Start here: Air China PhoenixMiles — joining, how kilometres are earned, elite upgrade and renewal, and the award ticket rules

Step 1: What PhoenixMiles is and who it suits

You will learn: which airlines and partners make up the programme, and which travellers it fits.

The Air China Group carriers in PhoenixMiles are Air China, Shenzhen Airlines, Shandong Airlines, Beijing Airlines, Dalian Airlines, Air China Inner Mongolia, Air Macau and Kunming Airlines, with Kunming Airlines joining on 1 January 2025 [1]. Partner airlines are Star Alliance member airlines, Star Alliance Connecting Partner airlines and other partner airlines, and non-airline partners cover banks, hotel groups, e-commerce websites and special merchants [1].

The handbook's legal terms state that PhoenixMiles may change any of its rules or end the programme at any time, even where this affects members' ability to earn mileage or redeem rewards, without an obligation to give prior notice [1]. The handbook states that the Chinese version prevails over other language versions, and that where parts of the handbook are out of date the latest content published on the PhoenixMiles website prevails [1]. The rules are governed by the law of the People's Republic of China, excluding for this purpose the law of the Hong Kong and Macau SARs and the relevant regulations of the Taiwan region [1]. In practice the programme suits travellers who fly Air China Group carriers or Star Alliance member airlines and are comfortable counting in kilometres [1].

Go deeper: Start here: airline miles for how mileage currencies work in general, and Start here: airline alliances for where Star Alliance fits in.

Step 2: Joining and looking after the account

You will learn: who can join, how to enrol, and the account settings that decide whether a redemption goes through.

Membership is open to travellers aged 12 and over; travellers aged 2 to under 12 join as PhoenixMiles Junior members, and members under 14 stay linked to a guardian's card number until they turn 14 [1]. Companies and other legal entities cannot join, and joint applications or duplicate applications by the same person are not accepted [1]. Applications are taken on the PhoenixMiles website, through the Air China app and the Air China WeChat account, at non-airline partners and through the Air China Group carriers' own channels [1].

Each traveller may hold one account under one mobile number, and duplicate accounts may be merged or closed [1]. Up to 10 redemption assignees may be named; they become effective 30 days after being added, except that a Silver-or-above member who has never added an assignee gets immediate effect for a first batch submitted together, while later additions still wait 30 days [1]. All members can use an electronic card, while physical cards are sent to Gold members and above and to Junior members; redemption is blocked for abnormal account information, a password left unchanged for a long time, no registered mobile number, abnormal operations or an account opened by someone else, and the block is lifted by self-service verification or through the member service centre [1]. Junior members are not upgraded and become ordinary members at 12 [1].

Go deeper: the Air China PhoenixMiles programme hub collects every page about this programme, grouped by task.

Step 3: How mileage is earned

You will learn: the formula behind flight mileage, what does not earn, and how to recover a missing flight.

Mileage is counted in kilometres, and the card number should be given when booking and at check-in [1]. Flight mileage is the IATA-published distance between origin and destination multiplied by the earning rate for the paid class on the operating carrier on the day of travel, and it is normally credited automatically within 2 weeks of departure, although actual posting depends on when the record is credited [1]. Award tickets, charter and designated flights and specific-class tickets do not earn, while a ticket upgraded with mileage earns on the paid class before the upgrade [1].

Nothing can be converted in from another airline programme, one flight can be credited to one programme only, and credited mileage cannot be removed [1]. Involuntary up- or downgrades earn on the original paid class; after a carrier change, mileage is earned only if the new carrier is a PhoenixMiles partner, at the final operating carrier's rate [1]. Non-airline mileage follows each partner's published rules, does not accrue at special merchants, and is credited within 2 months of the purchase or application date unless stated otherwise [1]. Missing airline flights can be claimed from 5 days after the flight for Air China Group flights, or from 14 days for Star Alliance and other partner flights, up to 6 months after it, with the documents and channels the handbook lists; non-airline claims follow each partner's rules [1]. Junior members earn 50% of the adult flight mileage; where the linked guardian set up a transfer relationship before the flight and has not ended it, 10% of the guardian's mileage on Air China-operated CA-coded flights is transferred automatically when it is credited, without rounding [1].

Go deeper: the PhoenixMiles earning guide for class-by-class and partner detail.

Step 4: Elite status: upgrade and renewal

You will learn: which flying counts towards status, the upgrade and renewal thresholds, and the two Lifetime Platinum tiers.

Qualifying mileage comes from flights operated by Air China Group carriers under any airline code and by Star Alliance member airlines under any code; Star Alliance Connecting Partner airlines do not count, and only some Star Alliance booking classes produce qualifying segments [1]. Upgrade is checked on the day a flight record is credited, looking only at records already in the account within the rating period, and members move up one tier at a time except for Lifetime Platinum and Annual Premium Lifetime Platinum, which are granted directly once their criteria are met [1]. Silver needs 40,000 km or 25 segments, Gold 80,000 km or 40 segments and Platinum 160,000 km or 90 segments; the rating period is the 12 consecutive full months counting back from and including the current month, and the tier is valid from the month of upgrade to the end of the 24th month after it [1].

Renewal is assessed at expiry against 35,000 / 70,000 / 145,000 km or 23 / 36 / 80 segments over the 12 consecutive full months ending with the month before the expiry month, and the renewed tier runs from the month after expiry to the end of the 12th month after it [1]. The 2026 renewal notice repeats those thresholds and gives a worked example: for a July 2026 expiry the rating period is July 2025 to June 2026 [2]. The same notice states that, as currently planned, no downgrade-recovery campaign will be offered in 2026 [2].

Lifetime Platinum is reached with 1 million km of Lifetime Platinum mileage on one carrier or 2 million km in total and is valid for life with no renewal; Lifetime Platinum mileage counts only flights operated by Air China Group carriers under a Group code since each carrier joined, plus, between 8 January 2013 and 31 August 2019, Tibet Airlines-operated flights under CA, ZH, SC, NX or TV codes and Air China, Shenzhen Airlines, Shandong Airlines or Air Macau-operated flights under the TV code [1]. Annual Premium Lifetime Platinum requires 300,000 km of that mileage in the previous calendar year and Lifetime Platinum status before the 1 January assessment, and is valid only to 31 December of that year [1]. Benefits start once the member confirms receipt of the new electronic or physical card, elite members must be at least 12, and Platinum and Gold map to Star Alliance Gold while Silver maps to Star Alliance Silver [1].

Go deeper: the PhoenixMiles status guide, the status calculator and elite qualification thresholds for how tiers compare across programmes.

Step 5: Redeeming mileage and the award ticket rules

You will learn: what mileage buys, who may book a flight award, and the rules that apply once an award is ticketed.

Mileage can be redeemed for award tickets and award upgrades on flights operated by Air China Group carriers under their own code, where the first change fee can also be paid in mileage except on Air Macau, and on Star Alliance member airlines; on Star Alliance Connecting Partner airlines and other partner airlines it buys award tickets only [1]. It also buys items in the PhoenixMiles online store, deliverable in mainland China only, and covers part-payment of some online and offline purchases [1].

Flight awards open to members who joined before 1 June 2024 once they have 4 qualifying segments, and to members who joined on or after 1 June 2024 once they have 4 qualifying segments and 4 flights that earned qualifying segments; non-flight awards are available from joining [1]. Star Alliance award bookings must be ticketed within 72 hours of booking, or within 24 hours where the booking is made less than 96 hours before departure [1]. Awards are limited to scheduled non-stop flights, exclude codeshare, special and charter flights and cannot be upgraded further; the operating carrier and the flight code must be the same airline, seats are limited, all taxes are payable, and prices vary by season with the mileage actually deducted at redemption governing [1].

A wholly unused award ticket is valid for 365 days from the day after purchase, a partly used one for 365 days from the day after the first segment, and the validity does not change if the ticket is later changed [1]. Airlines cannot be changed, mileage is not refunded once redeemed, segments must be flown in order, and taxes on unused segments can be refunded within the refund validity while the mileage cannot [1]. After a disruption to an award on an Air China Group or partner carrier, Star Alliance upgrades excluded, the member applies through the original booking channel with the operating carrier's proof, and refunded mileage is valid to the end of the 36th month after the refund [1].

Go deeper: the PhoenixMiles award booking guide, and the mileage expiry calculator for the 36-month window.

Step 6: Your first concrete action

You will learn: five things to do now so that the first year of flying is credited and stays redeemable.

• Join, then give your card number on every booking and at check-in so the flight normally credits within 2 weeks of departure [1].
• Add your redemption assignees early, because they normally take effect 30 days after being added [1].
• Claim a missing flight inside the window, from 5 days (Air China Group) or 14 days (partners) after the flight up to 6 months, and raise any query about mileage accrual or redemption within six months of the transaction [1].
• Track qualifying kilometres and segments against the 12-month rating window before your current tier's expiry month [1] [2].
• Check flight-award eligibility — 4 qualifying segments, plus 4 qualifying flights for members who joined on or after 1 June 2024 — before planning a redemption [1].

Next: keep the PhoenixMiles standard member handbook and the 2026 elite renewal notice to hand, and start from the PhoenixMiles programme hub.