Advertisement Disclosure
EVA Air’s frequent flyer program, Infinity MileageLands, offers various ways for travelers to earn and redeem miles, though it comes with certain limitations and complexities. As a member of the Star Alliance, EVA Air provides a broad network of destinations and opportunities, but it’s essential to understand the intricacies of the program to maximize its benefits. This guide will cover how to earn Infinity MileageLands miles, highlight redemption options, explain the program’s expiration policy, and discuss how to earn elite status while navigating EVA Air’s award pricing.
How to Earn Infinity MileageLands Miles
Flying On EVA Air
Earning Infinity MileageLands miles is straightforward when flying with EVA Air. The miles earned depend on the fare class and the distance flown. When members book EVA Air/UNI Air operated and marketed flights, you’ll earn based on the following table:
For instance, if you fly EVA Air Standard Premium Economy (fare class L/T), you’ll earn 115% of the miles flown.
Flying On Airline Partners
EVA Air is a member of the Star Alliance, which means you can also earn miles when flying with any of the 26 Star Alliance member airlines, including Lufthansa, United Airlines, and Singapore Airlines.
Earning on these partners varies by the fare class and distance flown as well. For example, if you fly Air Canada but elect to earn EVA Air miles, you’ll earn based on the following chart:
The easiest way to determine your mileage earnings for partner airlines is to reference the EVA Air website for partner earnings.
Credit Card Transfer Partners
EVA Air has two major US-based credit card transfer partners: Capital One (4:3) and Citi (1:1). If you don’t have a Capital One or Citi credit card, it can be difficult to accumulate EVA Air miles otherwise.
Here are some of our favorite credit cards where you can earn lots of EVA Air miles via transfer partners!
Buy EVA Infinity MileageLands Miles
EVA lets its members purchase miles at a rate of $40 USD / 1,000 miles with up to 150,000 miles purchased per calendar year.
EVA also some other rules with purchasing “top-off” miles, such as requiring you to have at least 50% of the miles needed to purchase the award ticket already in your account. Furthermore, purchased miles are valid for up to 36 months from the date of purchase.
Do Infinity MileageLands Miles Expire?
Infinity MileageLands miles expire after 36 months, with no option to extend their validity. This strict expiration policy means that infrequent travelers may find it challenging to accumulate and use miles before they expire. Keeping track of your miles and planning your redemptions strategically is essential.
You are allowed to book travel within 12 months of the miles expiry date, meaning if you have miles expiring soon, you can book a flight even a year out to save your miles before they disappear.
Infinity MileageLands Elite Status
Infinity MileageLands offers three elite status tiers, providing various benefits to frequent flyers. To qualify, you need to earn Status Miles by flying on EVA Air or its partner airlines. The requirements are based on a 12 month period:
- Green: Free to join
- Silver: 30,000 Status miles and 4 or more qualifying EVA Air/ UNI Air international flights OR traveled on 26 or more qualifying EVA Air/UNI Air international flights
- Gold: 50,000 Status miles or more on qualifying international flights OR traveled on 50 or more qualifying EVA Air/UNI Air international flights
- Diamond: 120,000 Status miles or more on qualifying international flights OR traveled on 100 or more qualifying EVA Air/UNI Air international flights
If you’re getting status for the first time with EVA Air, it will last two years. However, once you get it, it actually becomes more difficult to maintain:
- Green: Permanent
- Silver (current Silver status): 40,000 Status miles on qualifying international flights OR traveled on 42 or more qualifying EVA Air/UNI Air international flights
- Gold (current Gold status): 80,000 Status miles on qualifying international flights OR traveled on 80 or more qualifying EVA Air/UNI Air international flights
- Diamond (current Diamond status): 200,000 Status miles on qualifying international flights OR traveled on 140 or more qualifying EVA Air/UNI Air international flights
Who Are EVA Air’s Airline Partners?
As a member of the Star Alliance, EVA Air has partnerships with 26 other member airlines, including:
- Lufthansa
- United Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- Air Canada
- ANA
- Turkish Airlines
These partnerships allow you to earn and redeem miles across the Star Alliance network, providing extensive global coverage, while also receiving reciprocal status benefits..
EVA Air is also partnered with the likes of Bangkok Airways.
How EVA Air Prices Its Award Flights
EVA Air uses a zone-based award chart to price its award flights. The chart categorizes destinations into zones, and the mileage cost is determined by the origin and destination zones and the class of service. This system can be relatively easy to navigate, but high redemption rates and limited availability can be frustrating.
The following award chart is for redeeming EVA Air miles on international one-way EVA Air flights:
EVA Air also publishes a partner Star Alliance award chart, but it is not the prettiest thing I’ve seen in the world. Proceed with caution if you are trying to decipher this complex chart yourself.
EVA Air Upgrades With Miles
You can use miles to upgrade from economy to premium economy or from premium economy to business class on EVA Air flights. You can even use miles to upgrade from economy to business class. The number of miles required varies based on the route and fare class of your original ticket.
EVA Air Stopover Policy
EVA Air has a nice stopover policy on some roundtrip award tickets. While one-way award tickets are ineligible for stopovers, if you are flying a roundtrip long-haul international ticket operated and marketed by EVA Air, you can add a stopover.
However, this stopover policy is even better when looking at Star Alliance partner award tickets. While stopovers are not allowed on one-way partner tickets, you can have up to two stopovers for a round trip partner award ticket!
EVA Air Sweet Spot Redemptions 2024
While EVA Air’s Infinity MileageLands program may not be the most generous, there are still some (slightly complex) sweet spot redemptions that can provide decent value for your miles:
EVA Air Round The World Redemption
EVA Air offers a round the world redemption where you can fly around the world starting at just 180,000 miles in economy. Since we’re in the space of maximizing points, I’m personally more interested in the business class option, which costs 325,000 miles. Booking this reward is extremely complex and requires a lot of time making sure you understand the ins and outs of how EVA Air’s rules work.
For instance, here are some the guidelines you need to follow (from EVA Air’s website):
- One open-jaw segment is allowed for the whole itinerary; however, the open jaw must be in the outward point of departure or turnaround point and they must be in the same area. Ex: TPE-LAX (open jaw) SFO-TPE
- The itinerary of a whole new award ticket can be changed. A service fee of USD50 will be applied, and the reissued ticket validity will remain the same
- Singapore Airlines (SQ) Suites Class cabin, and Swiss International Air (LX) Lines First Class cabins cannot be used for this offer
- The turnaround point and stopovers cannot be the same with the origin or destination’s nation
- A maximum of six sectors are allowed for each round trip award ticket
- Two stopovers are allowed for a round trip award ticket, including one outbound and one inbound
This only covers a snippet of some of the rules out there, but if you’re able to follow all of them, you’re in for quite the treat. One of the best things about EVA’s Round The World redemption is that you can change flight dates for free and even change flight itineraries for just $50 USD.
With this incredible offer, you could quite literally fly this 30,000 mile itinerary for just 325,000 miles:
Fly Transcon United Business Class (SFO <> EWR) For Just 29k Miles One Way
EVA Air has a pretty awesome redemption for United’s popular transcon business class that is typically serviced by Polaris lie flat. You can make this 5-6 hour flight a breeze for just 29k EVA Air miles each way.
Finding availability for this route can prove difficult at times.
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands Award Cancellation Policy
EVA Air has a reasonable policy on canceling/refunding award tickets: they will merely charge a $50 USD service fee. Notably, you can change dates on an existing award ticket for free.
Conclusion
The EVA Air Infinity MileageLands program offers a range of earning and redemption opportunities, but it has its drawbacks. High mileage requirements, limited award availability, and a strict mileage expiration policy can make it challenging for infrequent travelers to get significant value from their miles. However, with careful planning and by focusing on sweet spot redemptions, it is possible to find decent value in the program. Being aware of the program's limitations and benefits will help you make the most of your Infinity MileageLands membership.
