On July 7, Korean Air announced on its website that it would introduce discounted Bonus Award seats, known as “Bonus Hot Pick,” on selected routes in 25 cities worldwide and all routes within Korea, starting this month.
Through this program, passengers traveling to these cities will be able to book Bonus Award seats at a reduced mileage rate year-round when purchasing award tickets through Korean Air’s website and app.
Four U.S. routes, namely Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and Chicago, are eligible for discounts of up to 5,000 miles one-way and 10,000 miles roundtrip. For instance, a roundtrip economy class award ticket from LA to Incheon during the off-season will now require 60,000 miles instead of the previous 70,000 miles.
However, the issue lies with the restrictions placed on the LA route. The mileage discount only applies to temporary flights (KE8017/KE8018) that operate on a limited basis, excluding the existing twice-daily LA flights.
Furthermore, the period for purchasing award tickets to receive the discount is limited to three months, from July to September, with the boarding period restricted to September only.
Among the 25 cities eligible for the discount, only San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Da Nang have been designated flight numbers. Additionally, only three cities, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Los Angeles, have a limited 30-day boarding period.
To cater to summer demand, Korean Air has temporarily added flight KE8018 departing LAX every Thursday at 1 a.m. from September 7 to 21, and flight KE8017 from Incheon arriving at LAX every Wednesday at 12:40 p.m. from September 6 to 20.
As a result, there are only six temporary flights available for discounted award tickets to LA: September 7, 14, and 21 from LA, and September 6, 13, and 20 from Incheon.
As of the morning of July 10, there were at least five available seats on each of the September 7, 14, and 21 flights from LA. However, only three seats were available on the September 6 flight from Incheon, and both September 13 and 20 flights were already sold out, according to the discounted Bonus Award seat availability displayed on Korean Air’s website.
Consequently, Korean Americans in LA are unable to book round-trip award tickets and cannot benefit from the 10,000-mile discount. They also face limited availability for the 5,000-mile discount.
In the case of San Francisco, the temporary flight KE8026 from SF will operate three times a week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday) from September 4 to October 26, offering a better chance of securing award seats compared to LA.
Meanwhile, Korean Air’s promotion is seen as an attempt to address customer complaints and reduce mileage debt following the airline’s earlier mileage reorganization. The implementation of Korean Air’s mileage reorganization was halted due to criticism from the media, political circles, and public opinion.
BY NAKI PARK [naki@koreadaily.com]
