U.S. Bank issues multiple Korean Air Skypass credit cards that offer cardholders the rare opportunity to earn Skypass miles without flying:
- The SKYPASS SkyBlue Visa® Card.
- The SKYPASS Visa® Signature Credit Card.
- The SKYPASS Select Visa Signature® Card.
Korean Air doesn’t partner with any of the major transferable credit card programs, so if you’re looking to earn a slug of Skypass miles, one of these cards may be your best option. But if you’re not a Korean Air loyalist, you'd probably do better with a general travel card or another airline card.
Here are five things to know about the Korean Air Skypass credit cards.
🤓 Nerdy Tip
U.S. Bank previously issued a secured SKYPASS credit card, but that product is no longer available. U.S. Bank also issues the SKYPASS Visa Signature Business Card for small-business owners. This review focuses on the three consumer cards above only. 1. There are several Skypass cards
There are three consumer Korean Air Skypass cards to choose from, including two with an annual fee and one without. As usual, the higher the card’s fee, the more benefits and perks you’ll receive.
| SKYPASS SkyBlue Visa® Card | SKYPASS Visa® Signature Credit Card | SKYPASS Select Visa Signature® Card |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Fee: | ||
| $0 | $99 | $450 |
| Sign-up bonus: | ||
| Earn 10,000 Bonus Miles when you spend $1,000 in eligible purchases within 90 days. | Earn 40,000 Bonus Miles when you spend $4,000 in eligible purchases within the first 90 days. | Earn 60,000 Bonus Miles when you spend $5,000 in eligible purchases within the first 90 days. |
| Rewards rate: | ||
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| Additional benefits: | ||
| None. |
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SKYPASS SkyBlue Visa® Card
While the ability to earn Skypass miles on a $0-annual-fee card is nice, you’d have to put a lot of spending on the SKYPASS SkyBlue Visa® Card to earn enough miles for an award ticket (see more below). You also won’t receive any additional benefits or perks when you fly. You could snag rewards faster — and use them toward any travel purchases, not just for Korean Air flights — with a card like the $0-annual-fee Wells Fargo Autograph® Card.
It earns triple reward points in a variety of everyday spending categories, plus 1 point per $1 spent on other purchases. It also offers a welcome bonus that can accelerate your travel goals: Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months - that's a $200 cash redemption value.
SKYPASS Visa® Signature Credit Card
If you don't mind paying a modest annual fee in exchange for travel benefits, the SKYPASS Visa® Signature Credit Card isn't a bad choice. But for more flexibility at a similar price point, you could consider the $95-annual-fee Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. It earns bonus points across a wide swath of popular spending categories, plus 1 point per $1 on all other non-bonus-category purchases.
You can either redeem those points via Chase's travel portal, or transfer them to one of Chase's many transfer partners.
New cardholders can also earn a sign-up bonus: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
SKYPASS Select Visa Signature® Card
The SKYPASS Select Visa Signature® Card is still probably the best bet for devoted Korean Air loyalists, as it has benefits — including a hefty annual travel credit — that can help offset its massive $450 annual fee. Just keep in mind, though, that a general-purpose premium travel credit card like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card can also offer a lengthy list of perks, plus the flexibility to redeem your points with a variety of travel brands. It earns 10 miles per $1 spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 5 miles per $1 spent on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel; and 2 miles per $1 on all other purchases.
As a new cardholder, you’ll also be eligible for a sign-up bonus: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel. On top of all that, you'll also receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel — which can seriously defray the card's $395 annual fee. In addition, you'll get airport lounge access, as well as a statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees.
2. You’ll need good credit to qualify
According to U.S. Bank, you’ll need good to excellent credit to qualify for any of the three Skypass cards (typically, that would mean FICO scores of 690 or higher). If your credit scores fall in that range and you’re a Korean Air loyalist, one of these cards might be worth a look.
3. Skypass miles are tough to acquire …
Korean Air has only one travel transfer partner, Marriott Bonvoy, with Marriott points transferring to Skypass at a 3:1 ratio. And since the airline doesn’t partner with any of the major credit card points programs, Skypass miles are harder to acquire than other airline miles.
That leaves flying on Korean Air or a partner airline and spending on a Skypass credit card as the primary ways to acquire Skypass miles.
4. … But there are plenty of redemption options
Since Korean Air is a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, Korean Air miles can be redeemed on partner airlines like Delta Air Lines and Air France, in addition to nonalliance partners like Alaska Airlines. The Skypass program has multiple award charts you can use to determine the number of miles required for a specific redemption: one for flights on Korean Air, one for flights on SkyTeam partners, one for non-SkyTeam partner redemptions and a round-the-world award chart for multistop itineraries circling the globe.
Redemption values on flights operated by Korean Air vary depending on the time of year. You can also redeem miles for access to the Korean Air Lounge, as well as for baggage fees, car rentals and hotel stays in partner hotels.
5. You won’t want to carry a balance
The Skypass cards may be good for earning airline miles, but using them to finance a purchase or carry a balance will be expensive. That’s because your interest rate could range higher than 30% as of this writing.
If you need time to pay off your card balance, you’d do better with a card that offers an introductory 0% APR period. You may not earn airline miles with those cards, but the money you save in interest will far outweigh the value of any miles you’d earn on the Skypass cards.
