How to Make Money from Card Points and Airline Miles (Legally)

Korean card points can be deposited to your own bank account through official services. We found no official cash-out for airline miles on the airlines’ pages; you use them for award tickets or upgrades, and pooling or transfer is allowed only within your family.

⚠️ Important: Buying or selling miles or points with other people breaks airline and card-company rules. Korean Air stated that even after its terms changed, “trading miles with other people is still not allowed.” It can lead to account suspension, forfeited miles, or plain fraud where you pay and get nothing.

Who this suits

• People with points scattered across several cards
• Families who want to pool miles for a ticket
• Anyone who got a “we buy miles” message and wonders if it’s OK

A. Card points to cash (official services)

Two official channels (per the Financial Services Commission):
– CREFIA card-point lookup (여신금융협회 website, or the Android app “카드포인트조회·입금”)
– KFTC AccountInfo app (금융결제원 어카운트인포)

📝 Logged-in screen (text description)
Both require identity verification. Afterward you see each card company’s main points, pick an account in your own name, and submit. I did not verify identity, and both sites were unreachable from the capture box, so no screenshot is shown.

Official rules:
– 1 point = 1원, from 1 point
– Only each company’s main point (partner points excluded), e.g. Lotte L.POINT, BC TOP Point, Samsung Bonus Point, Shinhan MyShinhan Point, Woori, Hana Money, Hyundai H-Coin, KB Pointree, NH Point, Citi Point, Post Office Point
– Once per card company per day
– Requests 00:30–23:30 (AccountInfo 01:00–23:00)
– Deposit only to your own account; cannot cancel or correct
– Personal cards only (no corporate cards)
– Some companies deposit the next day
– Help: CREFIA 02-2011-0700, KFTC 1577-5500

B. Airline miles: share with family (no official cash-out found)

Based on Asiana Airlines’ official page.

• Pool with spouse, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, sons/daughters-in-law, and spouse’s parents
• Up to 8 people including the representative; proof of family relationship required (mask the back half of the resident number)
• Pooling once per day; your own miles are used first

The same page explains submitting family proof documents in person or by fax. On transfer, it says:
– “Miles are in principle for the member’s own use”; award tickets for others only within the family range above
– Issued tickets can’t be changed to another person’s name

Korean Air SKYPASS also allows pooling (up to 5 people including you) and transfer after family registration. Asiana miles are scheduled to merge into SKYPASS after the merger, so check each airline’s notices before using them.

📝 Logged-in screen (text description)
Family registration is done after logging in: enter family members’ membership numbers and upload proof. On the award-booking screen you can select registered family members’ miles to combine.

Don’ts

• Answering “buying/selling miles or points” posts
• Handing over your ID, password, or verification codes
• Issuing tickets in a non-family person’s name
• Using “point cash-out agents” that ask for card details or fees (the official service is self-service)

Common mistakes

• Expecting partner points to convert → main points only
• Thinking a wrong account can be fixed → no cancel/correction
• Pooling without family registration → register first
• Ignoring mileage expiry dates

Checklist

• ☐ Using an official service
• ☐ Chose my own account
• ☐ Know only main points qualify
• ☐ Pool or transfer miles within family only
• ☐ Never buy or sell points or miles with others

More everyday money guides are collected at kzk.kr Premium if you’d like to browse.