Air China is the flag carrier of the People’s Republic of China and is a member of Star Alliance. The Beijing-based airline flies to over 200 domestic and international destinations, including a few non-stop flights to the United States.
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PhoenixMiles is Air China’s frequent flyer program. Members from the United States can stock up on kilometers by transferring from partner loyalty programs, and flying Air China or with any of its airline partners. Kilometers can be redeemed for award flights and upgrades. For all the best ways to earn and burn PhoenixMiles Kilometers, keep reading.
| Airline Alliance | Star Alliance |
| Hubs | Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai |
| U.S. Destinations | Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, San Jose, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. |
| U.S. Credit Cards | None |
| Transfer Partners | Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt |
| Redemption Options | Flights, upgrades |
PhoenixMiles Elite Status
When you join PhoenixMiles, you automatically become a Member. Above that are three status tiers: Silver, Gold and Platinum. To move up a tier, you need to fly a certain amount of kilometers or a certain number of segments in the previous 12 months.
| STATUS | KILOMETERS | SEGMENTS |
| Silver | 40,000 | 25 |
| Gold | 80,000 | 40 |
| Platinum | 160,000 | 90 |
Once you unlock a tier, you have that status until the end of the 24th month thereafter, and you’ll enjoy the following benefits:
| SILVER | GOLD | PLATINUM | |
| Kilometers bonus | 25% | 30% | 50% |
| Priority reservation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Priority standby | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Business class check-in | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| First class check-in | – | – | Yes |
| Priority boarding | – | Yes | Yes |
| Priority baggage handling | – | Yes | Yes |
| International lounge access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Air China business class lounge access | – | Yes + 1 | Yes + 1 |
| Star Alliance lounge access | – | Yes + 1 | Yes + 1 |
| Air China first class lounge access | – | – | Yes + 1 |
| Star Alliance Gold lounge access | – | – | Yes + 1 |
| Extra baggage allowance | 20kg or 1 piece | 20kg or 1 piece | 20kg or 1 piece |
| Priority award tickets & upgrades | – | Yes | Yes |
| Star Alliance status | Silver | Gold | Gold |
Go to the PhoenixMiles member benefits page for more details.
Earning PhoenixMiles Kilometers
Compared to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Delta SkyMiles and other frequent flyer programs based in the United States, earning PhoenixMiles Kilometers is not an easy task for Americans. Here are all the ways you can rack up on PhoenixMiles Kilometers:
Transfer Partners
The easiest way to earn PhoenixMiles Kilometers without flying is through transfer partners. Marriott Bonvoy members can convert their points at a three to one ratio, with a 5,000-kilometer bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Points they transfer.
MARRIOTT BONVOY BRILLIANT™ AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARD
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card has an offer for 75,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. We value these 75k points at around $675.Â
This card earns 6 points per $1 at hotels participating in the Marriott BonvoyTM program and 3 points at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines. You’ll receive 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
You’ll get a Free Night Award (redemption level up to 50,000 points) every account anniversary year, and up to $300 in statement credits each year for eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott BonvoyTM program. Resort fees may apply. Other benefits include unlimited airport lounge visits with the Priority Pass Select membership and no foreign transaction fees.
This premium card comes with an Annual Fee of $450. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
MARRIOTT BONVOY BOUNDLESS® CREDIT CARD
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card from Chase has an offer for 3 Free Nights after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
New to the card, you will earn 3x Bonvoy points on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining. The card is also offering an Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 spent.
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card earns 17 points for every $1 spent at over 7,000+ participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. You’ll receive 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
You’ll get a Free Night Award (valued up to 35,000 points) every account anniversary year and automatic Silver Elite Status. Additionally, you’ll receive 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year.
This card has no foreign transaction fees and the annual fee is $95.
MARRIOTT BONVOY BOLD® CREDIT CARD
The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card has an offer for 30,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months. We value these 30k points at around $270.
This card earns 14 points per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. Other travel purchases (from airfare to taxis and trains) will earn 2 points per $1. All other purchases will earn 1 point per $1.
You’ll receive 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year, qualifying you for Silver Elite status.
There are no foreign transaction fees and no annual fee.
MARRIOTT BONVOY BUSINESS™ AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARD
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card has a limited time offer for 75,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. We value these 75k points to be worth around $675.
This card earns 6 points per $1 at participating hotels in the Marriott BonvoyTM program. It’s 4 points per $1 at U.S. restaurants and U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, and on U.S. purchases for shipping. And 2 points per $1 on all other purchases.
Every year after your account anniversary you’ll get 1 free night award. You can earn an additional free night award after spending $60,000 in purchases in 1 calendar year.
There are no foreign transaction fees and the annual fee is $125. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
Keep in mind, you’ll be transferring your Marriott points into kilometers, not miles like other frequent flyer programs. Because one kilometer is approximately 0.62 miles, you’ll be losing more than 30% of the value of your Marriott points by converting to PhoenixMiles kilometers.
World of Hyatt members can also convert their points to PhoenixMiles Kilometers, but at an even less attractive rate. As such, we do not recommend transferring from your World of Hyatt account.
Flights
Earn PhoenixMiles Kilometers when you fly with Air China and the following airline partners:
- Croatia Airlines
- EgyptAir
- El Al Israel Airlines
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA Air
- Finnair
- Juneyao Airlines
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- SAS
- Shandong Airlines
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- SWISS
- TAP Air Portugal
- Thai Airways
- Tibet Airlines
- Turkish Airlines
- United Airlines
The accrual rate depends on the distance between the origin and destination, as well as booking class.
Other Ways
Unlike most other frequent flyer programs, PhoenixMiles does not have any hotel or car rental partnerships for additional ways to earn airline kilometers.
However, Air China does provide limited-time opportunities to earn rewards that doesn’t involve flying. To keep updated, make sure to follow the carrier’s Facebook, Twitter and Special Offers page.
Redeeming PhoenixMiles Kilometers
Most PhoenixMiles members use their kilometers for award flights with Air China and partner airlines. The program utilizes a distance-based award chart for domestic Air China flights, whereas international flights have region-based award charts. To make it even more complicated, each airline partner has their own region-based award chart. Have a look at Air China’s award charts in detail here.
You can also redeem your PhoenixMiles Kilometers to upgrade from economy to business class, or from business to first class.
PhoenixMiles Kilometers Expiration
PhoenixMiles Kilometers expire 36 months from the end of the month in which they were accrued. If you earned 10,000 kilometers in May 2019, and you use 7,000 kilometers, the remaining 3,000 kilometers are valid until May 31, 2022.
PhoenixMiles Tips & Tricks
Routing rules. PhoenixMiles has very lax routing rules and very few booking fees. Open jaws are permitted on international flights, and two stopovers are allowed on roundtrip Star Alliance partner flights between two zones. Mixed class awards are available on Air China flights.
Award search. The PhoenixMiles site is poorly designed with many pages still under construction. To search for award availability, we suggest using the Aeroplan and the United Airlines websites instead.
Best value awards. For the best bang for your kilometers, opt for Air China flights. Domestic roundtrip awards start at 15,000 kilometers, and flights between the United States and China are priced at 100,000 kilometers in economy and 200,000 kilometers in business. To put it in mileage terms, that’s only 62,000 and 124,000 miles respectively.
There are also plenty of good deals for flying with Star Alliance member airlines:
| ROUNDTRIP BETWEEN | CLASS | MILEAGE | KILOMETERS |
| U.S. and Hong Kong/Taipei | Business | 110,000 | 176,000 |
| U.S. and Hong Kong/Taipei | First | 136,000 | 220,000 |
| U.S. and Seoul/Tokyo | Business | 99,000 | 160,000 |
| U.S. and Seoul/Tokyo | First | 130,000 | 210,000 |
| U.S. and Oceania | Business | 117,000 | 188,000 |
| U.S. and Oceania | First | 155,000 | 250,000 |
Worst value awards. We recommend staying away from award flights to/from the Middle East because PhoenixMiles lists it in the same zone as Africa. An award flight between Istanbul and Tel Aviv only takes about two hours, but it’ll cost you 115,000 kilometers in economy, 256,000 kilometers in business and 346,000 kilometers in first.
Beijing bonuses. Members get free hotel stays in Beijing for overnight layovers (excluding award flights). A visa-free, 72-hour stopover in Beijing is allowed en route to another country.
Things to consider. You must fly 20,000 kilometers or four segments before you can redeem awards. One-way award tickets cost more than half the cost of roundtrip tickets. PhoenixMiles has loads of blackout dates, and the cancellation fee is 50% of the cost of the award flight.
Bottom Line
Air China PhoenixMiles isn’t the most valuable frequent flyer program out there, but it does have some perks. Flexible routing rules are at the top of the list, followed by a handful of sweet spots in their award charts. That said, there aren’t many ways to earn and burn PhoenixMiles kilometers.
If you often fly to Asia, you might want to consider ANA, Asiana and Singapore Airlines as well.
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