What's your 2018 stategy?

Old Jul 15, 2017, 10:01 pm
  #16  
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
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I'm based in Boston; my staple route is BOS - LAX and BOS - SFO a couple of times a year and an international flight on a partner, which usually gets me pretty close to MVP by itself. The past few years I've used AA flights to fill in the gaps (I fly to smaller cities around the country a half dozen times a year; mostly commonly MSY, MSP, DEN, MIA, and PHX) and push me over 25k to MVP status; I'm not sure what I'm going to do now.

I'm also a SPG / Amex Plat, so I've been considering whether I should switch to Delta (Crossover Rewards + SkyClub) or United (Silver status via Marriott match). Delta's got the better flight product, but SkyMiles are useless; I like United much less but at least I'll be earning miles that I can use.

Having psuedo-status with American was really the best of all worlds for me, so this new world is killing me

The most likely scenario for me is to fly Alaska + partners whenever possible, and then just be a free agent between Delta / United / JetBlue / Southwest depending on my route and pricing.
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Old Jul 15, 2017, 10:14 pm
  #17  
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ATC delays and ground holds are pretty common even to OAK and SJC. About 20% of my Southwest flights are on time lately.

Originally Posted by ucdtim17
?

There is one airport known for delays in the Bay Area and it's the airport where Southwest has their smallest operation of the three
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Old Jul 15, 2017, 10:15 pm
  #18  
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Having flown Air Koryo, I can affirmatively state that they are significantly better than Spirit. No charge for checked bag, no charge for carry-on, and a free meal (the infamous Koryo Burger).

Originally Posted by Toshbaf
2016 strategy: AS Mileage Plan (flying DL, AS, some AA, 1 foreign partner)
2017 strategy: AS Mileage Plan (flying DL until 4/30/2017, AS, more AA)

2018 strategy:
primary program: none, I will have no loyalty. Schedule, price, and opinion rules
secondary programs:
AS Mileage Plan (flying AS, rare trips on foreign partner), slightly preferred
DL Skymiles (flying DL, rare trips on foreign partners)
foreign partners on UA MileagePlus (such as SQ, LH, AC)
tertiary programs:
Southwest

4th priority, no travel, if possible

AA (biggest change from 2017 from one of my preferred airlines to avoiding, if possible)
UA itself (see partners, above)
B6
HA

at gunpoint
Spirit, Air Koryo
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Old Jul 15, 2017, 10:28 pm
  #19  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
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Originally Posted by TProphet
ATC delays and ground holds are pretty common even to OAK and SJC. About 20% of my Southwest flights are on time lately.
Hundreds of flights through OAK in recent years and I've not once ran into a delay caused by conditions at the airport. Plenty of delays on Southwest flights, but 100% of the time because of either weather elsewhere or mechanical.

Edit: SJC #1 and OAK #8 of the 50 largest airports in the US for lowest "Misery Index" score. SFO 6th most miserable. http://fortune.com/2016/05/25/worst-...summer-travel/

Last edited by ucdtim17; Jul 15, 2017 at 10:35 pm
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Old Jul 15, 2017, 10:31 pm
  #20  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
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Originally Posted by TProphet
... I credit to Czech OK Plus for their high accrual rates (1:1 in most cases on discounted fares)....
When I had OK Plus in my repertoire (a few years ago), I found redemptions to be a nuisance since they had to be done by e-mail requests. Also, if I remember correctly, their miles expire within a certain time period - don't know if that is still the case. Have you come across any such problems?
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Old Jul 15, 2017, 11:33 pm
  #21  
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
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2017 and prior: AS 75K, credit everything to MP.
Domestic: AS and DL primary, AA secondary, buying coach when upgrade secured on AS, otherwise paid first/business.
International: DL, BA, AA, AF, KL, CX paid business.

2018: switch to DL as primary carrier for both domestic and international, challenge to Platinum and likely qualify for Diamond. AS secondary domestic, international partners secondary to accrue to MP. Likely reduction to MVPG.
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Old Jul 15, 2017, 11:48 pm
  #22  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Portland, OR
Programs: AS 75K, UA Plt
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PDX based so the AA loss hits me hard

2017 I will be MVPG next week. Was going for 75k but switching to AA challenge in Q4 for Plat.

2018 Go for AA EXP and maybe maintain AS MVP
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Old Jul 16, 2017, 12:03 am
  #23  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Portland, OR
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100% self-funded mostly small business travel, being PDX based I don't have the luxury of loads of DL flights, so that AA loss is huge. I don't see VX as a great option with everything going through SFO, and fed up with all the pilot shortage related cancellations going though SEA on QX. Thinking strongly about WN but would like to find a way to stay with AS.
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Old Jul 16, 2017, 1:43 am
  #24  
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SEA based. Self funded traveler. Do not have the fear of NK others do (flown them twice). Primarily AS with some WN, AA and MP or AV *A redemptions for premium class thrown in (one overseas trip in premium class every 18 'months someone so). Last year, made MVPG for 2017 based on help from a family member I cared for. He died. Back to MVP I go...

It will likely all stay the same (I might even fly NK occasionally). I suppose I could try DL (UA and AA would be a bad joke for my travel patterns). But when you're going for cheapest fare all the time, MQDs are a killer...
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Old Jul 16, 2017, 4:06 am
  #25  
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Originally Posted by TProphet
I'm based in SEA and here's my strategy for paid flights next year.

Primary program/airline: AS/VX - I'll continue to fly Alaska and their partners first where it makes sense. However, as an early stage startup founder lacking cash, I'm price sensitive. This means that I'm most likely to travel with Alaska when fares are competitive (such as to LAX) and when I'm flying on an award. I am as likely to accrue Alaska miles on their international partners as on Alaska themselves.

Secondary program/airline: Delta - Lots of flights to places I go from Seattle and fares that are usually competitive with United and American. I credit to Czech OK Plus for their high accrual rates (1:1 in most cases on discounted fares).

Tertiary program/airline: Southwest - the main sticking points for me are the lack of seat power, regularly delayed flights (their Bay Area hubs are choke points on the West Coast) and the lack of nonstops to southern California. I like Southwest; they're friendly and give free checked bags. Their mileage program is better than other revenue based programs because although you earn at the same low rates, awards are priced much lower.

One-offs: If I need to fly a major airline with a checked bag, I'll go with American and credit to Avios. This will continue as long as Barclays keeps waiving the annual fee on my Aviator Red credit card. Of course, I'll gladly fly American if I'm not paying (award tickets), and that's usually when I am on board with them.

Avoid: I'll continue to go out of my way to avoid United. If you don't have status with them, it's just a miserable experience and they go out of the way to make you feel unwelcome on board. Their operation is also relatively unreliable so... yay? If I do end up on a United flight it'll be for a specific circumstance (such as needing a nonstop to Dulles, or flying on an award) and I'll credit to Singapore.

NOPE: Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant.

What's your 2018 strategy?
IMO you're splitting your miles over too many programs. It's far better for FF benefits to concentrate your earnings on one or a few programs.

SQ miles expire if not used before the deadline even if there's activity in your account, so IMO it's really unwise to credit there unless you earn and burn with high frequency. Someone else in this thread posted that the same is true for OK. OTOH at least DL miles never expire, so there's an argument to credit to DL if you don't frequently get enough miles for useful award tickets.

Originally Posted by morphogencc
I'm based in Boston; my staple route is BOS - LAX and BOS - SFO a couple of times a year and an international flight on a partner, which usually gets me pretty close to MVP by itself. The past few years I've used AA flights to fill in the gaps (I fly to smaller cities around the country a half dozen times a year; mostly commonly MSY, MSP, DEN, MIA, and PHX) and push me over 25k to MVP status; I'm not sure what I'm going to do now.

I'm also a SPG / Amex Plat, so I've been considering whether I should switch to Delta (Crossover Rewards + SkyClub) or United (Silver status via Marriott match). Delta's got the better flight product, but SkyMiles are useless; I like United much less but at least I'll be earning miles that I can use.

Having psuedo-status with American was really the best of all worlds for me, so this new world is killing me

The most likely scenario for me is to fly Alaska + partners whenever possible, and then just be a free agent between Delta / United / JetBlue / Southwest depending on my route and pricing.
Again, it's better to avoid splitting between too many programs. IMO you need to decide whether the Crossover benefits plus lounge access when flying DL is better than flying UA as a Silver.
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Old Jul 16, 2017, 5:25 am
  #26  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
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Originally Posted by TProphet
One-offs: If I need to fly a major airline with a checked bag, I'll go with American and credit to Avios. This will continue as long as Barclays keeps waiving the annual fee on my Aviator Red credit card.
How do you plan to make that work? No free checked bag due to the credit card on AA sunless your AA frequent flyer number is in the reservation, AFAIK.

I'm moving to YYF/YLW and don't really know what my flying situation will be in the new home and new job, so no idea what my strategy will be. If I kept my current home (PHL), I'd probably split my flying between AA and AS and give up on elite status, alas. I prefer AS as a non-elite strongly enough to AA as an elite for my Pacific NW travel (about 40% of my travel by EQMs earned at the multipliers on AA for discount economy) that that makes the most sense.
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Old Jul 16, 2017, 9:08 am
  #27  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
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Need a recommendation. PHL based. Fly to SEA about once a month and one other domestic trip monthly. The loss of AA hurts. I can't fly much out of PHL on AS, except for the monthly trip to SEA. Not sure if I'm better off completely switching to AA or not. My past experience I've been able to get Plat on AA, but it does absolutely no good out of PHL. Everyone flying AA out of PHL seems to be PlatPro or PlatProExec. I never get any kinds of upgrades, but I get upgraded about half the time on AS. Any suggestions/recommendations?
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Old Jul 16, 2017, 9:17 am
  #28  
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Originally Posted by 5thofjuly
Any suggestions/recommendations?
Other than SEA, where do you fly from PHL?
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Old Jul 16, 2017, 9:35 am
  #29  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: OR,ID, NV
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Self funded commuting between PDX and BOI. Going to stick with AS one more year to see how MP changes play out and burn miles. Seriously considering going to DL so I can fly straight outta TWF. With parking and gas for the drive it's about 6's between TWF and BOI. BOI has better schedule for SDC.
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Old Jul 16, 2017, 1:52 pm
  #30  
 
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Looks like Mint to Seattle starts February 15 from BOS and April 15, 2018, from JFK according to the new schedule released today.

Last edited by sfozrhfco; Jul 16, 2017 at 3:00 pm
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