com
Nov 23, 2014, 10:34 am
#36
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: KOA
Programs: DL Gold/MM, HH Diamond, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Gold
Posts: 2,280
I got the same "not currently processing" response to my secure message. Hopefully, as indicated in the View From the Wing blog, KE will be back soon. Thankfully, KE allows plenty of time to finalize a booking with your miles, so there is no rush for me to transfer the UR points to KE miles for the flights I have booked.
Nov 23, 2014, 2:12 pm
#37
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,506
Per view from the wing
Korean air transfers are expected to return
http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com
Korean air transfers are expected to return
http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com
Nov 24, 2014, 6:22 am
#39
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AAdvantage, Skymiles, Priority Club, HHonors
Posts: 265
The bigger issue is availability. KE has nonstop flights from 7 North American cities to SEL, including a double daily A380 from JFK; SQ has 3 (JFK, LAX and SFO.) It can be a challenge to find one F seat on the JFK-FRA-SIN flight, almost impossible for two. The great thing about KE is the amount of F award space they release.
Nov 24, 2014, 6:52 am
#40
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AAdvantage, Skymiles, Priority Club, HHonors
Posts: 265
I want to throw out a possible reason why KE pulled the plug - for now. The new KE website was rolled out in Sept/Oct, and it's been a functional mess. There are all sorts of glitches, but the one that affects awards is that you can't make a premium class award booking online (and FT'ers report that even economy bookings error out before getting to the end end of the process.) So pretty much everything award-related (and probably a lot revenue related as well) has to be done by phone through a KE call center, and they're overloaded.
I made an F award booking earlier this month, and the hold times to reach an agent were long. Added to that is KE's convoluted redemption process, that requires a call back to finalize payment for taxes and fees. Usually when you say you want to ticket the reservation you get the call back within a day. This time it was 5 days. So KE, which prides itself on customer service, looks like its in a world of hurt until they get their website working right.
So the possible scenario here is that KE decided to cut off UR transfers to reduce the award booking workload for the time being. That would also be a good reason for not giving any advance notice for the transfer suspension. If there had been advance notice, people would have scrambled to hold reservations before transferring points, which could have resulted in even bigger log jams.
If, in fact, this is the case, an explanation from KE or UR would be welcome. But as we've probably all learned over the years, airlines seldom explain their moves.
I made an F award booking earlier this month, and the hold times to reach an agent were long. Added to that is KE's convoluted redemption process, that requires a call back to finalize payment for taxes and fees. Usually when you say you want to ticket the reservation you get the call back within a day. This time it was 5 days. So KE, which prides itself on customer service, looks like its in a world of hurt until they get their website working right.
So the possible scenario here is that KE decided to cut off UR transfers to reduce the award booking workload for the time being. That would also be a good reason for not giving any advance notice for the transfer suspension. If there had been advance notice, people would have scrambled to hold reservations before transferring points, which could have resulted in even bigger log jams.
If, in fact, this is the case, an explanation from KE or UR would be welcome. But as we've probably all learned over the years, airlines seldom explain their moves.
Nov 24, 2014, 9:15 am
#41
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 466
It depends where you're flying. From the US to SE Asia, KE and SQ first redemptions are almost equivalent. From NY to SE Asia is 93,500 o/w F on SQ (110,000 less the 15% online booking discount); KE takes 95,000. North Asia is much more on SQ (112625 with discount) than KE (80,000), and is only available from JFK, not SQ's 2 west coast gateways.
The bigger issue is availability. KE has nonstop flights from 7 North American cities to SEL, including a double daily A380 from JFK; SQ has 3 (JFK, LAX and SFO.) It can be a challenge to find one F seat on the JFK-FRA-SIN flight, almost impossible for two. The great thing about KE is the amount of F award space they release.
The bigger issue is availability. KE has nonstop flights from 7 North American cities to SEL, including a double daily A380 from JFK; SQ has 3 (JFK, LAX and SFO.) It can be a challenge to find one F seat on the JFK-FRA-SIN flight, almost impossible for two. The great thing about KE is the amount of F award space they release.
also add to your point business class availability.
With the SKYPASS, I had an airline who serves the exact routes I frequent most frequently (LAX to ICN and TAO).
Singapore airline doesn't even serve TAO so it's going to be a problem for me.
Nov 24, 2014, 10:52 am
#42
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: New York
Programs: DL PLT, Hilton Diamond, CX MPC Silver
Posts: 265
I am in a similar position when it comes to flying to certain Chinese cities (PVG and HKG). Unless KE makes a return, I might have to book Air China through United...
Nov 24, 2014, 1:37 pm
#43
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SJC/PIT
Programs: AA EXP, AS 75K, TK Elite
Posts: 519
Another problem (well advantage depending on how you look at it) with SQ is that they partner with many other CC programs including MR (and so are BA and VS) so there isn't much reason to stick to UR. In contrast, UR points is the only currency transferable to KE---even SPG doesn't work here.
Nov 24, 2014, 7:28 pm
#45
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
Another problem (well advantage depending on how you look at it) with SQ is that they partner with many other CC programs including MR (and so are BA and VS) so there isn't much reason to stick to UR. In contrast, UR points is the only currency transferable to KE---even SPG doesn't work here.
So that's two transferrable-points credit card programs that KE has dropped in the past year.