Thought these should be recent enough in memory
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mile...-business.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/prem...x-1-827-a.html

Too few and far between for my liking.

On a side note, as the accrual chart changes come in April 2021 and the status bonuses only come in February 2022 this means economy tickets that currency earn 100% mileage will earn alot less. Plus no word on earnings frol Skyteam partners leads me to believe April 2021 will act as a soft deadline when it comes to earning status (for those of us who only fly KE in economy at least). I might bite the bullet and do a few trips with the cheap Saudia fares to get it done with....

You can book on their website and collect KE miles. Doesn't say anything about having to be booked on KE website

https://www.koreanair.com/mobile/glo...ican-airlines/

Re-evaluation
 

Says here that KE will re-evaluate the changes they had announced for Skypass after having received the request from the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

https://n.news.naver.com/article/025...?ntype=RANKING

Most likely KE will keep the lifetime status for passengers hitting the 500k and 1m mile marks, but will push through with the new miles earning and redemption rate.

(The article is in Korean)

If I book it directly with AA, it will no longer have KE flight number. With the new rule, it can no longer earn status miles I assume?

This is exactly what I was thinking when I read about the changes.

Honestly, the hard product from KE is really .... anyways compared to the competition. I just flew business class and the fact they don't have pods in their A380s is just sad. You don't get full lie flat seats, and on other routes the business class seats feel really old and crappy. Considering how many Asian airlines are out there with great hard products, the main reason I stayed with KE was when I fly with my family in economy I like the morning calm check in, priority boarding and that I can pick our seats when I book our tickets.

Pretty sure my days with KE are going to be done. I'll burn my points and go back to Star Alliance, which has way more selection and redemption options.

Am I reading this right? It seems like the mileage requirement is doubling (unless I have made a mistake here). These seem like Delta rates now.

Now, Japan to USA/Europe is 125,000 business and 160,000 first

After April 2021 it will be 210,000 business and 315,000 first


Based on this:
Roundtrip Osaka to Incheon, Zone 2: 50,000 and 75,000

Then roundtrip Incheon to Europe or USA (west coast) Zone 8: 160,000 and 240,000

Not only has the burning rate gone up, the earning rate for most economy fare has gone down. If flying J or F earn and burn rate should be better actually, but the majority fly economy and that's why so many are annoyed about this change. For the hard/soft products KE offers, I don't think their J or F class fares are that competitive.

Only if flying the highest booking classes, which are extremely expensive. "Normal" J fares don't see an increase..

I would love this, provided they continue recognizing Skyteam flights for the 500k and 1mm as currently.

I don't think the lifetime status will be kept when the updated programme rolls out now. KE posted a new "fact check" on their Korean website and they are highlighting the fact that it'll be easier to become a top tier member with their new system. They don't explicitly say there won't be a lifetime status anymore... So might depend on how much backlash there will be?

Have I been understanding this wrong ? I was under the impression that people who had lifetime status before the change would get to keep lifetime gold/platinum (depending on previous rank). Or are you talking about the new system ?
It would definitely be weird if OZ still had lifetime status whereas KE didn’t.

The new system won't offer any lifetime status. People with MCP and MM will still get lifetime status as Gold and Platinum respectively.

The Koreans are filing a class action suit! IMO this is typical reaction of the Korean consumer (just like the Priority Lanes). That was actually revoked, but I'm curious to see if this can hold up legally in the Korean courts. I don't know well about Korean law in this area, but I'll ask my corporate attorney students and see what they say. IMO, honestly, the 1,000 or so people filing are your typical "this is unfair angry citizen" type.

The email I got today said this (below). I will probably use up my miles in 2020, but maybe not all. Am I right in thinking I can book up to March, 2021 for a flight leaving anytime between then and March 2022?

As of April 1, 2021

based on the ticketing date

The new program will be introduced and implemented as of April 1, 2020.
However, after a 12-month grace period, the changes in mileage redemption
will be enforced as of April 1, 2021.

Tickteting = date of the ticket being made. The Korean says 발권일 기준

2021년 4월 1일 부

※ 2020년 4월 1일 부 변경된 제도가 도입 및 시행되나,
그로부터 12개월의 유예기간을 운영한 후
2021년 4월 1일부터 변경된 제도가 실제 적용됩니다.

which basically says the same about grace period and "the changes take effect on 2021/4/1" so any award ticket you buy before that = old miles. Starting 2021/4/1 and anytime after - new rules

Edit*** - make sure the ticket is issued before 2021/4/1. 발r권 means ticketing in Korean - and if there's a delay from purchase to issue......Yes, 99% of the time the ticket is purchased and issued almost instantly.

So, I'm assuming most everyone will try to use up their stash of miles on F redemptions with Seoul stopovers?

I've got far far far too many miles and will certainly be "draining" them on F if I get the opportunity. Expect award ticket availability to be tight during the next year.

Lesson learnt. Like cash, miles are victim of the same inflation (or worse). Not safe to keep them.

Not me. We are pooling all our miles and my wife and daughter will use them to fly J from Seoul to London during peak season. Unfortunately we only have holidays during peak season...

Pretty sad about KE as I really liked that only flying 30k every two years with them I got priority checkin and boarding. Chances are we will move towards business class and I will just pick the cheapest business class for my flights.

This indeed might be the case. When will KE give details on the new program?

I will stick to KE if there's a lifetime program. If there's no lifetime program, I'm leaving for another program.

No more lifetime status. I've already ditched KE. :p

I'm betting KAL will be keeping lifetime status in place.

That said, I will remain loyal to Delta over UA/OZ. Mostly

Maybe KE will have lifetime Elite for less than 500k? Who knows.

Morning Calm Premium and Million Miler members, whose status is permanent, will keep their lifetime membership as gold and platinum level members, respectively. The current benefits of Morning Calm Premium and Million Miler members will be available until January 31, 2022, which is right before the launch of the new Elite membership system. New benefits can be enjoyed from February 1, 2022.
The new program will be introduced and implemented as of April 1, 2020. However, after a grace period, the changes in elite program will be enforced as of February 1, 2022.

New Skypass ? Korean Air

Nope. KE made it pretty clear in their "Fact Check". There won't be any new lifetime anything once the programme changes in 2022. Morning Calm Premium and Million Miler will get lifetime Gold and Platinum respectively with the new programme. I probably wouldn't have ditched KE so hard if they kept some sort of lifetime status. Oh well...

Why won't they get Platinum & Diamond respectively? Morning Calm Premium and Million Miler were the top levels before, now these members are being downgraded? This does not seem fair, I hope the Korean lawsuits win.

KE said they will consider making more changes to the new Skypass program due to numerous complaints.
So the lifetime status might continue on for those who havent earned it yet.

No actually they never said there wouldn't be lifetime status in the new program. That was never explicit in the "FAQ".

I wouldn't try to kill people's hopes over an assumption.

It's not in the English FAQ section. It's in the "new" Fact Check section KE made on their Korean site/app.

It says in Korean "평생 회원이 없어지고 매년 실적 달성을 해야하니 우수회원이 되기 더 어려워졌다? No"

Which roughly translates to "It's harder to achieve elite status as it has to be renewed every year and lifetime membership gets eliminated? No"

And then they give examples of how much easier it would be to reach an elite status with the new programme... I hate the way they've worded this and lifetime status question should have been asked separately, but it was probably put together deliberately to minimise the backlash of eliminating the lifetime status.

Well, maybe you can come to a different conclusion after reading about it here.
https://micro.koreanair.com/mainevent/202001/mileage/

Thanks for providing that link. It looks like the elimination of life time benefits is implied by the "flyer's question to KAL". They do try to make the argument that the new program is more rewarding.

The new program is definitely more rewarding. Just not for the passenger.

By any chance do you think they'll change the RTW redemption? I have a 147k and was working my way towards business at 220k. But won't be able to do that by April 2021. Should i just go ahead and do RTW now?

I actually teach some high profile corporate attorneys and one of the guys is following this. He said that there is actually a case with the Korean FTC? or some other govt agency that this is "unfair" and they might not actually implement the changes. It's crazy to think that could happen, but the law here is very PRO consumer. However, in my case with my miles - they told me use them now to be absolutely safe. Especially if you can use them fully and not have many remaining.

I read the email in regards to the change and I am not clear.
I have enough miles for a business flight to ICN.
Do I have to book before 4/1/2020 to lock in the price. Or by March 2021 since there is 1 year of transition?
Will the new cash and points be available post 4/1/2020 along with the old award chart?

Major Updates

• “Cash and miles” payment option for flight tickets to be introduced for a test-run period from November 2020.
• More reasonable mileage accrual and redemption rates based on airfare and flight distance to be implemented from April 2021.
• More inclusive elite membership program with four membership levels and lower qualification requirements to be introduced from February 2022.

※ The new program will be introduced and implemented as of April 1, 2020. However, after a 12-month grace period, the changes in mileage accrual and redemption will be enforced as of April 1, 2021 and the changes in elite program will be enforced as of February 1, 2022 respectively.


Your award has to be ticketed by April 1, 2021. Aka you are correct you can make a reservation in March 2021 with old rates.

Thats if they still around by mid 2020. Looks like they going to go bankrupt before. 90 % of flights grounded!?

Oh yeah it's that bad. But even if they do go bankrupt, they certainly won't disappear. They're deemed "essential service" for the public by the government. The government won't let them fail.

KE is fully focused on their cargo business right now, with even some plans to urgently remodel some passenger aircrafts into cargo.

Any indication from KE that they might postpone the date for the new redemption chart to later than April 1, 2021 due to the Coronavirus?