With Korean Air and Asiana Airlines set to launch a merged Korean Air in Oct. next year, they are increasing flights and redemption options to encourage customers to use as many miles as possible. But in the mileage malls (shopping malls where you can buy goods with miles), the value of miles is set at less than half of that for "mileage award tickets," prompting complaints that consumers are effectively paying more for goods.
According to Financial Supervisory Service electronic disclosures, as of the end of the first half of this year, Korean Air's deferred revenue was 2.7075 trillion won and Asiana Airlines' was 929.3 billion won. Miles are classified as a liability (deferred revenue) in airlines' accounting, so the larger the unused amount, the heavier the burden on the integrated management structure.
To buy Galaxy Buds3 Pro in the Korean Air mileage mall, you need 37,500 miles. In the Samsung Electronics official store, the same product can be purchased for around 200,000 won, so back-calculating from the sale price sets the value of 1 Korean Air mile at 5.3 won.
The Asiana Airlines mileage mall is similar. To buy all 11 volumes of the comic book "20th Century Boys: Complete Edition" here, you need 20,400 miles. The item sells for 120,000 won on Coupang. Based on the Coupang price, the value of 1 Asiana Airlines mile is 5.9 won.
The market values 1 mile at about 10 to 20 won. Typically, the value per mile uses mileage award tickets as the benchmark, dividing the fare on a ticket by the miles required to derive an average per-mile value.
In Jan. next year, the fare for a Korean Air economy round trip on the Incheon–Tokyo Narita route is 350,000 won (excluding fuel surcharges, airport fees, etc.). Buying the same ticket with miles requires 30,000 miles, putting the value per mile at about 11 won.
In Aug. next year, a prestige-class round-trip ticket on the Incheon–Seattle Tacoma route requires 155,000 miles. During the same period, the fare is around 5.6 million won, so the value per mile is estimated at 36 won.
The range of items for sale is also small compared with foreign carriers. The Korean Air mileage mall lists 96 categories, including ▲ digital appliances ▲ food and health ▲ travel and sports ▲ beauty and fashion ▲ living. The Asiana Airlines mileage mall has 168 categories.
By contrast, Lufthansa's mileage mall lists 6,088 items, and Air France's mileage mall lists 3,194 items.
Consumers mainly shop in mileage malls when they cannot buy tickets with miles or when expiration is imminent. Award tickets available for miles are limited. An industry official said, "The vast majority of consumers collect miles to buy tickets. Because they only use mileage malls when they have no choice, they end up buying goods 'with a heavy heart.'"