Frequent Flyer Update

I love to accumulate frequent flyer miles. My main program is Asiana Club, a member of Star Alliance. Here's how I maximize my miles:

1. Fly any Star Alliance carrier. (Shanghai Airlines and Air China have joined the alliance.) Just show them your Asian card and you're good to go.

Also, there is a family membership plan that allows you to pool miles. When my mom came to Korea, I signed her up for an Asiana membership which gave me around 11,000 miles for her trip. So, join with your wife, brother, sister, etc. Life partners do not count.

2. Credit Cards. For Koreans, the best card is the Citibank Asiana card and the LG card. 1,500 won = 2 miles. (I'm jealous because I only earn 1 mile per 1,000 won from my Samsung Asiana card.)

3. LG Telecom. You can earn frequent flyer miles if your cell phone bill is around 35,000 won per month. Call LG Telecom and give them your Asiana frequent flyer number. LG has been giving me around 400 miles a month based on my 40,000 won a month cellphone bill.

4. Duty-Free Shop of the Korean Tourism Organization. Do you ever buy anything from the duty-free shop in Incheon? There are a lot of duty free shops there, but I only buy things at the KTO shop. 1 mile for every $2 (U.S. dollars in purchases)

5. Exchanging money. Kookmin, SC First Bank, and Shinhan offer 1 mile for every $5 in currency exchange. At Kookmin bank, if you're doing a wire transfer you'll get 1 mile for every $20. Transferring $5,000 = 250 frequent flier miles.

6. Hotels. Here is a list of worldwide hotels that will give between 100-500 miles for each night's stay. Best Western, Hilton, Starwood, Carlson, Hyatt, Intercontinental, Kempinski, Langham, Marriot, Okura, Raffles, Regal, Swissotel, and Worldwide. For hotels/resorts in Korea that earn 250-500 miles per night: Lotte Hotel, Mayfiled Hotel, Shilla Hotel, Seas Hotel, Paradise Hotel, Kumho Resort, Hyundai Hotel, Poonglim Resort, and Andy's 여관.

7. Breathing. (Some day I hope I can earn miles by just breathing.)

Addendum:

Asiana has recently added some member benefits.

1. 5% bonus mileage. So, if you fly 1,000 miles, they'll give you 1,050.

2. One discount coupon a year: For a Asiana Gold member, there is a 5,000 mile discount coupon for a free flight. So, if a flight to Australia costs 70,000, it would only be 65,000 with the coupon.

3. Two Business class lounge access coupons. Incheon has a really nice Asiana business class lounge. Free Internet, food, drinks, ice-cream, etc.
You can get two lounge access coupons a year, even if you're not flying business class. Sweet! I was inside there once, they also have beds. Much better than waiting outside with the rest of the cattle.

I'm getting close to Asiana Diamond membership, which means a 50% off mileage coupon every year. That's incredible. I could fly roundtrip to the U.S. for 35,000 frequent flier miles. And receive 10% bonus miles every time you fly. Diamond and Gold members also recieve priority baggage and check-in. I've been walking up to the Business Class check-in for years. There's hardly any wait. Avoiding the herd is good.