jon503

I noticed that OZ has quite drastically changed the way it awards elite levels and especially how you can maintain status.

Basically, it has become quite a lot easier to obtain status and MUCH easier to maintain it. OZ has included earnings from affiliate credit cards into status qualification, meaning that you don't really need to fly all that much anymore.

Here are the upgrade requirements from the website:



OZ Membership Qualification Standard from Oct 2018


And here are the status maintenance requirements:



OZ Membership Maintenance Standard from Oct 2018

So Diamond plus is now 75k miles flown to earn, 50k miles to maintain with the rest able to come from credit card spending, and Diamond is 30k/20k respectively. Gold is even less.

Since I have an Asiana affiliate credit card with a very generous ratio of 1.5 miles per 1,000 KRW for domestic spending and 3.0 miles per 1,000 KRW for foreign spending, this means my Diamond requalification will be a breeze and Diamond Plus is now in sight for me. That's all nice and all, but at the same time I'm worried the lounges will soon be more crowded than ever and the number of people crowding the upgrade list will make getting an op up essentially like buying a lottery ticket.

I also wonder about why OZ is introducing this change. Do they just want to encourage more people to get affiliate cards in general? Is it a symptom of their chronical lack of cash? Have they been slipping against KE a lot lately and need an extra incentive to get more pax?

vprp

May I ask what card this is? My qualification period starts on November 1 and I think it will be a good chance to go for Diamond Plus this time.

slimjin

What card is that? That's amazing. Mine is 1 mile per 1,500 KRW, with no distinction between domestic and foreign.

jon503

The card is the "Air 1.5" from ShinhanCard (Link (in Korean)). The card does not really have any other perks like priority pass, but it costs just 45,000 KRW a year and in return, you get 1.5 miles per 1,000 spent domestically in Korea and 3.0 miles for any foreign spending (the extra foreign spending bonus is limited up to 2,000 miles per month).

A coworker recently told me that he got a new Citi Card which actually offers 1.6 miles per 1,000 KRW and has priority pass. It also seems to let you transfer miles to some other airline programs like SQ, albeit at less favorable rates. The downside is it costs 150,000 KRW a year and does not have any additional bonus for foreign spending.

If I were shopping for a new card I might actually consider the Citi Bank one, but for now I'm pretty happy with the Shinhan Card one.

Edit: It seems the Citi Bank link doesn't work. The card is called "Citi New PremierMiles Asiana" (씨티 NEW 프리미어마일 아시아나)

1353513636

Is diamond becoming *S? I just can't see a way awarding *G for flying 10k miles a year is sustainable.

walked2far

Last time I checked, not too long ago, I was Asiana Gold. Logged in today and I'm now Diamond. It appears as if the sign up bonus from the BofA credit card counted. I wonder if transferred miles count as well. Now I have to decide if it's worth it going for Diamond Plus before the end of my qualification period next year.

JoeDaejeon

I have no idea what their decision making process was, but in general I've heard that mileage programs are a big money maker for airlines, especially with regard to credit card partners. Perhaps OZ is simply recognizing this and wants to encourage more use of their affiliated cards simply due to the money they make off of that, as opposed to encouraging more passengers.

mikesaidyes

I also have this Asiana card. There's no PP, BUT you do get lounge access at Matina, Sky Hub, and other lounges (check mastercard.kr for list of extra benefits)

There's a lot of new cards- like the KEB 1.6 and 1.8 Asiana (and Korean Air cards) - BUT these are also transferable as Hana Miles to many other airlines.

The KEB Korean Air 1.6 I have at 40,000W per year or so fee - but ZERO benefits except better earning....

The 1.8 card is 130,000W per year but has PP access for one person....and 1.8/2.0 miles domestic and foreign...

Korean cards are sadly way behind in the points and miles game, but slowly getting better.

slimjin

Because I already bank with KEB I was looking at the 1.8 card today, and one thing I noticed was that the accrual rate is actually very slightly better, because 1.6 and 1.8 etc are the rate of "Hana mileage" accumulation, which can then be converted to airline miles. But the redemption rate for Asiana is 1 Hana mile = 1.2 Asiana miles, so if I understand correctly the true accrual rate is 1500 KRW = 1.8 Hana miles * 1.2 Asiana redemption = 2.16 miles, and for foreign transactions it's 2.0 * 1.2 = 2.4 miles per 1500 KRW. And although the foreign transaction mileage bonus is capped at 1000 Hana miles/month, that's not bad at all.

jon503

Interesting, I had dismissed Mastercard Platinum as largely a gimmick and completely missed that. Damn, I could have used that perk recently when I flew KE... Anyway I have one question about the lounge use, do you know whether if you have a family card, both people can get in for free with their physical cards or whether it's strictly one person per account?

mikesaidyes

https://www.mastercard.co.kr/ko-kr/c...-services.html

Shinhan Asiana 1.5 is Platinum Mastercard...

• 스카이허브 라운지의 경우, 동반자는 고객 부담으로 마스터카드 제휴가(26,400원 – 성인기준)로 이용 가능합니다.
• 마티나 라운지의 경우, 동반자는 고객 부담으로 마스터카드 제휴가(일반 26,400원 / 골드 35,000원 – 성인기준)로 이용 가능합니다

It only says 본인 but nothing about 가족카드 but it does give a Mastercard Lounge Service Desk number 라운지 이용과 관련한 문의는 마스터카드 라운지 서비스 데스크를 통해 서비스를 안내 받으실 수 있습니다.

• 마스터카드 라운지 서비스 데스크: 02-3272-3731(운영시간: 월-금, 09:00-18:00)

***

I took the bf to Skyhub and paid 26,400 (other cards have 1+1 but that rate is like 35,000W). i didn't see anything about family card though.

Also even better to know is this service - Flight Delay Pass

http://www.mastercard.com/
flightdelaypass

mikesaidyes

For me as a vacation traveler only 3-4 times a year (and the bf/friends don't have PP) - I didn't think it was worth it to splurge up the 130,000W card. I did some math haha (my limit is kept low intentionally 2 mil a month - I pay it off in full of course with my paycheck)

mikesaidyes

To compare with KE...

Nothing similar for Gold level.....

KE is 30,000 miles on KE metal + 20,000 on partners/credit card to hit Morning Calm. Then two years you need to hit 20,000 on KE metal and 10,000 on partners/CC. So....Asiana Diamond?

The next level up is 500,000 miles on KE. So Diamond Plus?

zeer0

I'm really surprised by the change to 30k for Diamond renewal. I love OZ, but it's hard not to feel suspicious of something coming.

Counting credit card spend makes sense though. Airlines make a lot of money off those sign ups. Most of the US based programs offer MQMs based on certain credit card spend.

1353513636

What are the requirements for Skyteam elite plus on Korean Air?