Thai Airways Upgrades Royal Orchid Plus Rewards Program
Thai Airways upgraded its Royal Orchid Plus frequent flyer program with greater mile flexibility, new redemption options, and expanded benefits effective July 2025, allowing members to combine cash and miles for ticket purchases or use mile
Thai Airways announced the upgrade to its Royal Orchid Plus frequent flyer program at the "ROP: The New Chapter Begins" event, aimed at providing members greater flexibility and value. Chai Iamsiri, Chief Executive Officer of Thai Airways, revealed that the enhancement introduces new benefits, technology, and exclusive offers tailored to members' diverse needs across all stages of their travels while building long-term member confidence.
Kittipong Sarsomboon, Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations, stated that over the program's 33-year history, Royal Orchid Plus has undergone continuous development. This latest upgrade focuses on enabling members to use accumulated miles with greater flexibility, value, and maximum benefit through ROP Smart Miles Pay and ROP Smart Miles Pay Lite services, making mile redemption easier and more aligned with current travel behavior.
ROP Smart Miles Pay allows Royal Orchid Plus members to purchase Thai Airways tickets using a combination of cash and miles, or redeem miles for the full ticket price (excluding taxes and fees), with immediate seat confirmation. Members can select this option on thaiairways.com and determine their own mile usage, while still earning miles according to their flight class code.
Effective July 13, 2025, Royal Orchid Plus introduces ROP Smart Miles Pay Lite, allowing members to use accumulated miles instead of cash for Thai Airways tickets departing Bangkok. This option uses double the standard reward chart miles for business and economy class tickets originating from Bangkok, with immediate seat confirmation and continued mile earnings from travel.
The program has also expanded its ecosystem through the Royal Orchid Holidays platform, integrating flights, hotels, activities, and partner benefits, enabling members to redeem miles across diverse options. For members seeking premium experiences, the ROP The Experience program curates special events with renowned chefs, artists, hotels, and dining partners, allowing members to use miles for discounts or full redemption according to specified conditions.
Royal Orchid Plus launched new benefits under "The New Chapter Begins" concept, including revised qualification criteria effective August 5, 2025, to provide easier tier upgrades aligned with diverse travel patterns, benefiting platinum, gold, and silver cardholders in accumulating elite miles for status advancement.
