Bank of America Asiana American Express Review (old product discontinued for new applications)
Please find our review of the new BofA Asiana Amex here.
The following review was updated January 7, 2013.
The Facts
The Math
If you can effectively offset the annual fee by the anniversary 10K-mile certificate, $100 annual rebate, or two Asiana Lounges passes, this card is almost too good to be true. You only need to value 1 mile more than 1 cent to beat our benchmark Fidelity Amex. Of course, many people find Asiana miles much more valuable than that.
The math on paper makes this card really promising. It is indeed a great card for Asiana flyers based in U.S. However, if you don't fly Asiana, you need to factor in how many Asiana miles you could accumulate through flying its partners, from the credit card itself, and from other sources. Also you need to study Asiana's award charts, especially the distance-based partner chart to see if it makes sense to you.
The Conclusion
BofA Asiana Amex is a great card for Asiana flyers and could be very valuable even to people who don't fly Asiana at all.
The following review was updated January 7, 2013.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $99
- Signup Bonus: 5,000 miles
- Rewards: 3x select grocery stores, 2x everywhere else.
- Best Use of Asiana Club Miles: Asiana Airlines is a member of Star Alliance. Asiana Club Miles are generally valuable when redeemed on Asiana or partner flights. You need to take into account the fuel surcharges that are added to award tickets though.
- Other Benefits: One $100 annual rebate towards Asiana purchases. Two Asiana Lounge passes upon anniversary (only valid in Asiana lounges in U.S.). One 10,000 miles certificate upon anniversary - note that this is not 10K miles but a certificate that you can combine with Asiana miles in your account to redeem.
- Other Facts: BofA also issues Asian Visa cards which only return 1 mile per dollar spent. BofA Asiana Amex is one of the only two cards that return 2 miles per dollar spent. The other is BofA Virgin Atlantic Black Amex (with $15K spending).
The Math
If you can effectively offset the annual fee by the anniversary 10K-mile certificate, $100 annual rebate, or two Asiana Lounges passes, this card is almost too good to be true. You only need to value 1 mile more than 1 cent to beat our benchmark Fidelity Amex. Of course, many people find Asiana miles much more valuable than that.
The math on paper makes this card really promising. It is indeed a great card for Asiana flyers based in U.S. However, if you don't fly Asiana, you need to factor in how many Asiana miles you could accumulate through flying its partners, from the credit card itself, and from other sources. Also you need to study Asiana's award charts, especially the distance-based partner chart to see if it makes sense to you.
The Conclusion
BofA Asiana Amex is a great card for Asiana flyers and could be very valuable even to people who don't fly Asiana at all.