Star Alliance - Best FFP to earn *Gold Status

The title should read: Best FFP to earn *Gold Status FAST!!!

I am based out of DTW. Fly domestically about 6 times with 1-2 intl trips per year. I usually fly as cheap as possible and therefore I'm not committed to a single airline. But I do tend to fly CO/UA/US more often than others. I want to earn *Gold status as fast as possible. I've studied several frequent flyer programs, mainly the domestic ones, and the # of miles needed to earn Gold status are the same. I'm not as familiar with FFPs outside of the US, but perhaps there is one which is easier to earn status on? I searched the archived threads and came across a few intl programs, but they require you to fly their airline frequently, which is a requirement that I cannot commit to right now. Do you have any suggestions?

My suggestion would be to find a list of the *A airlines and check out the FFP sections of their websites for the terms and conditions. Your ideal programme will be determined by a multitude of factors which we couldn't possibly know or guess on your behalf.

Air Canada requires 35K EQMs for *G rather than 50K. Being *G with AC also gives you access to lounges when flying domestically.

On the other hand, if you never fly AC, you will miss "native" benefits on UA/US/CO like mileage bonuses and upgrades. So if you can hit 50K EQMs, I'd go with the program of the airline you tend to fly the most. If you can hit 35K EQMs but not 50K EQMs, then AC is a good option.

There are other programs like Turkish or Asiana that are good at renewing *G or keeping it for a long time, but getting it for the first time is quicker on AC.

Note: no *A airline requires to fly their metal to get status on their program. Many people who have status on bmi or Asiana have never set foot on their planes.

Personally, I'd check out the link on the first post of this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/807425-star-alliance-comparison-chart-2008-a.html

That should give you some clues

Being *G with AC also gives you access to lounges when flying domestically.


Really? So I wouldn't need to have an international itinerary to access a *Gold lounge if I was an AC Elite? That is unique to AC, right? No other *A FF program offers this perk, no?

Really? So I wouldn't need to have an international itinerary to access a *Gold lounge if I was an AC Elite? That is unique to AC, right? No other *A FF program offers this perk, no?


yes, you could access a domestic *G lounge in USA even if not on an international itinerary if a *G on AC. You could not do this without paid lounge membership if you where a UA/US *G member trying to access the same lounges.

This isn't exclusive to AC though - EVERY other *A program offers this if you are *G. The exception to this is US-based programs, who restrict domestic lounge access so thier own *G members don't have access without a seperate paid membership.

In the rest of the world, your best options are Asiana Airlines or Turkish with their Miles and Smiles program because of their low thresholds to reach *G status. In the NA, Aeroplan program is the best with Mileage Plus close behind second but more flying needed. Only good think going for Dividend Miles is their current promo that helps reach status faster...

BTW, I don't think you fly enough to reach *G status unless you do your flying during DEQM periods.

In the rest of the world, your best options are Asiana Airlines or Turkish with their Miles and Smiles program because of their low thresholds to reach *G status. In the NA, Aeroplan program is the best with Mileage Plus close behind second but more flying needed. Only good think going for Dividend Miles is their current promo that helps reach status faster...

BTW, I don't think you fly enough to reach *G status unless you do your flying during DEQM periods.

OZ is indeed a great program for easy *G with 40k miles required for *G status and this status is good for up to 4 years. The problem is that a lot of booking classes on OZ don't earn any miles so the OP would need to check whether his booking classes would give him the miles.

Another thing to consider for the OP is the availability of either a US based credit card to get the points or the ability to transfer via Amex Membership rewards or by getting the Starwood Amex and transfer to the program of choice this way.

OZ is indeed a great program for easy *G with 40k miles required for *G status and this status is good for up to 4 years. The problem is that a lot of booking classes on OZ don't earn any miles so the OP would need to check whether his booking classes would give him the miles.


Wow. Status is good for 4 years? I don't think you can beat that anywhere else.

Are the booking class restrictions for flying OZ metal the same as flying *A partner airlines in terms of earning miles for the OZ program? I will probably never fly Asiana metal, but if there aren't many *A booking classes that allow me to earn OZ miles, then I may consider a different FF program.

Wow. Status is good for 4 years? I don't think you can beat that anywhere else.



Actually with OZ program, you have 24 months to achieve 40K (Year 1 and 2) for *G. Then, from the end of the 24 months (ie end of year 2), you have 2 years worth of *G status (year 3 and 4) which is what you earned.
The great plus is that you still benefit from your *G status during year 1 and 2 as soon as you passed the 40K threshold.

Hence, if you accumulate quickly 40K in a few weeks from your starting date, you will enjoy *G for nearly 4 years and no pressure to requalify during year 1/2 (year 3/4 would count for qualification on year 5 and 6 = pressure to accrue).

Though if it takes you 2 years (1/2) to accrue 40K, then you will enjoy it only for 2 years (year 3/4) during which you will have to accrue to maintain your status in the following period year 5/6.

The best way to handle this program is to concentrate the flights on *A and credit to OZ at the beginning of every new four year period so to gain maximum flexibility thereafter (credit to other alliance or other * program). You have to bear in mind that earn/burn ratio of OZ program is not attractive at all.

The "countermeasure" for OZ is the life time valid platinum status from 1M miles : I personnally do not credit to another * program for the sake of chasing a redundant *G status.

Are the booking class restrictions for flying OZ metal the same as flying *A partner airlines in terms of earning miles for the OZ program? I will probably never fly Asiana metal, but if there aren't many *A booking classes that allow me to earn OZ miles, then I may consider a different FF program.

http://us.flyasiana.com/Global/US/en/homepage?fid=CLUB14300

Wow. Status is good for 4 years? I don't think you can beat that anywhere else.

Are the booking class restrictions for flying OZ metal the same as flying *A partner airlines in terms of earning miles for the OZ program? I will probably never fly Asiana metal, but if there aren't many *A booking classes that allow me to earn OZ miles, then I may consider a different FF program.

As mogoy has said, you need to look at this carefully as OZ can be a good or a really bad move.

The other thing to consider is that OZ has a shocking earn/burn ratio. So the program is great for status but it is not good for redeeming flights. Unless you use the miles for specialties like trips with lots of stopovers in which case OZ is great.

I earned *G on AC this year via travel on eight different StarAlliance carriers. Only problem I had is that I had a very difficult time getting my miles to post. I had to write three letters and use the weblink twice to gain credit for trips taken.

I earned *G on AC this year via travel on eight different StarAlliance carriers. Only problem I had is that I had a very difficult time getting my miles to post. I had to write three letters and use the weblink twice to gain credit for trips taken.

that's odd. When I first earned *G with AC, it was on a RTW trip where most flights where non-AC. With the exception of Spanair, all miles posted easily within a few days (UA/US/LH/TP/SQ/TG/OZ/NH)

..... Fly domestically about 6 times with 1-2 intl trips per year. I usually fly as cheap as possible and therefore I'm not committed to a single airline. ....
Therefore you will find it hard to make *G unless the intl trips are very long ones and made during DEQM periods.

Does *G status get you upgrades on certain carriers? Say, I become *G on OZ. Will I ever be put on the upgrade list for any non-OZ carriers? Like I said before, I'm only interested in obtaining *G lounge access, so upgrades are not important to me. Any perks outside of lounge access would be a bonus, however.

Does *G status get you upgrades on certain carriers? Say, I become *G on OZ. Will I ever be put on the upgrade list for any non-OZ carriers? Like I said before, I'm only interested in obtaining *G lounge access, so upgrades are not important to me. Any perks outside of lounge access would be a bonus, however.

You have spelled out what is important to you (lounge access) . I am not aware of any * A program that will allow you to get upgrades with other airline using their coupons. There are some that allow you to use accumulated points and /or cash for upgrades.

Occasionally, when op ups are considered they will look at * gold pax but opnly after they have op uped their own FF. I have had * gold status with AC for six years and this has never happened to me on UA, US or LH or anyother * carrier so it is rare but others have posted that they have had success with this occasional perk.

if you're a 1K with UA but that requires 100,000 miles, you get 6 upgrades that you can use either on UA or on LH (space available solely)

also if you're a SEN with LH (also 100 K miles) you get 1 miserly e-voucher every two years, good on LH, LX, OS, SQ, UA.

so yes there are some programs that allow upgrading on other airlines.

Sorry for what might be a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway.
I'm Star Gold on SQ, but have recently joined OZ for the long-lasting benefits.
If I reach Gold on OZ, but never or seldom fly them, and continue to accrue all mileage to SQ or another Star carrier, will I still be allowed all the following benefits:

Priority check in
Priority baggage
Lounge access
Thanks.

Sorry for what might be a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway.
I'm Star Gold on SQ, but have recently joined OZ for the long-lasting benefits.
If I reach Gold on OZ, but never or seldom fly them, and continue to accrue all mileage to SQ or another Star carrier, will I still be allowed all the following benefits:

Priority check in
Priority baggage
Lounge access
Thanks.
You would get Star Gold benefits, irrespective of which program you credit miles to.

Sorry for what might be a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway.
I'm Star Gold on SQ, but have recently joined OZ for the long-lasting benefits.
If I reach Gold on OZ, but never or seldom fly them, and continue to accrue all mileage to SQ or another Star carrier, will I still be allowed all the following benefits:

Priority check in
Priority baggage
Lounge access
Thanks.

Just to clarify, OZ gold is *A silver, you will need OZ Diamond to have *A Gold status.

Sorry for what might be a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway.
I'm Star Gold on SQ, but have recently joined OZ for the long-lasting benefits.
If I reach Gold on OZ, but never or seldom fly them, and continue to accrue all mileage to SQ or another Star carrier, will I still be allowed all the following benefits:

Priority check in
Priority baggage
Lounge access
Thanks.I am not entirely sure regarding priority baggage. I think that you might be able to get the red "priority" flag, but I am not sure the priority will be encoded in the baggage tag. You would have to leave your SQ number in the booking until after the baggage tag has been printed, and then swap it to the OZ number.

Sorry for what might be a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway.
I'm Star Gold on SQ, but have recently joined OZ for the long-lasting benefits.
If I reach Gold on OZ, but never or seldom fly them, and continue to accrue all mileage to SQ or another Star carrier, will I still be allowed all the following benefits:

Priority check in
Priority baggage
Lounge access
Thanks.

So let me understand this, since *G seems like a nice perk when flying internationally (better lounges (+ guest), extra bags, etc.) Right now I am *S with Miles and More. So I currently get priority check-in on my home airlines (LH, OS, OU, etc.) and lounge access in FRA and VIE when transiting and I get a 25% bonus on miles (both EQMs and RDMs).

If I want to try for this, over the next year or so I will need to credit my flights to OZ which means I won't have status for a while and will therefore lose some of those benefits. I can handle that. My main question is what happens afterwards. Do I need to keep crediting my earnings to OZ in order to take advantage of the *G benefits. In other words, does my boarding pass have to say OZ*G in order to get into the lounge or get a third suitcase transatlantic? Can I have my OZ card out for access, etc. but credit the miles to LH. Or is it a trade off--getting the *G perks means the poor earning rates that OZ offers indefinitely?

So has anyone done this with any other program--AC or whatever--using your *G card for the benefits but crediting to another program for the miles?

So let me understand this, since *G seems like a nice perk when flying internationally (better lounges (+ guest), extra bags, etc.) Right now I am *S with Miles and More. So I currently get priority check-in on my home airlines (LH, OS, OU, etc.) and lounge access in FRA and VIE when transiting and I get a 25% bonus on miles (both EQMs and RDMs).

If I want to try for this, over the next year or so I will need to credit my flights to OZ which means I won't have status for a while and will therefore lose some of those benefits. I can handle that. My main question is what happens afterwards. Do I need to keep crediting my earnings to OZ in order to take advantage of the *G benefits. In other words, does my boarding pass have to say OZ*G in order to get into the lounge or get a third suitcase transatlantic? Can I have my OZ card out for access, etc. but credit the miles to LH. Or is it a trade off--getting the *G perks means the poor earning rates that OZ offers indefinitely?

So has anyone done this with any other program--AC or whatever--using your *G card for the benefits but crediting to another program for the miles?

Your M&M FTL status is good for two years normally. So during this time you can credit miles to OZ/TK/AC and still get your lounge access etc. To get the benefit you just need to show your FTL card, it doesn't matter what status is printed on the BP.
This also works the other way round. Once you have your *G status you can credit your miles to another program and get the *G benefits by showing your card.

If you fly more than 35k miles per year than AC might be a good program for you because it has better redemption levels than OZ.

Your M&M FTL status is good for two years normally. So during this time you can credit miles to OZ/TK/AC and still get your lounge access etc. To get the benefit you just need to show your FTL card, it doesn't matter what status is printed on the BP.
This also works the other way round. Once you have your *G status you can credit your miles to another program and get the *G benefits by showing your card.

If you fly more than 35k miles per year than AC might be a good program for you because it has better redemption levels than OZ.

Thanks, DownUnderFlyer. There's a side of me that also likes the AC option (for the last few years I have done 35-60K per year), although, as I said, 90% of my flying is on the M&M partner airlines (and the other 10% on United). So it's not too likely that either AC or OZ will ever get me home airline benefits like Op Ups.

Back to my original scenario. Let's say I am booked on a flight from IAD to FRA on LH. So what you're saying is that I can walk up to the LH priority check-in counter, wave my *G OZ card to get an extra bag and still credit my miles to M&M? Does that mean switching the card at check-in or at the gate or just giving my M&M number from the beginning? I would assume that OZ doesn't pay LH anything for those benefits, so it kind of seems fair.

But they do get charged for lounge access (which, in my mind, somehow gets repaid because LH has to "buy" the miles from them that I get for the flight). I just wonder if I can keep charging OZ for my *G lounge access when they never see miles being earned for those flights. It may not be a legal question (or maybe it is) but it seems like a bit of an ethical question. But then again, I would never sample different lounges in the same airport just to try them--knowing each time I enter a new lounge my FFP is getting dinged $20 or something like that. Just like I wouldn't pay Priority Pass $28 multiple times at the same airport in order to visit a variety of lounges.

Anyway, it would be good to hear various experiences of those who do this (use the benefits from one program but credit their miles to another) to understand how it works in practice as well as in theory.