Korea Railroad: Expired 'Mileage' Can Be Converted to Discount Coupons and Used

KTX train image photo. Provided by Korea Railroad

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Expired KTX mileage will soon be convertible into train discount coupons for use.

Korea Railroad announced on the 30th that starting this December, the conversion of KTX mileage into discount coupons will be applied and implemented.

KTX mileage is automatically accumulated when railway members purchase KTX tickets and can be used within five years. The first accumulation began in 2016, making the first expiration this December.

Currently, Korea Railroad sends separate notification messages to members holding mileage that is about to expire. They provide advance notice of the expiration date and the mileage to be expired 3 months, 40 days, and 7 days prior to expiration.

However, railway members who do not regularly use trains are likely to lose their mileage due to not using it before the expiration date.

Accordingly, Korea Railroad plans to convert KTX mileage reaching its expiration date into discount coupons to prevent meaningless expiration of mileage. This decision was also made following a proposal from the Democratic Party’s Small but Certain Happiness Committee in February.

As of this month, the total KTX mileage held by all railway members is 10.1 billion points, and the mileage subject to discount coupon conversion in December is estimated to be about 179 million points (1.8%).

The discount coupons will be issued with differentiated amounts according to membership grade based on unused mileage and can be used for purchasing all train tickets for one year after issuance.

Korea Railroad will also revise the KTX mileage accumulation criteria next month. To prevent duplicate or excessive accumulation by the same person, the number of accumulation times per day will be limited to four, and when multiple people travel together, mileage can be accumulated separately for the purchaser and accompanying passengers.

For example, if four tickets are purchased and 1,000 mileage points are accumulated, currently one person receives all 1,000 points, but after the revision, the four people will each accumulate 250 points.

This reflects the “Recommendation to Improve KTX Mileage Accumulation Methods” made during the 2019 National Assembly audit.

Park Gwang-yeol, Head of Passenger Business at Korea Railroad, said, “KTX mileage is highly useful as it can be used like cash not only when purchasing train tickets but also at convenience stores in train stations nationwide or when charging transportation cards (Rail Plus). Korea Railroad will continue to improve services such as KTX mileage so that customers can enjoy more benefits.”