Advertiser Disclosure
Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). However, the credit card information that we publish has been written and evaluated by experts who know these products inside out. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market. See our advertising policy here where we list advertisers that we work with, and how we make money. You can also review our credit card rating methodology.
Michael McHugh
Former Content Contributor
63 Published Articles 1 Edited Article
Countries Visited: 15U.S. States Visited: 32
We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.
Gimpo International Airport (GMP), Incheon International Airport (ICN)
Asiana First and Business Class Lounge (ICN airport); U.S. lounge locations: Honolulu (HNL), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), and Seattle (SEA)
Asiana Airlines’ frequent flyer program is called Asiana Club, and its airline miles are called Asiana miles. Asiana Airlines is one of the 2 major airlines based in South Korea, with Korean Air being the other.
Asiana Club is unique because it offers 2 ways to earn elite status:
Miles are earned by flying on an Asiana Airlines or partner airline flight, spending on an Asiana or flexible point program credit card, or spending with one of the airline’s travel partners.
Enrollment in Asiana’s frequent flyer program is free, and you can sign up here.
Asiana Club membership entitles you to earning miles and elite status and redeeming miles for flights, including Star Alliance flights (which will be discussed later in this article).
Head to this link and enter your ID and password to log in to your account.
Hot Tip: The Asiana website will not let you search for Star Alliance award availability. We recommend using the United, Aeroplan, and ANA websites to search for award flights.
Asiana generously lets you view account activity all the way back to 1988.
While mileage earned prior to October 1, 2008 doesn’t have an expiration date, mileage earned after that date will expire.
Asiana miles are valid for 10-12 years depending on your elite tier when the miles were earned or the flight was boarded.
For Magic Miles, Silver, and Gold members, miles expire December 31 of the tenth year after the mileage was earned or flight was boarded.
For Diamond and higher members, miles expire December 31 of the twelfth year.
There is no way to extend these expiration dates.
Asiana has 4 elite tiers: Gold, Diamond, Diamond Plus, and Platinum.
Gold: The benefits of Asiana’s lowest tier aren’t incredible, but it is nice that you earn the status for 2 years. Here are a few of the benefits that you’ll receive at this level:
Diamond: After earning this status level, you’ll have access to additional benefits that include:
Diamond Plus: Asiana’s second highest elite level offers the following benefits:
Platinum: The highest elite tier that you can earn comes with these benefits:
If you’re interested in diving into more detail about the elite benefits at each tier, go here.
Asiana elite status only makes sense if you are based in South Korea or fly Asiana regularly.
If you meet one of those 2 criteria, access to premium lounges, reduced mileage awards, and bonus miles when flying are all benefits to take advantage of.
Qualification for elite status with Asiana is straightforward relative to many award programs.
Asiana has 2 ways to qualify:
Flying miles are earned by flying Asiana Airlines, a Star Alliance airline, Air Busan, or Air Seoul.
Boarding instances are earned by boarding an Asiana Airlines, Air Busan, or Air Seoul flight.
In order to earn Gold status, you’ll need to earn 20,000 miles in a 24-month period or have boarded 30 Asiana Airlines flights.
Diamond status requires 40,000 miles in a 24-month period or 50 boardings of an Asiana Airlines flight.
If you’re looking to earn Diamond Plus status, you’ll need 100,000 miles in a 24-month period or 100 Asiana Airlines flight boardings.
You can earn Asiana’s highest elite status, Platinum, with 1,000,000 miles or 1,000 boardings on Asiana Airlines flights.
Find more details about the requirements for each elite tier level here.
With Asiana, you’ve got 3 main ways to earn miles:
Using a combination of all 3, you’ll have no problem earning Asiana miles.
Asiana miles earned when you fly are calculated based on the distance multiplied by the fare class in this chart.
In addition, elite members receive the following bonus miles when flying:
When you are flying a Star Alliance partner like United, you’ll refer to these mileage charts to determine the miles that you’ll earn.
Asiana partners with Bank of America, who offers the only co-branded credit card for the airline.
Leveraging flexible point programs will be the best way to earn points that can be transferred directly into Asiana airline miles.
Marriott is the only flexible point program that partners with Asiana Airlines, but Marriott has plenty of credit cards that will earn Marriott points for your redemption.
Asiana offers a number of ways to earn Asiana miles outside of flying.
The airline partners with hotels like Hyatt, car rental companies like National, and has a shopping portal.
Compared to other airlines, Asiana Airlines has limited opportunities to earn miles directly with credit card spending.
Bank of America is Asiana Airlines’ sole credit card partner.
The Asiana Visa Signature and Asiana Visa Business credit cards are ones we recommend, specifically the Signature card with its nice welcome offer bonus.
The only flexible point program that partners with Asiana is Marriott Bonvoy.
While you’d like to see more flexible point program partners, a combination of Marriott and Asiana Airlines credit cards will earn you more than enough Asiana miles.
It’s also important to note that Marriott offers a 5,000-point bonus for every 60,000 points that you transfer to an airline partner.
This means 60,000 points transferred at a 3:1 ratio to an airline become 25,000 airline miles (60,000 / 3 = 20,000 miles * 25% bonus = 25,000 miles).
A great option for Marriott hotel fans who want a no annual fee card and automatic Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Casual travelers who like to frequent properties that are part of the Marriott Bonvoy collection of brands may want to consider the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card.
The Marriott Bold card rewards cardholders for Marriott stays and gives them a boost towards Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Marriott loyalists will love this card's annual Free Night Award, automatic elite status, and up to 17x points per $1 on Marriott hotel stays.
If you’re a frequent traveler and a Marriott loyalist, there’s a lot to love about the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. The card comes packed with several great benefits like a free hotel night once a year, automatic Silver Elite status (with a fast-track to Gold Elite status), and multiple options for redeeming points.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card gives you automatic Marriott elite status and helps you earn more Marriott Bonvoy points on your everyday purchases.
If you're approved and accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, the latest mid-tier offering in the Marriott Bonvoy lineup of cards, offers cardholders automatic elite status and ways to earn more Marriott Bonvoy points on each of their stays and daily purchases.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesA premium card for Marriott fans who want perks like an annual statement credit and Free Night Award, plus a fast track to Marriott elite status.
If you're approved and accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card is a premium card designed with road warriors and Marriott Bonvoy loyalists in mind.
So is the card a worthwhile addition to your wallet?
Converting hotel points into airline miles typically results in terrible value, so we don’t recommend doing this. If you are topping off a hotel account or are in a bind, it can be one way to accumulate enough points for your redemption.
Asiana Airlines has 2 types of award flights:
Peak pricing for Asiana Airlines flights in 2018 is between May 12-July 1 and December 5-December 23.
You can access the Asiana award chart here (click “Mileage deduction Table”). For flights between South Korea (ICN) and the U.S., here are the round-trip mileage requirements:
Route | Economy | Business | Business* Smartium | First |
South Korea – U.S. | 70,000 | 105,000 | 125,000 | 160,000 |
For flights that route through South Korea, here are the round-trip mileage requirements:
Routes with South Korea Transfer | Economy | Business | Business* Smartium | First |
Japan, China/Northeast Asia – U.S. | 75,000 | 110,000 | 135,000 | 170,000 |
Southeast Asia – U.S. | 85,000 | 125,000 | 155,000 | 190,000 |
Southwest Asia – U.S. | 95,000 | 140,000 | 175,000 | 210,000 |
Oceania – U.S. | 105,000 | 160,000 | 200,000 | 230,000 |
*Asiana charges an additional 10,000 miles each way for flights on what it calls premium routes.
Hot Tip: See our in-depth articles on the best ways to use Asiana miles for maximum value.
With Asiana being in the Star Alliance, you’ll be to use Asiana miles to fly on any airline in the alliance.
Separately, you can use your Asiana miles to fly on the airline’s partners outside of the Star Alliance.
Use the mileage rates in this chart to determine what Asiana will charge to fly a route with one of its partner airlines.
The Asiana website search engine is only ideal when you want to book an Asiana Airlines operated flight.
For all partner flights, you’ll want to use a website like United Airlines to search for Star Alliance award space.
When you find an award flight, call Asiana Airlines at 800-227-4262 to confirm award space and ticket the award flight.
Hot Tip: United, Aeroplan, and ANA are the websites to use to search for Star Alliance award space. All have drawbacks, but when used in conjunction with one another, you’ll have a more accurate picture of award availability for your flight.
