A member who'd just joined asked us to add the Korean Air SKYPASS Visa Signature Business card. It's one of four SKYPASS cards U.S. Bank issues, so we added all four, along with Korean Air SKYPASS itself as a new program.
The four cards
| Card | Annual fee | Welcome offer | Bonus earning |
|---|---|---|---|
| SKYPASS SkyBlue | $0 | 10,000 miles after $1,000 in 90 days | 2 miles per $1 on rideshare and streaming |
| SKYPASS Visa Signature | $99 | 40,000 miles after $4,000 in 90 days | 2 miles per $1 on Korean Air tickets, hotels and dining |
| SKYPASS Select | $450 | 60,000 miles after $5,000 in 90 days | 3 miles per $1 on Korean Air tickets; 2 on other airlines, hotels, car rentals and dining |
| SKYPASS Visa Signature Business | $99, plus $99 per employee card | 50,000 miles after $5,000 in 90 days | 2 miles per $1 on Korean Air tickets, gas and EV charging, office supply stores, cell phone service and dining |
Everything else earns 1 mile per $1. The Korean Air bonus only counts on tickets bought directly from Korean Air, not through a travel agency or an online travel site. SkyBlue charges a 3% foreign transaction fee, and the other three charge none.
Two of these offers are bigger until October 31. U.S. Bank's limited-time page (skypassvisa.com/bonus) offers up to 70,000 miles on Select and up to 50,000 on Visa Signature for applications through that date, earned in two increments inside the first 90 days. On the Select, that's 35,000 after $3,000 and 35,000 more after another $3,000.
U.S. Bank pays each card's bonus once every five years per card. If you've received a card's bonus in the last five years, check the date to ensure you are elegible.
What a SKYPASS mile is worth
It depends on the cabin you book. Korean Air adds a fuel surcharge to every award ticket ("taxes and fuel surcharges are charged separately”), and the surcharge doesn't change with the cabin. Its October figure for flights from Korea to the US is about $237 to $267 each way, and it says departures from elsewhere may differ.
| How you use the miles | Value per mile |
|---|---|
| Economy award | about 0.9 cents |
| Our balanced figure | 2.5 cents |
| Prestige (business) award to Korea | about 5.1 cents |
A one-way Prestige seat from the US to Seoul costs 62,500 miles off-peak and 92,500 at peak, and the cash fare we track for that seat is about $5,000. Economy is 35,000 off-peak and 52,500 at peak, and once you pay the surcharge it usually works out to about a cent a mile. If you'd only ever book economy, plan on that cent.
Good to know
- No bank points transfer into SKYPASS. You earn these miles from the cards and from flying.
- Miles last 10 years, until December 31 of the tenth year (Korea time), and new activity doesn't extend them.
- Korean Air has announced that Asiana's program joins SKYPASS on December 17, 2026. We'll re-read the terms when it does.
Add any of the four cards to your wallet and PointBagel opens a SKYPASS balance for it, values your miles at the figures above, and shows which card to use for each purchase.
