Asiana Miles to Be Maintained for 10 Years... 1:1 Conversion for Flight Miles, 1:0.82 for Partner Miles to Korean Air

Separate Accounts for Ten Years, Differential Conversion Rate for Partner Miles
Mandatory Supply of Bonus Seats at Highest Levels in Past Ten Years

The final plan for integrating mileage programs following the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines has been confirmed after a year of negotiations. Even after the complete integration of the two airlines, existing Asiana mileage will maintain its own redemption criteria and validity period for the next 10 years. When converting to Korean Air mileage, flight miles will transfer at a 1:1 ratio, while partnership miles—such as those earned through credit cards—will convert at a 1:0.82 ratio. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has stipulated that, to prevent abuse of monopoly power by the merged airline, the supply of bonus seats on popular long-haul routes to North America and Europe must be maintained at the highest level recorded in the past 10 years. The KFTC also declared that failure to meet these requirements would result in significant penalty payments for non-compliance.

Korean Air aircraft moving on the apron at Gimpo Airport. Photo by Yonhap News.

Accounts Remain Separate for 10 Years...Differential Conversion for Partnership Miles

On September 15, the KFTC announced that it had approved the final mileage integration plan after seven rounds of face-to-face meetings and four rounds of revision and supplementation with Korean Air. The new plan will be implemented in full from December 17, 2026, when the two airlines officially launch as a single legal entity.

According to the approved plan, even if the Asiana entity is dissolved, existing Asiana mileage accounts will be managed separately for 10 years from the date of the merger. Customers will be able to retain their own redemption criteria and mileage expiration rules without converting their mileage, and can use their mileage for bonus ticket purchases, seat upgrades, mixed payments (using both mileage and cash/cards for economy class tickets that are not bonus seats), shopping, and more across all routes operated by Korean Air after the merger.

For customers wishing to convert their mileage to Korean Air, different conversion ratios will apply depending on how the miles were earned. Flight miles earned by actually flying will be converted at a one-to-one ratio. In contrast, partnership miles—such as those accumulated through co-branded credit cards or shopping—will convert at a ratio of 0.82 Asiana miles for each Korean Air mile. To prevent confusion over elite membership calculation, conversion requests can only be made for the entire balance at once. Any remaining miles unused at the end of the 10-year separate management period will be automatically converted to Korean Air mileage at the applicable ratio.

Expansion of Bonus Seat Supply on Popular Long-Haul Routes...Measures Against Circumvention

The KFTC has set 'actual boarding statistics' and the 'annual quantity of miles redeemed' as management standards to prevent the merged Korean Air from merely making mileage seats available in name only. Korean Air must maintain the total number of bonus seat boardings for the next 10 years at the level recorded at the time of the 2024 merger. For popular long-haul routes—such as those to North America, Europe, and Oceania, where seat shortages were especially severe—the number of bonus seats must be provided at no less than the peak levels from 2023 over the past decade.

To prevent a loophole where seats are only opened during off-peak times and restricted during peak periods, Korean Air will also be required to submit records of peak season seat supply to a compliance monitoring committee composed primarily of external specialists. In addition, the amount of miles used annually must be increased step by step: to 106% of 2025's usage for 2027~2028, 112% for 2029, and up to 121% between 2030 and 2036. Should the targets be deemed hard to achieve, 'mileage special flights'—aircraft reserved exclusively for bonus seat redemptions—will be deployed on popular international routes during peak periods. There are also enhanced measures to safeguard small mileage balances. The minimum mileage amount required for mixed payments towards economy tickets has been expanded to as low as 100 miles, with a maximum limit of up to 40% of the total fare, and the lineup of non-airline products redeemable for less than 2,000 miles will be doubled compared to current offerings.

Automatic Elite Tier Matching...24-Month Extension for Pre-Merger Qualification

Plans to protect existing Asiana elite members and maintain their loyalty status have also been finalized. After integration, all five Asiana elite tiers will be automatically matched to corresponding Korean Air elite statuses. If customers apply to convert their mileage, both airlines' flight histories will be combined and re-evaluated, granting immediate upgrades if the combined performance qualifies for a higher tier. Even if the re-evaluation outcome is lower than the matched tier, the original status will be retained.

A safeguard is in place for those who might lose elite privileges due to the merger timing. If a 24-month time-limited elite member had already fulfilled the status retention requirements before merger day, their existing tier will be extended for an additional 24 months after expiration, even if the expiry date falls after the merger.

This mileage integration plan will take effect from December 17. Korean Air will be required to observe the mileage integration arrangements for the next 10 years, while the KFTC will continuously monitor compliance with bonus seat availability and mileage usage rules through a compliance monitoring committee. Korean Air and Asiana plan to provide detailed guidance to Asiana customers on how to use and convert their mileage before the implementation date.

Jeon Seongbok, Director General of the KFTC's Business Combination Division, stated, "Since Korean Air will become the country's sole mileage operator following the merger, we have prepared additional measures to address potential reductions in consumer incentives and competition. If the conditions are violated or the implementation plans are changed to the disadvantage of consumers, this will be regarded as non-compliance and will result in substantial penalty payments," he affirmed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.