Nice thing about KE is that there are lots of award availability from US to Asia.

Not that expensive as well for some routes.

I agree. Some routes used to be very hard to get award seats on. Recently, I've had better luck getting award availability on the routes I want, such as ATL-ICN.

but how much are the fuel surcharges on KE? I got a ton of Chase UR points and am looking to redeem for an award ticket to Europe (CDG) and then a return from Bonn back to the U.S.

Not sure about Europe but one way to Asia is about $350 to $400.

Fuel surcharge? I made a 6 leg award booking in biz with my DL miles and only paid 88 bucks in taxes and fees!

Yes, DL doesn't collect fuel surcharges for redemptions on KE. However, KE collects fuel surcharges for those using SkyPass miles. To check KE's fuel surcharges on revenue tickets, price out the ticket on ITA and look for something like Q295.00 in the fare details line. This is a Q surcharge of 295. You'll have to research how the currency units work out, and I have no idea if this is the amount they'd collect on an award ticket, but it's a starting point.

On a recent award economy IAD-ICN-BKK roundtrip, the fuel charges plus other fees came to almost $500.

That has no relevance for awards using KE miles.@:-)

You booked an award with DL miles?

You can use DL miles to book an award flight with KE, You have to do it by phone though.

yeah its quick and easy. they are normally twice the amount of *A flights though...

Huh? DL charges 120K r/t for US-Asia awards in biz on partners. That's what UA charges.

Watchout for the blackout dates.

Exactly. I just booked ATL-ICN-BKK R/T on KE using SM in O (Biz) class and it was 120k and about $65.70 total in taxes/fees.

Award availability using DL SkyMiles on ATL-ICN used to suck. ATL fliers routinely had to route through other gateways, such as IAD and ORD. Recently, possibly in relation to introduction of the nighttime ATL flight, award availability has improved tremendously. I've now got a couple of awards ex-ATL on the daytime flights KE 35/36. For those of us in the southeast, that's one of the best routes to SouthEast Asia. And award availability on intra-Asia routes has always been good, as long as you avoid blackout dates. Plus, taxes and surcharges on KE when redeeming SkyMiles are very reasonable, around $60-- as compared to $300 on MU and $500 on MH to SouthEast Asia. All things considered, leaving aside the blackout dates problem, KE's a great deal when redeeming miles, and the service (both hard and soft products) is now excellent.