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Update: The option to transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Korean Air SKYPASS ended on June 17, 2024.
Korean Air is notorious for making its SKYPASS miles difficult to earn. Outside of a few co-branded credit cards, flying SkyTeam carriers, or converting Marriott Bonvoy points to SKYPASS miles, there aren't many meaningful ways to fill your account. And on June 17, 2024, it won't get any easier. Korean Air is tightening the screws by removing one of the aforementioned earning options.
Here's what you need to know.
Converting Marriott Bonvoy Points To Korean SKYPASS Miles Is Going Away
The Korean Air SKYPASS program has a lot of good things going for it. You can use miles to book several sweet spots (for great value — and with complimentary stopovers), award availability is generous, and SKYPASS miles don't expire for a decade.
Unfortunately, there are few ways to earn SKYPASS miles. After Korean Air ended its tie-up with Chase Ultimate Rewards in 2018, the last remaining conversion has come courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy; you can convert Bonvoy points to SKYPASS miles at a 3:1 ratio.
There's no 5,000-mile bonus for transferring 60,000 points to Korean Air, which you'll find with more than 30 of Marriott's airline partners. This bonus disappeared in October 2022.
To make matters worse, the “SKYPASS mileage partnership with Marriott Bonvoy” will be terminated entirely on June 17, 2024. Korean Air's website has been updated to reflect this soon-to-cease partnership.
That means the option to convert Bonvoy points to SKYPASS miles is going away. And if you elect to earn SKYPASS miles on your Marriott stays instead of Bonvoy points, that perk is going away, too. The last day to initiate a transfer — or checkout if you're earning miles on a stay — is June 16, 2024.
After that, you're out of luck. You'll have to rely on an even smaller set of poor conversion partners, or Korean's quartet of U.S. Bank-issued credit cards to earn miles without flying.
Final Thoughts
Korean Air and Marriott Bonvoy are ending their longstanding partnership. As a result, earning Korean SKYPASS miles will become even more of a challenge. If this is a partnership you rely on and want to initiate one more Bonvoy points to SKYPASS miles conversion, your last day to do so is June 16, 2024.
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