How far in advance would you book JFK>ICN?
Dec 30, 2017, 11:55 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 95
How far in advance would you book JFK>ICN?
Currently sitting on a lot of Chase UR points and my family (of 3) are looking to go to Taiwan/Japan/Korea and were wondering how far in advance we would need to book these tickets to secure the 120,000 point rate for a one-way in first. We're looking to travel in mid-December 2018.
Also, are there stopovers that can be booked through Korean? Any tips on booking in general with this airline since I haven't flown with them before? Thank you so much!
Also, are there stopovers that can be booked through Korean? Any tips on booking in general with this airline since I haven't flown with them before? Thank you so much!
Dec 31, 2017, 11:09 pm
#2
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 116
I recently booked 3 F tickets from JFK-ICN and found most flights only had 2 F award seats on each flight. I believe the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 2pm flight have 4 seats. If you're set on all 3 of you flying in F and you know your dates I'd say secure those seats sooner rather than later.
Jan 1, 2018, 7:37 am
#3
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 31
Sooner the better always since refund penalties on KE is quite small. 3k miles I believe. If you can avoid the peak travel days it's 80k miles and not 120k which can save your family 240k miles in total for the entire trip.
Also, JFK-ICN-NRT or JFK-ICN-TPE is same 80k miles as JFK-iCN. You're allowed 1 free stopover in North Asia. SE Asia is 95k miles I believe.
Also, JFK-ICN-NRT or JFK-ICN-TPE is same 80k miles as JFK-iCN. You're allowed 1 free stopover in North Asia. SE Asia is 95k miles I believe.
Jan 1, 2018, 12:11 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Left Coast
Posts: 862
KE peak season dates for 2018 cover the time you're looking to travel. As you can see from the chart, peak season for JFK-->ICN would be 12/7/2018 to 12/25/2018, and for ICN-->JFK it would be 12/20/2018 to 1/1/2019 (probably, judging from the chart).
I would agree with other posters, book these seats as early as possible. Chase UR transfers within minutes to KE, so there shouldn't be a delay (like when you transfer SPG to Asiana), and KE does allow family pooling if you register for that in advance, which allows you to effectively pool UR points beyond what Chase permits once they are transferred to KE. Since the peak season in December for KE and OZ is calibrated to maximize the revenue from students returning home from abroad, and you're planning to travel at that time, I don't think you can book too early.
I would agree with other posters, book these seats as early as possible. Chase UR transfers within minutes to KE, so there shouldn't be a delay (like when you transfer SPG to Asiana), and KE does allow family pooling if you register for that in advance, which allows you to effectively pool UR points beyond what Chase permits once they are transferred to KE. Since the peak season in December for KE and OZ is calibrated to maximize the revenue from students returning home from abroad, and you're planning to travel at that time, I don't think you can book too early.