My heart skipped a beat when I logged into my Korean Air account yesterday and saw that my account was deactivated.
My Korean Air SkyPass Account “Deactivated” After Inactivity
I have been sitting on Korean Air SkyPass miles since I transferred them from Chase Ultimate Rewards in 2018. Sadly, I did not use them before the pandemic and since the pandemic Korean Air has stopped releasing first class award space. Thankfully, plans to devalue the program earlier this year were reversed after an extreme public outcry in South Korea.
That doesn’t help much if Korean Air does not release any space, though. Nevertheless, I login into my account often to search, checking multiple times per week for available space. I want to fly the 747-8 and A380 in first class on Korean Air.
However, when I logged in yesterday a nasty box popped up saying my account was deactivated due to five years of inactivity. My heart started pounding. Did I just lose all my Korean Air miles?
Thankfully, there was a button to “restore” the account, which sent a six-digit code to my email, which I then used to reactivate the account.
My miles are safe through 2028, 10 years from the date of transfer, which is in-line with Korean Air’s generous policy on mileage expiration.
It isn’t clear why Korean Air deactivates accounts when miles have not expired after five years of inactivity, but be aware you might encounter a similar message if you haven’t touched your miles in several years, no matter how often you login to your account.
CONCLUSION
Thankfully, my story ended well. I was so distraught I did not screenshot the entire process, but I suspect many of you transferred from Chase around this time five years ago and will start receiving similar messages, if not already.
The good news is that your miles remain valid for 10 years and you can quickly “reactivate” your account. The bad news is that you might get the same scare I did when logging in.
image: Airbus
So what are your plans for using the miles?
Will try the waitlist.
Check Atlanta to/from Seoul, they have the 747-8i and I’ve seen the rare First Class seat there! No other routes since the pandemic
“Deactivated due to inactivity” is a rookie mistake. Suggest out of an abundance of caution, crediting a few miles once per year to avoid any appearance of impropriety and to avoid any further heart pounding or skipped beats (which from a pure medical point of view could actually be dangerous at certain ages). This year I bought a $5 T-shirt at Macy’s (on sale for pick-up so no shipping charge) on the British Air shopping portal, got me 5 or 7 Avios per $ and 5 UR or MR and extended my minimal concern for deactivation due to inactivity.
Where was the $5. T-shirt manufactured ? Last time I checked at Macy’s they wanted much more for T-shirts .
Their business class, while not amazing, isn’t bad if you can deal with the configuration.
Such a great cautionary tale on the ephemeral nature of frequent flyer “currency” that one hopes for “someday”
Oh, you’re flying first class in this airline? Run! You wouldn’t want to witness another Heather Cho.