Jeju Air Tickets Plus Accommodation... Card Companies Flood Domestic Travel Events (Comprehensive)

Difficulty Traveling Abroad Due to COVID-19
Discounts on Jeju Hotels and Airfare

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] As the summer vacation season kicks off in earnest, credit card companies are rolling out travel events one after another. Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), overseas travel has become virtually impossible, so they have focused on domestic travelers as their main target.

According to the card industry on the 3rd, Woori Card recently launched 'Card's Jeongseok Uni Mile in Jeju,' which offers benefits needed for traveling to Jeju. As Jeju Island gained popularity as an alternative to overseas travel due to COVID-19, they enhanced the Jeju travel services on the 'Card's Jeongseok Uni Mile,' a low-cost carrier integrated card introduced last year. This card provides an additional 5% discount when paying for airline tickets, accommodations (hotels, resorts, pensions), admission tickets (museums, exhibitions, leisure and sports), and dining through a dedicated website based on Jeju.com. For domestic flights, even the ticketing fee is waived. It also offers a free 5kg excess checked baggage benefit on Jeju Air, Jin Air, T'way Air, and Air Seoul, as well as priority handling of checked baggage on Air Busan.

Shinhan Card is running an event until today offering up to 78% discount on room rates at Jeju Shinhwa World. Additionally, through All That Shopping, up to 17% discount benefits are provided to 100 customers who use Hongik Travel's travel products until the 19th. Samsung Card and KB Kookmin Card each offer a 10,000 KRW discount when paying for airline tickets over 50,000 KRW on T'way Air and Jin Air, respectively.

Hyundai Card is conducting the 'Visa Brand Card Agoda July Korea Accommodation Special Discount Promotion,' offering up to 14% discount on Jeju accommodations. When paying with a Visa brand Hyundai Card on the Agoda promotion page, a 12% discount is provided for accommodations in Korea and 14% for Jeju accommodations. For domestic accommodations, reservations and payments can be made until the 31st, and stays are possible until September 30th. For Jeju accommodations, reservations and payments are from the 20th to the 26th, and stays are from the 20th to September 30th. To participate in the event, press the Agoda Korea/Jeju accommodation discount promotion shortcut, select accommodations, choose the Visa brand, and pay with the eligible card.

Due to the inability to travel overseas caused by COVID-19, the popularity of airline mileage cards sharply declined in the first half of this year. According to 'Card Gorilla,' the largest credit card specialist site in Korea, the only airline mileage accumulation card ranked within the top 30 in the popular credit and check card settlement for the first half of this year was the 'Samsung Card & Mileage Platinum.' Last year, there were five airline mileage accumulation cards in the top 30. Instead, eight cards specializing in shopping or offering online shopping benefits newly entered the top 30 this year. The rankings were based on the number of card product views and application conversions compiled by Card Gorilla from January 1 to June 30.

There are also overseas direct purchase events to soothe the disappointment of not being able to travel abroad. Hana Card has newly launched an overseas direct purchase lounge service on the overseas service platform 'Global Must Have (GMH).' Major overseas direct purchase sites such as Amazon, AliExpress, and iHerb are included. In particular, a direct purchase insurance service that compensates up to 300,000 KRW per case for non-delivery, damage, or returns of purchased items is provided free of charge. Hana Card is also running an exclusive card company event with the global activity reservation platform KKday, offering direct delivery of Taiwanese souvenirs until September 30. Popular Taiwanese souvenirs such as Chia Te Pineapple Cake and Yuki & Love Mango Jelly can be purchased with up to a 10% discount and received through KKday's direct delivery service.