MilesBuzz! - Help me to understand maxing alliances

I'm sure this is a ridiculously naive question. I would appreciate being pointed to a link that explains it.

Basically, I want to know how to deal with using points within alliances. If I have a lot of Continental points for example and let's say CO won't confirm me on a flight where I pay coach and use the points to upgrade to First Class. Do I ask CO to check the alliance airlines? Do I call the other airlines and tell them I want to use CO points to upgrade their flights? Is there a protocol to follow here?

For long trips, we prefer to pay for coach and try to use points to upgrade. I'm elite with CO, DL, USAir and American. That doesn't seem to happen. I did get lucky with AA this summer and we have 4 tickets ewr-hnl, paying for coach and all using 30,000 pointws each to go First Class. But most of my attenpts fail. Any tips would be appreciated. Many thanks.

Steve

It seems like you have your eggs in a lot of different baskets. If you're elite on 4 airlines (Silver elite level or higher on each), then you might have better luck trying to concentrate on 1 or perhaps 2 programs. The first effect will be of attaining a higher elite level, more miles, more % of a free upgrade.

I don't know why you'd be elite in both CO and DL since they're partners. Pick the one you get the most out of (Or think about moving to NW, since they seem to give more free upgrades to their elites).

If you're trying to use CO miles, you need to call CO and see what you can do with them. You may be able to buy a NW ticket, and then use CO miles (by calling CO) to upgrade them. I almost always get free upgrades on NW for NW metal flights, so I've never used miles for a domestic upgrade, so I can't give any personal experience.

Researching on FT is a good way to find out the info. Very often the members here will know more about mileage opportunities than the employees themselves.

If I have a lot of Continental points for example and let's say CO won't confirm me on a flight where I pay coach and use the points to upgrade to First Class. Do I ask CO to check the alliance airlines? Do I call the other airlines and tell them I want to use CO points to upgrade their flights? Is there a protocol to follow here?

CO miles can only be used to upgrade on CO, NW and KL (and VS in theory), so the rest of the SkyTeam alliance doesn't really matter. But you always need to contact the airline where your miles are located.

Thanks for the info. My Elites (except AA) are all from the Centurion card. AA was a status match courtesy of the Merrill + card when I hit $20,000 in spending. So despite the "credentials", I'm really a novice. My desire to pay and use points to guarantee an upgrade applies to when I travel for pleasure with my wife and we're going a long distance. I had good luck with AA to Hawaii this coming summer when none of the other airlines would confirm the upgrade at the time of ticketing.

Again, thanks.

Since an upgrades to higher classes of service seem to be your main interest, I would be sure to research the airlines upgrade rules. Some of the airlines you mentioned will automatically upgrade elite members on flights if there is space available.

If you however need to pay for the upgrade with miles, some airlines only allow you to upgrade certain fare classes on longhaul trips. CO for example will only allow Y fares to be upgrades for trips to Europe for 7500 points. H fares can be had for 17500 points but when you get to K fares they require 17500 points plus $200 cash. These fees go up to 17500 points plus $450 to upgrade their lowest fares. AA recently introduced a similar upgrade policies on flights to Europe where they require $250 per upgrade segment.

Basically upgrade rules have become very confusing so I would make sure that the airline you fly most has upgrade rules that fit your ticket buying as well as you travel patterns. In my humble opinion US, UA and AA have the least restrictive program for my travels. For others it might be different.

Good Luck! Oh...any idea if the AA status match from the ML+ Visa is a one time thing or can it be renewed yearly? I was just looking at this benefit since I have the card too.

There was some discussion of your questions on the Visa portion of Flyer Talk. My sense is that AA will continue to give status if:

You still have status somewhere else, and
You reach level 2 ($20,000 +) on the ML card before the expiration of your AA status.