I'm trying to plan a trip to Asia on AS miles later this year and I noticed KE's blackout dates:
The Following Blackout Dates Apply Travel between North America and Asia:
2009: May 23 - July 5, July 17 - Aug 16, Oct 1 - 4, Dec 12 - 31
2010: Jan 1 - 10, Feb 12 - 16, May 22 - July 11, July 16 - Sep 5,
Sep 18 - 26, Dec 11 - 31
I understand blackouts around holidays, including Korean new year, but this seems excessive. Nearly 5 months of the year are unavailable for awards. Some blackout dates are seemingly random (all of summer, the latter half of September), and so are some of the "breaks" (why not blackout July 12-15?!). I can take one of Alaska's many other partners to Asia instead, but I was just curious why KE blacks out all these dates.