AbstractThe Kepler and CoRoT satellites have determined precise asteroseismic radii for large samples of red giant stars. Combining these data with data from spectroscopic and photometric surveys has led to precise distance determinations using comprehensive Bayesian methods. Here we determine angular diameters and thus distances using the interferometrically calibrated near-IR surface-brightness method finding good agreement with previous results. The method can easily be reversed when accurate Gaia parallaxes for these stars become available to calibrate the asteroseismic scaling relations.