US Airways Dividend Miles - Worth switching to DM?

I had a nosey around the DM web pages and found a number of very good reasons why I should be switching from Miles&More to Dividend Miles. These include:
* 100% earning in virtually all Economy booking classes on the airlines I use most (Lufthansa, Swiss, Air Canada)
* Star Gold at 50,000 miles
* Excellent award miles requirements for first class travel on Star Alliance partners
* Buying miles promotions (often 100% free on top)

There are two potential cons that I haven't fully understood after reading many threads in the DM forum.
* How is *A availability in business and first? My award flights are mainly to Asia and Oceania.
* How likely is it that US will go bust and I will lose all my miles?

Based in Germany, my mileage earning flights will mainly be from Europe to Asia and North America in discounted economy, mainly on Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and Air Canada. My redeeming pattern is long-haul business or first class to Asia and Oceania. Based on this information, would you recommend joining DM?

Thank you!

...Based in Germany, my mileage earning flights will mainly be from Europe to Asia and North America in discounted economy, mainly on Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and Air Canada. My redeeming pattern is long-haul business or first class to Asia and Oceania. Based on this information, would you recommend joining DM?

Perhaps you should hold off joining DM until the dust settles ...

If a US/AA merger happens, it's likely (1) US would shed its name and go with AA - AA is bigger and better known worldwide; (2) Chances are too that US would leave Star Alliance.

Other than the US/AA merger possibility, which would mean US leaving the Star Alliance (:td:), you should be aware that many of the discount economy fare classes on Lufthansa do not earn miles (or earn just 50% of the flown distance).

The same is the case for Austrian and Swiss, though it's not quite as bad with those carriers.

Fortunately, when you book a flight that includes a Lufthansa segment as part of a US transatlantic itinerary, the fare class usually is, in my experience, one that earns miles. But if you buy a discount ticket on LH directly, such as for flights within Europe, it almost never earns miles in the Dividend Miles program.

Perhaps you should hold off joining DM until the dust settles ...

If a US/AA merger happens, it's likely (1) US would shed its name and go with AA - AA is bigger and better known worldwide; (2) Chances are too that US would leave Star Alliance.

+1 ... US will in all likelihood be part of Oneworld within the next few years, irrespective of whether the merger happens or not.

If you're looking for a new Star Alliance program, Air Canada is not a bad choice. Decent redemption, *Gold at 35,000 Miles and you can also use upgrade stickers on transatlantic flights if you fly on AC Metal.

If award redemption doesn't matter, you might want to look at Aegean - 20,000 miles in a 12 month period plus one qualifying flight every three years gets you *Gold for life.

Thanks for your comments so far. What is *A availability like in business and first when redeeming US miles? Easy to get or hard? For comparison, I found Miles&More's availability pretty good whereas Executive Club hardly ever has any availability on the flights I want.

What is *A availability like in business and first when redeeming US miles? Easy to get or hard? ...

There's a looooonnnnngg thread on *A award redemption here in this forum :)

For me, redeeming in Business is generally easy (except e.g. to Down Under); international First takes some work with valid routings, and often impossible for various reasons on certain airlines.

There's a looooonnnnngg thread on *A award redemption here in this forum :)

For me, redeeming in Business is generally easy (except e.g. to Down Under); international First takes some work with valid routings, and often impossible for various reasons on certain airlines.

And you'll frequently find that award space in F on, say, Lufthansa and Thai is released to Air Canada and United but not US Airways.

Though as kudzu said, J is very realistic to redeem in and a lot of us at the USeful Airline do so regularly. If want to fly US metal, we have off-peak J awards for 6-8 weeks at the beginning of the year: 60,000 miles round trip in Envoy.

If you're looking for a new Star Alliance program, Air Canada is not a bad choice. Decent redemption, *Gold at 35,000 Miles and you can also use upgrade stickers on transatlantic flights if you fly on AC Metal.

Starting in 2013, AC is changing Aeroplan tiers and *G will require 50K.

If award redemption doesn't matter, you might want to look at Aegean - 20,000 miles in a 12 month period plus one qualifying flight every three years gets you *Gold for life.

Is this correct?!?

Starting in 2013, AC is changing Aeroplan tiers and *G will require 50K.

Wow. According to 2013 Top Tier Program (http://www.aircanada.com/en/aeroplan/toptier_2013.html), they're going to five (currently unnamed) tiers... maybe they'll go with Silver, Gold, Platinum, 1K, and Global Services? :D

Apparently you'll still get access to AC's own lounges at the 35,000 mile tier and can choose Star Alliance Lounge access as a "select privilege." I think the access you're getting with that would be the same as if you bought an MLL or US Club membership, i.e. access to most business class lounges, but not LH Senator lounges, for example.

Is this correct?!?

Indeed... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aegean-airlines-miles-bonus/1308205-aegean-gold-card-crash-course-new-a3-read.html

Unfortunately, while it's a great way to get *Gold quickly and keep it with minimal effort, redemption on A3 is horrible from what I hear. Though some FT'ers have had success using their A3 card for domestic lounge access and posting their flights to DM (MP, Aeroplan, or whomever) to accumulate for redemption purposes.

OP note that AC now charges YQ on all awards. US does not.

Based in Germany, my mileage earning flights will mainly be from Europe to Asia and North America in discounted economy, mainly on Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and Air Canada. My redeeming pattern is long-haul business or first class to Asia and Oceania. Based on this information, would you recommend joining DM?

Unless you travel around the U.S. a lot on your trips, I'd be tempted to look at the European carriers. Currently, since US is in the *A, you could still fly US to/from the states and get the 100% miles in LH or Austrian's FF program for any coach fares since miles awarded is based on the operating carrier's rules, but US can't do a thing for you when going to Asia - you'll be on a European/Asian *A carrier anyway and earning miles based on those carrier's rules even as a DM member.

One thing US may have in it's favor going forward, since it's been true in the past, is the ability to get miles through promotions. But almost all are redeemable miles so don't count toward status. The few promotions that do award elite qualifying miles would seem more difficult to take advantage of for a DM member based in Europe vs one based in the U.S.

Jim

OP note that AC now charges YQ on all awards. US does not.

Not on TK, LX, SA, UA, US, SQ, CA, ET, and others

Not on TK, LX, SA, UA, US, SQ, CA, ET, and others

I though there was a recent announcement that gradually all airlines would have YQ? Would it be wise to invest in AC when the list of YQ airlines is increasing?