Air China PhoenixMiles Calculator

How this calculator works

Choose your airports and your booking class. The calculator measures each flight's great-circle distance with the same airport data as our Great Circle Distance Calculator, converts it to kilometres and multiplies it by the class percentage. A flight earns at least the minimum for its class: 1,000 km in First, 800 km in Business, 500 km in Premium Economy and Economy. Each flight also earns the class's qualifying segments. Choose Round trip to count the same flights back the other way. Enter the qualifying kilometres and segments in your PhoenixMiles account to see how far you are from the next card; the flight itself is not added, because Air China does not say whether a flight's qualifying kilometres equal the mileage it earns.

What the inputs mean

• Airports: where you fly from, where you fly to, and any connections (add a connection for each extra flight). Each flight earns on its own.
• Booking class: the letter on your Air China ticket. Air China prints two values for classes A, J, R, B and U, for example 200% / 250% for A. Its page labels the columns only "Mainland China/International&Regional", so this calculator reads the first value as a flight with both airports in Mainland China and the second as any other flight, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Check your ticket if the difference matters.
• Booking classes O, I, X and N: Air China lists these at 0%, with no qualifying segments, so they earn nothing.
• Your PhoenixMiles card: Silver, Gold and Platinum members earn 25%, 30% and 50% extra mileage on flights by Air China group carriers, as spendable mileage only. Air China does not say whether that percentage applies to the distance flown or to the mileage after the class percentage, so it is shown as a note and not added.
• Credit this flight to: you can credit the flight to United MileagePlus or Aeroplan instead of PhoenixMiles. Choose one to see what the flight earns there, by route and booking class, with your status in that program. The full tables: United MileagePlus on Air China, Aeroplan on Air China.

Distance, minimum and rounding

Air China says the mileage for a flight depends on the distance as calculated by IATA, in kilometres, and the booking class percentage. This calculator uses the great-circle distance in miles from our airport data and converts it to kilometres, so a flight can differ from Air China's own figure by a few kilometres. Air China does not say how it rounds; this calculator drops fractions of a kilometre on each flight. Air China does not say whether the qualifying kilometres for a card equal the mileage earned, so this calculator does not count them. Flights on Star Alliance partners earn by the operating airline's own rules, which this calculator does not apply.

Qualifying kilometres, segments and cards

A card is earned in the previous 12 months by either the qualifying kilometres or the qualifying segments: Silver 40,000 km or 25 segments, Gold 80,000 km or 40 segments, Platinum 160,000 km or 90 segments. To renew, Silver needs 35,000 km or 23 segments, Gold 70,000 or 36, Platinum 145,000 or 80. Elite bonus mileage does not count. Air China can change these criteria at any time.

Example

A 700-mile (1,127 km) flight in class Y earns 1,127 km x 110% = 1,239 km and 1.1 qualifying segments. The same flight in class J earns 300% = 3,381 km and 3 segments when both airports are in Mainland China, or 250% = 2,817 km and 2.5 segments when one of them is not, for example Hong Kong. A 241 km flight in class J earns the 800 km minimum.

More on Air China

The Air China fare chart lists every booking class with its percentages, qualifying segments and minimum, and the card criteria. Source: Air China: PhoenixMiles kilometer accrual and elite member pages, the Member's Guide, the Elite Member's Guide and the mileage accrual calculator.

Air China® and PhoenixMiles are trademarks of Air China Limited. This page is unofficial and not affiliated with or endorsed by Air China.