MilesBuzz! - If you only flew a few times a year, what airline would you fly?

Most of us fly enough on one carrier to attain elite status. But say you had to stop flying so much. What airline/ airlines would you choose if you have no status yet want to have frequent flyer options?

I would choose a smaller airline with just a handful of flights from my home airport. I can't imagine flying UA from LAX without status. The lines are just aweful!

I guess I would go for YX, as they fly to most of the cities and need to get to (as opposed to "want" to get to for mileage runs.

I would also consider US and DL, as their networks are smaller in California.

Whichever is the least expensive airline for the ticket I needed

I don't think I would bother with FF programs and miles. After all, chances are I would never have enough miles for status or even a reward.

Miles are just another discount the airlines give their frequent flyers. There are better ways to get discounts for non-frequent flyers: look for the best deal, saving $50 on the fare is probably better than useless miles.

Imagine, you could just choose the cheapest ticket, the most convenient flight times, according to your preferences choose by service, type of aircraft, etc. Maybe we should do that more often, make the reasonable choice and not the one dictated by FF program - I know its hard.

I have a lot of friends who are in this boat and they tend to make decisions based on price, convenience (i.e. nonstops), and hidden marketed messages that certain carriers seem to be sending to this demographic. Jetblue and Southwest seem particularly adept with respect to the latter category.

There's two ways to interpret this question:

1. If you have been a FF'er and had to stop flying so much for some reason (like marrying the girl of your dreams after a long-distance relationship). This means there's already a good number of miles banked in a particular airline. I would continue to fly that airline.

2. If you had NEVER been a frequent flyer and have no appreciable accumulation of miles in any one airline. I'd probably go with the cheapest flight offered, that would most likely be WN around here. Bleh!

Ofcourse, this is a hypothetical since most of us would come up with creative reasons to fly for any reason... "Oh, your wedding is in Pasadena? Great, BUR is close enough, let me look for flights out of SNA..."

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Indurain:
There's two ways to interpret this question:

1. If you have been a FF'er and had to stop flying so much for some reason (like marrying the girl of your dreams after a long-distance relationship). This means there's already a good number of miles banked in a particular airline. I would continue to fly that airline.
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I am in that exact situation (wedding is in june, after she finishes school), and I am doing their best to not have any leftover miles by the time the wedding rolls around.

But another example that does fit your profile, is a business traveler whose company suddenly curtails the travel budget.
-steve

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zrs70:
I would choose a smaller airline with just a handful of flights from my home airport. I can't imagine flying UA from LAX without status. The lines are just awful!</font>

To dispel a few myths that have been referenced in this thread:

1. It is not always a problem flying (without status) a big airline from an airport it dominates. NWA lines can be 45 minutes long, but since relatively few people use e-ticket kiosks, you can check in within 45 seconds - without status.

2. The term frequent flyer program is now a misnomer because you can earn many more miles without ever leaving the ground. For example, you can easily generate 50k-80k miles a year just on a charge card. (You could have received up to 75k just through the current WP Visa promotion). So it is wise for everyone to join a FF program, no matter how often you fly.

3. One flight can make a big mileage difference. With bonuses such as online booking, online check-in, double mileage, and new routes, one trip can deliver thousands of miles - miles you would have missed if you hadn't joined the program.

Obviously status matters most to the true frequent flyer, but lack of status is no reason for others to give up miles and free trips.

Well, here is what I was doing a few years ago, when I wasn't corrupted by you FT'ers!

Flying out of Houston, I lived 70 miles northeast of Intercontinental, so I generally flew out of IAH rather than Hobby. That meant I tended to stay off of Southwest.

I would look at price first. I learned to plan my trips far enough in advance that I could look for sales and then snatch them up.

At that time, I tended to prefer smallest flying time, so if the prices were the same, I would choose a favorable connection.

(Now you will see me flying from Houston to LA via Detroit so as to maximize miles....yeah, you have really messed me up!)

And then the other factor was I tended to keep my miles among three airlines, so as to give me some flexibility with regard to sales, but not scatter my miles all over the place. Elite status was not yet a consideration.

For some time, we had done annual trips to Spokane WA where there is no nonstop service from Houston. UA and DL customarily had the best routing to Spokane, so I had already established some miles with them.

So in light of all of the above, I shopped price and tried to use UA, DL or CO.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Indurain:
Ofcourse, this is a hypothetical since most of us would come up with creative reasons to fly for any reason... "Oh, your wedding is in Pasadena? Great, BUR is close enough, let me look for flights out of SNA..."</font>

And maybe I can get a connection through Memphis.

My choice would be American. I am not a frequent flyer but am addicted to earning points from specials and credit cards. I fly perhaps twice a year, my wife flies two or three times per month. I live in Austin, TX so AA is my first choice with CO as second. I collect points for two purposes, first to upgrade my wife to FC when she flies on business, second for upgrades whenever we fly internationally.

Whichever airline has non stop flight to where I'm going.

YX, hands down. Of course, that's assuming that they go where I'm going. Their fares are usually competitive, and you get 1st class seat and service without needing an upgrade

Here in DEN, I believe I would also use F9 for once-in-a-while flights.

I would personally stay away from the majors. Without their FF programs, they lose their appeal.

I would go with whoever got me there the quickest for the least amount of money -- with the exception of Southwest. Regardless of who is paying for it, I am not a sheep, and you do not herd me into a plane like that.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Greg45:
I don't think I would bother with FF programs and miles. After all, chances are I would never have enough miles for status or even a reward.

[snip]
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Don't be so sure. Since 1990, when she joined AAdvantage, my fiancee has traveled only for holidays and a couple (domestic) vacations a year. She has a mileage cc but doesn't really make any money so doesn't spend much on it (Chicago Public Schools employee).

I was quite surprised when we were going through our assets that she had managed to squirrel away more than 90,000 miles on AA and had actually earned more than 120,000. Just goes to show you that a few thousand miles a year add up over time to a business award to Australia, for example.

If status was not a factor, I would fly YX. Business class seating at a coach price. With status, depends on where I want to go. US does not fly to SIN but I fly UA. (cheap prices & loads of miles http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif)

Well, you're talking about me. We usually take two trips a year, either both transatlantic or transcontinetal. We occassionally get one or two shorter trips in on top of those. Total annual miles, maybe 15,000 if we're lucky.

I fly United - with MP credit card and miles flown, we usually have enough to at least upgrade from a B fare, often enough to upgrade from an H or M.

Obviously we are not elite members, but with booking far in advance (9 -11 months), we usually can get what we want.

Also, with UA being part of *Alliance, we can do an occassional extra (April we are going to GLA for four days out of Toronto on AC) - and even though it will be in coach, at least we accumulate some miles at a fairly low price (at $470US not a mileage run, but not too bad)

If I flew only a few times a year, they would be lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng flights so that I could still be a Premier. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I would still concentrate them in one program, either United's or Alaska's, to earn miles and the shot at an upgrade every few years. I would use one of those airlines because they have the best service to my home airport.

If (to extend your question one step) airlines had no FF or mileage-based programs, then domestically I would fly nonstops as much as possible, on any airline except Southwest (hear, hear, mdtony). For the occasional international flight I would use Virgin or BA to the UK and spread trips to other places around lots of airlines, for the sake of variety.

Non Stop to anywhere

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by DENROC:
Non Stop to anywhere </font>

This is not limited to "if I only flew a few times a year." Non-stop is my top priority, I'll gladly give up some miles on my most frequent flyer program. After all the non-stop will give me miles in another program, so its not completely lost. After all getting there is the whole point of flying (or at least it should be http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif.