Award Ticket on Air China

Award Upgrade on Air China

Award Ticket on STAR Carrier

SAUA terms and conditions

Award Ticket on non-STAR Carrier

Award Ticket on Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Airlines

Award Ticket on China Airlines Flights

Award Ticket on Virgin Atlantic Flights

Award Ticket on Shandong Airlines Flights

Notes on Mileage Redemption

Note: We won't give prior notice if any of the destinations changes. When you request an award, the actual route applies.

The division of the award sub-zones of Mainland China (Zone A) is based on the actual distance between cities (TPM) published by IATA. These are 5 award sub-zones, identified as A1-A5. 0-600 kilometers is classified as A1, 601-1,100 kilometers as A2, 1101-1500 kilometers as A3, 1501-2000 kilometers as A4, and over 2,000 kilometers as A5. For actual distance between cities, please click here.

Award Ticket on a Star Carrier

SAUA terms and conditions

I. How does SAUA work for Air China PhoenixMiles members?

As a PhoenixMiles member, you can use your accrued mileage to request class upgrade for yourself or others on the flights that are operated by, and bear the code of, any of the 17 Star Alliance member carriers (listed below). Rules on the higher class regarding check-in, lounge access and baggage allowance apply after the upgrade is done.

1. SAUA Mileage Fares

2. Classes to which SAUA is applicable:
- C to F: Bookings must be in C or D.
(Singapore Airlines: C D J Z; Lufthansa: J C D ; United: J C D)
- Y to C: Bookings must be in Y or B.
(Singapore Airlines: Y B S)
- SAUA is not applicable to group special fare tickets, award tickets and AD/ID tickets.

3. Timing : It's subject to the rules of specific carriers. Generally speaking, a SAUA request can be made at least 24 hours or 7 days ahead of flight departure. Please visit the website of the operating carrier for details.

4. Whether or not a SAUA request can be met is subject to the availability of seats of the operating carrier. No standby is accepted. SAUA allows only the upgrade to the next immediate higher class. If on a specific flight only Economy Class and First Class seats are available, the request can be met.

5. A SAUA request can be made only online or through the member service hotline.

6. When it comes to SAUA for Air China PhoenixMiles members, at most 4 passengers can be upgraded at a time, and at most 4 mileage accounts can be used. The number of mileage accounts cannot exceed that of passengers to be upgraded. Every transaction can involve only one flight segment. Passengers in the same booking must be upgraded at the same time. If the number of passengers in a booking exceeds 4 or not all passengers in the booking are to be upgraded, the operating carrier must first take those passengers who will be upgraded out from the booking and make a new booking for them.

7. After SAUA is confirmed, all changes must be made through the operating carrier. In case of involuntary changes on the part of the operating carrier or involuntary downgrading, mileage that has been used for SAUA will be returned to the account(s) in question.

8. SAUA requests for infants, passengers with pets and unaccompanied minors are subject to the rules of the operating carrier.

9. After upgrade is done, requests for special services like specific seating, wheelchair and special meals must be made again to the operating carrier.

10. In spite of the upgrade, mileage accrual is still based on the original class of travel, and the original booking will be cancelled.

11. You have to bear all relevant taxes and fees that arise from such upgrades. Examples include AIR PASSENGER DUTY that must be paid by passengers leaving from an airport of the United Kingdom and AIR PASSENGER SOLDARITY TAX that must be paid by passengers leaving from an airport of France.

II. How does SAUA work for FFP members of other Star Alliance carriers on Air China?

1. SAUA allows the FFP members of other Star Alliance carriers to request class upgrade on Air China:
Y to C: Bookings must be in Y or B.
C to F: Bookings must be in C or D.

2. Timing: 24 hours ahead of flight departure.

3. Air China does not accept SAUA for passengers with pets, unaccompanied minors, infants, passengers on wheelchair, passengers on stretcher, deportees, and passengers with baggage occupying additional seat.

4. After upgrade is done, requests for special services like specific seating, wheelchair and special meals must be made again to Air China.

5. Request is subject to the availability of seats of Air China. No standby is accepted. SAUA allows only the upgrade to the next immediate higher class. If on a specific flight only Economy Class and First Class seats are available, request for SAUA can be met.

6. Rules on the higher class regarding check-in, lounge access and baggage allowance apply after the upgrade is done. In spite of the upgrade, mileage accrual is still based on the original class of travel, and the original booking will be cancelled. The current rules apply when travel date change is involved.

7. You have to bear all relevant taxes and fees that arise from such upgrades. Examples include AIR PASSENGER DUTY that must be paid by passengers leaving from an airport of the United Kingdom and AIR PASSENGER SOLDARITY TAX that must be paid by passengers leaving from an airport of France.

Note: SAUA is applicable to the following 17 Star Alliance member carriers:

Air China (CA)
Air New Zealand (NZ)
All Nippon Airways (HN)
Asiana Airlines (OZ)
Austrian Airlines (OS)
Brussels Airlines (SN)
Continental Airlines (CO)
LOT Polish Airlines (LO)
Lufthansa (LH)
Scandinavian Airlines (SK)
Shanghai Airlines (FM)
Singapore Airlines (SQ)
Swiss International Airlines (LX)
TAP Portugal (TP)
Thai Airways (TG)
Turkish Airlines (TK)
United Airlines (UA)

Mileage-to-Award Ticket on Shandong Airlines Flights

For the scheme of mileage-to-award ticket on Shandong Airlines flights, please refer to that for Air China.

Notes on Mileage Redemption

1)General
20,000 kilometers or 4 flight segments qualify a member for the first award in terms of award ticket, award class upgrade or merchandizes in the shopping city.
The mileage used to request award must come from one account.
The mileage can be used to request award for you or your relatives and friends.
You have to pay for all relevant taxes and fees associated with the award.
You need to make a reservation for your award ticket (unless you request the award online). You must have your ticket issued within 72 hours after you make the reservation and beyond 14 days before the flight. You can also request your award any time within 14 days before the flight.
You can request award ticket or award class upgrade by logging onto Air China PhoenixMiles website, calling our member service hotline or contacting any of Air China's ticketing offices. If you request award ticket on a partner carrier, you need to contact any of Air China's ticketing offices. You need to identify yourself with your PhoenixMiles card, account password, and valid ID card.
Your ward ticket must be on flights operated by Air China or any of the partner carriers. You need to determine your route, flight, date and class.
The number of award tickets on each flight is limited, and there are also days when awards are not granted. For those days when awards are not granted, please log onto Air China PhoenixMiles website.
Your award ticket is valid for one year. Within the validity period, you can have your travel date or flight changed, but you have pay RMB 100 (or equivalent of foreign currency) for domestic ticket for every change, and RMB 300 (or equivalent of foreign currency) for every change.
For an award ticket, you cannot have the passenger name changed, and the ticket cannot be endorsed nor returned. If it is lost, it won't be reissued. Other terms of carriage apply.
The standards for mileage to awards for children and infants are the same as those for adults.
If involuntary change results from factors on the part of the carrier, you can contact any of Air China's ticketing offices or airport ground staff.

2)Rules on Award Ticket/Award Class Upgrade
Award Ticket on Air China
Award ticket must be on direct flight.
For an international award ticket, an open jaw is allowed at the return point (that is, the origin of the return trip can be different from the destination of the outbound trip), but the open jaw must be within the same country. For example, for an award ticket Beijing-San Francisco and San Francisco-Beijing, the conversion standards on Beijing-San Francisco apply. For domestic award ticket, an open jaw at the return point is not allowed; otherwise two single trips will be counted in.
When different classes are involved, the mileage to be taken out is the sum of 1/2 of the round-trip mileage fares of different classes.

Award Ticket on a Star Carrier
All scheduled flights operated and marketed by one same Star Alliance carrier are eligible for mileage redemption.
One way award ticket is not allowed. Only round trip award ticket is applicable.
For travel within the same zone, award ticket must be on direct round-trip flights.
For a round-trip travel between two zones, one stopover is allowed on both the outbound trip and inbound trip, and one open jaw is allowed in each trip. The open jaw must be in the same country. For each stopover (transfer), a mileage fare of 10,000 kilometers is charged.
For a round-the-world travel, two stopovers are allowed within the same IATA zone, and a maximum 5 stopovers are allowed, and the number of flight segments should not exceed 8.
When you request award ticket on a Star carrier, if different classes are involved, the mileage fare of the higher class applies.

Award Ticket on Other Partner Carriers
The rules on Air China Award Ticket apply.

3)Award Class Upgrade on Air China
Award class upgrade must be on Air China-operated and CA-coded flight.
Award class upgrading is applicable only to C, D, J, Y, B, M, H, K.
A ticket can only be upgraded to the next immediate higher class. If on a flight only First Class and Economy Class are available, then a ticket can be upgraded from Economy Class to First Class, and the mileage to be taken out is the sum of the mileage fares for Economy Class to Business Class and Business Class to First Class.
After class upgrading is made, the mileage accrued is still based on the original class flown; if the ticket needs to be endorsed on a voluntary basis, the original class applies, but the mileage already taken out won't be returned. If you have the date of your upgraded ticket changed, you need to pay for the change fee.