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Two weeks ago Starwood Preferred Guest added Korean Air as a transfer partner. That’s fantastic because Korean has some of the best redemptions in first class (amazing availability), to Hawaii (cheap awards on Alaska, Delta, and Hawaiian), and for business class to Europe (40,000 miles each way with fuel surcharges).
I tested a one point transfer from Starwood to Korean (no minimum transfer is a benefit of being a Starwood Platinum): a Wednesday afternoon transfer appeared the following Sunday night/Monday morning.
That same Monday when I found the points in my account I made another points transfer, looking for another data point for when points would post.
And… they posted overnight Sunday night/Monday morning as well. So the same posting time, despite trnasferring two days earlier.
Starwood points seem to post consistently at the same time each week, based on two transfer data points. I do not yet know what the cutoff point is for making a transfer and having the points show up overnight Sunday night. I’ll need to test Thursday and Friday transfers.
While the transfers can take some time to post, fortunately Korean Air holds are generally sufficient to lock in an award prior to making the transfer of points. Booking a few months in advance there’s generally no problem putting a Korean Air flight on hold for months. So you can lock in the award, then transfer the points, then ticket once the points post. And for partner redemptions you can usually hold for 5 days, a Wednesday transfer should be sufficient to allow points to post before the hold expires.
For more on the value of Korean miles, Starwood transfers, and the process of redeeming with Korean Air Skypass see: How Long It Takes to Transfer Starwood Points to New Partner Korean and Korean’s Astounding Award Hold Policy.
@Gary, thanks for the intel. Can you please advise if Korean Air allows stopovers and if one way fares are bookable with points?
Would also love to know whether KE allows stopovers.
@Victor yes on roundtrip awards, though not with all partners
Hi, I made a transfer last Thursday but as of Monday evening no points. Should I call SPG to make sure everything is okay?
@Jay it may be that Wednesday, or earlier than when you did it on Thursday, is the cutoff for the week hence why I say we need more data points. What time on Thursday did you make the transfer? It will likely show up next Monday, please keep us updated.
I already transferred some miles before on a Friday and did get them by the following Monday already. However this time last Thursday was the second time and still nothing yesterday. Need to check again today.
@Gary, another data point. Transferred last Friday 8/28 and posted sometime on evening of 9/3 (Thursday). So fair to say SPG–>Korean xfers are not always going to be on Sundays.
FWIW, my confirmation email from SPG said 2-4 business days for transfer.