MilesBuzz! - Why use multiple FF programs within one alliance?

In this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=681353

at least three people have significant numbers of miles on multiple SkyTeam airlines (e.g. CO, DL, NW).

Seems strange. What advantage would there be to splitting one's miles among multiple airlines within an alliance, as opposed to concentrating them on one airline within the alliance?

I won't speak to those people specifically, but different reasons include

- Different elite benefits... DL and NW may be in the same alliance, but they don't offer reciprocal upgrades.. if you fly both due to their route structures you may want to be upgraded with both.

- Different partners... you may want to accrue miles with whomever offers the better deal with a partner, or via a partner with one carrier that doesn't participate with the other.

- Different bonuses... I recently credited flights to a new AZ account to take advantage of their anniversary bonus offer, rather than my existing DL/NW/CO accounts.

And several other reasons...

Many people find that after reaching the highest tier (only 75k miles on DL/CO/NW, and less in paid FC or full Y), there are few benefits to accumulating additional qualifying mileage in their main FF program. On the other hand, depositing those miles in a different program can earn them elite status on the other carrier.

Consider the example of a DL platinum who has just flown 75k miles. He can try to put another 50k on DL to get the next benefit, but that is not a guaranteed reward and changes from year to year. Or he could put the next 50k on NW which would give him gold status there. With NW's large FC cabin he would have a good chance of upgrading on his NW travel, and due to the reciprocal agreement between CO/NW he would also have the chance to upgrade on CO flights.

Also, sometimes people relocate or change their travel patterns, thereby making a different FF program the logical choice (even in the same alliance).

For the reasons gleff mentioned, plus some airlines in an alliance are better for award redemption than another in certain cases (i.e., airline ABC may have cheaper or more customer-friendly award availability or routing rules than airline XYZ for certain trips/kinds of trips, etc.)

I won't speak to those people specifically, but different reasons include

- Different elite benefits... DL and NW may be in the same alliance, but they don't offer reciprocal upgrades.. if you fly both due to their route structures you may want to be upgraded with both.

- Different partners... you may want to accrue miles with whomever offers the better deal with a partner, or via a partner with one carrier that doesn't participate with the other.

- Different bonuses... I recently credited flights to a new AZ account to take advantage of their anniversary bonus offer, rather than my existing DL/NW/CO accounts.

And several other reasons...

Yup. Plus better treatment of own elites, making advantage of differences in earning and burning rates, better award and upgrade availability using home airline FFP. Etc.

All of the above responses provide excellent reasons why one would use multiple FF programs within an alliance. However, in my view, the best reason is that alliances are unstable. You simply can't build a good FF strategy to address your objectives based on the current state of a carrier's membership in a given alliance (or even the carrier's FF program partnership with another carrier) because these things are fluid. What is valid today may not exist tomorrow. Recent examples where carrier's have left alliances or terminated partnerships with other carriers include Aer Lingus (AA/OneWorld), SAA (DL), LX (OneWorld-->StarAlliance), Qantas (can no longer redeem with US), and others. If you credited all your miles to a single progam hoping to use them on an alliance partner, you may wake up one day and be out of luck.

Other reasons include:

1. Having joined the individual programs prior to them forming an alliance.

2. The absorbtion of programs by acquiring airlines. My initial choice of FF program (NYAir) was later was absorbed into CO . I wasn't about to drop those miles just because I happened to also belong to Delta. Same with Eastern Shuttle that morphed into Trump Airlines and whatever that program ended up as today.

3. Change in travels needs/options. I've belonged to FF programs for over 20 years. In that time my travel needs and home hubs have changed significantly. Plus airlines themselves change service option which impact the ultimate choice of airline (and program).

4. Finally, maybe it's being penny wise and pound foolish but ultimately it all comes down to making the most out of each specific purchase, either of a plane ticket or store purchase (using a ff credit card w/bonus)

I have a NW, CO, and DL account. Why all three? Well, mainly due to foreign airlines, but wanting to accrue on US airlines.

I got my NW account first, and it is my primary Skyteam earning account.

Then, I moved to Taiwan, and flew Eva Airlines, which is/was a CO partner but not a NW partner. So, I got a CO account- figured it would be easier to use/top off than Eva's own FF program.

While in Taiwan, I flew China Air a couple of times- which is not a partner of NW or CO, but is/was of DL. So, there I got a DL account. Then when I got back to the US, there was that 25K miles for a low amount of money through Intercontinental, so I added to my balance that way.

How do I use them now? Well, my NW account is a "savings" account for an upcoming WBC trip back to Taiwan. DL is earn and burn based on whatever good promotions are out there right now (like the 5 partners for 5k miles) but without crediting flights to it. I mostly cleaned out CO a while back through a transfer to HH, but still have the account and add to it when there are free promotions (like sign up for RewardsNetwork and get 100 miles).

So there you have it- my main reasons for keeping two active are foreign airline mileage accrual + inability to transfer out (NW & DL both are not able to be transferred into anything else).

Many people have mentioned different status benefits on different airlines and this is very true. I have miles in many programs I would never dream of earning status. I earn miles in about 20 programs but credit all flown miles to 5 or 6 programs where I intend to retain status this year. As for the benefits of status on the different programs, they are unique. For example, my case:

1) AA EXP - unlimited domestic upgrades with 90% clearance, 8 system-wides good from dirt cheap international fares, 100% mileage bonus throughout Oneworld
2) BA Gold - first class and business class lounge access alliance wide - including the ORD/LAX/MIA/JFK AA F lounges when flying domestically on AA - One-way awards, and the ability to upgrade from WT+ to a superior J product for only 25K miles RT
3) UA 1K - E+ system-wide, domestic upgrades when flying coach, 6 system-wides for international
4) BMI Gold - 4 free upgrades to premium econ (soon similar seat to UA J) ORD-MAN, lounge access alliance wide including UA/US domestic, bonus miles throughout the alliance unlike UA, and the ability to earn 6.25% of miles flown when paying F over a certain threshold
5) CO PLT - CO/NW domestic upgrades, free Pres Club so CO/DL/NW/AS/KL lounge access, Skyteam lounge, baggage, and priority benies, 125% mileage bonus throughout Skyteam
6) AS MVPG - Domestic upgrades when flying AS, a variety of partners to earn and burn on, one-way domestic awards for 10K miles. (Lounge access already covered by CO Pres).

But the OP referenced a thread that just talks about where you have miles. While the above are my primary status airlines, I earn in about 10 other programs though I would never credit EQM to them. Why? Because of unique earning opportunities.

For example, if I rent a car next month, there is only one program I will consider: CO, for the current 5K bonus I can receive as a travel Club member.

But when converting SPG points to miles, there is only one program I will consider (absent any limitted time promo): Asia Miles, for their 60K mile award on BA in business class to europe (from eastern/central US only).

When redeeming intra-Africa on KQ, all of a sudden I need NW miles. Other programs charge 2.5X for the same award. So when NW has a special partner bonus going on, I may as well credit some hotel, car, etc activity to them.

Credit card churn would be another important reason. I have accounts with airlines I've never flown (and probably never will).

My wife and I already had NW accounts for years, but when DL offered 10K miles just for signing up for a Skymiles account a couple of years ago we just could not resist. We are just lowly occassional leisure travelers, so we will never have any airline status to work towards on any one airline.

There are probably plenty of other similar stories out there.

The biggest two are the elite benefits - most airlines give the "natives" better upgrades and other perks - and the fact that some airlines make partner redemption painful. I've been most active in my flying life with AA, US, and UA. US has crawled in bed with both of those two at one point or another, but when I've redeemed US seats, I've always had to do it with US miles.

I've accumulated about 150k DL in my life and about 75k NW. Those were all through credit cards and other bonuses - I've flown maybe 3 revenue R/T's in my life on each.

My strategy was to develop large miles balances in both the Star Alliance and One World Alliances, to last us through our retirement. We have done this through our UA and AS accounts.

We also maintain a few hundred thousand miles each on AA and NWA for the following reasons:

A. It is sometimes easier to get awards using an airline's own miles.

B. For upgrades in the event it just makes a lot more sense to fly AA or NWA, like, for instance Dallas, St. Louis., or Minneapolis.

Of course, now that AS has decided to spread its wings beyond the Northwest we have a lot more options for direct flights out of Seattle than we did when I started to play the game.

also:

* even within the same alliance having more than one program activ can sometimes help to acquire much more miles without having to fly more. My own best examples from the past are StarAlliance promotions fly NNN carriers in a specific time window earn NNN bonus miles: I just did with one rtw ticket fly two segments with each carrier and earned the overall maximum bonus twice (I did credit one segment to Mileage Plus and the other one to miles&more) and earned twice 100'000 bonus miles then. In May 2007 Star is 10 years old ... (I am hoping ...).
* miles&more status only expires every second year (and has to be renewed only every second calendar year too and I get some perks like upgrade vouchers only every second year), so every other calendar year I post my status miles with UA MileagePlus and get every other year 1K-status with them (and SWU upgrades etc).

My strategy was to develop large miles balances in both the Star Alliance and One World Alliances, to last us through our retirement. We have done this through our UA and AS accounts.

AS isn't part of OneWorld. They partner with some OW carriers (AA/BA/CX/LA/QF) and some Skyteam carriers (AF/CO/DL/KL/NW).

That's enough One World for my purposes. ;) Plus, we get all of those Sky Term partners to boot. ^

AS really does have the broadest choice of partners, which has always made it a very attractive place to stash miles. It will be interesting to see how those partnerships hold up as AS continues to spread its wings across the nation. Although with one or two flights a day, even if they eventually get into Atlanta, Honolulu, etc., won't make much of a dent in the business of the majors.

That's enough One World for my purposes. ;) Plus, we get all of those Sky Term partners to boot. ^

Yes, you get to redeem and earn miles on some Oneworld and some Skyteam carriers. But you do not get the full benefits status on either alliance would give you. For a non-status player, it makes less difference; for a status player you would be loosing baggage allowance, lounge access, first class check-in, and upgrades among other things.

Actually, wanaflyforless, our only pupose in maintaining a few hundred thousand miles each on AA and NWA is so that we can upgrade when we are forced to fly those airlines. We always fly in first, unless we have to take that horrible TED to Florida, and even then we always sit in row 1 and route through IAD to make the TED portion of our trip as short as possible.

Honestly, I have never noticed that top status or lack of status makes much difference in the way we are treated, as long as we are flying in first.

I have toyed with the idea of racking up enough AA miles to have lifetime status without really ever flying them much, but the perks we get from high usage of our AS and UA cards are too valuable to pass up.

Which airlines, BTW, offer club access based strictly on status?

But the OP referenced a thread that just talks about where you have miles. While the above are my primary status airlines, I earn in about 10 other programs though I would never credit EQM to them. Why? Because of unique earning opportunities.

For example, if I rent a car next month, there is only one program I will consider: CO, for the current 5K bonus I can receive as a travel Club member.

Indeed. I have some similar examples. I collect with BA, even though my primary is AA, because I routinely find some situations where BA makes more sense than any US based airline (and I'm based in the US):

At Avis you earn 500 BA miles for any rental (tho you have to use their AWD so it won't work with corporate rentals that require a different AWD, but my rentals are paid on my own dime). All us airlines earn a piddly 50 miles per day, except when bonuses multiple that (but much of the time bonuses require jumping to off-airport car rentals which take way longer, and still don't add up to 500 miles for a one-to-three-day compact rental).

At Candlewood Suites (part of the Priority Club hotel chain), you earn a whopping 1 mile per $ spent, and one-night rates are often <$100, and thus <100 miles, with all US based airlines (except Southwest). But BA offers a flat 500 miles per stay at these hotels! It seems obvious to me (given that I already collect with BA).

... Except I also collect with NW. And so for a few months right now, they make more sense than BA for these same hotel stays, because NW's Perkology promo is giiving me 1000 bonus miles on top of whatever I earn at the hotel, for any length/cost stay!

But I never collect with BA or NW unless it's a difference like this. (But since neither of them expire as long as you have activity, I don't care that I'm increasing my balance there only gradually.)

However, I would watch out for expiration policies: Other than BA and a cojuple others, it seems most European and Asian airlines have "hard" expiration policiies, meaning miles expire after a few years with no "activity" exception. With "hard" expirations, I would be hesitant to accumulate miles slowly (only when the bonuses are good), because there'd be too much risk of never redeeming them before they expire.

For me, I maintain multiple accounts for several reasons.

1) Differing program partners - mainly non-airline but sometimes airline as well. Coupled with this is differing reward values for the same (non-airline) partner. My standard example for Skyteam is: Barnes & Noble purchases - I can get 5 miles per $1 with CO, but only 2 per $1 with DL & NW (that's the whole reason why RewardsDB.com came about after all). The same holds true for many other partners (although it isn't always CO with the best rates). Other examples are: Randalls here in AUS gives CO or AA miles only, CokeRewards only gave DL miles, e-rewards only allowing one 2,000 mile redemption per year per airline so you end up getting miles in several different programs, etc etc.

2) Redemption - its always easier to get a reward seat with the airlines own miles than with a partners. Also the amount of miles needed for certain awards sometimes varies between partners or there are awards no available to partner members. And of course the differing airline partnerships mean that there are some miles that can be used for a certain flight/partner and some that can't - look at HNL-SYD on HA as a redemption option for SkyTeam, not all of them allow the redemption at all.

3) As others have mentioned, a big earner relates to credit cards - both bonus miles and having both credit and debit cards. DL doesn't offer a debit card which both NW & CO have. Different bonus offers often make it worthwhile to get different cards - take the US Airways Mastercard promo for 2 free years and 1.5 miles per dollar, depending on your spend a far more attractive offer than any of UA's which were all 1 mile per dollar or worse.

4) Bankruptcy. As someone who lost miles when Ansett collapsed (but thankfully had most of my miles in UA since I got status from work for them and more bonus miles) it is tempting to spread ones exposure by having miles in multiple programs. Also is a partial shield against sudden rate hikes.

My flying habits and routes changed last year. I dropped from 300,000+ miles on DL to under 70,000,on the other hand I picked up 65,000 on NW, so I ended the year as Gold on DL and Gold on NW.

Additionally I have had US forced on me and reached Plat with US, but I prefer UA and the Econ Plus, so I also ended up as a 1P/Prem.Exec on UA.

So split on four carriers I ended up with mid-tier and upper-mid-tier status rather than DL Plat/UA 1P (with over 90,000 miles, I should have done two transcons to hit 1K). This is working for me and my travel needs at the moment.

For me, many of the reasons set forth above, and here are a couple more for why I want elite status on both AA and BA:
BA gives discounted mileage for discounted fares; no, I don't want just a fraction of the miles I fly on an AA transcon, thank you.
While my BA gold card MAY entitle me to secure an exit row seat in advance on AA, without AA status I'm going to have to call AA (and on the regular line!) and, after a half hour wait to talk to a live person, ask; with status, I can just secure it on line.
You are just going to be treated better by an airline as one of its, rather than its partners', elite corps; I got nothing from LH as a UA 1K when I had a seating problem; I've sometimes been treated well by UA as a 1K when I had a seating problem. I've had great treatment from BA as a Gold, which I don't think I would have had as a OneWorld Emerald, and I've had kindnesses from AA as a Platinum I don't think I would have had as a OneWorld import. This can also be particularly important in the case of irregular ops.

Something nobody yet mentioned:

You can't credit LAN or Iberia flights to Cuba, Royal Jordanian to Iraq, or BA transatlantic between the US and the UK to an AA account. So you might want a different OneWorld program for those.

At Avis you earn 500 BA miles for any rental (tho you have to use their AWD so it won't work with corporate rentals that require a different AWD, but my rentals are paid on my own dime).

Try BMI Diamond Club. 1,500 miles per Hertz rental, plus a bonus 200 for booking via flybmi.com. Business class on Star Alliance (US to Europe) is only 37,500 miles plus a small co-pay - essentially a free trip for every 23 rentals!

Which airlines, BTW, offer club access based strictly on status?

ALL ALLIANCE PLAYERS, if you play the game right.

Top tier on any of the 6 US based alliance players gives you lounge access alliance wide, except domestic US when flying on a purely domestic itinerary.

Most (all?) international top tiers on alliance members give you lounge access alliance wide without a domestic US exclusion.

So, AA EXP gives me:
- Lounge access anytime on the day I am traveling internationally at any Oneworld Lounge, including AA Admirals Clubs.
*AA PLT - OneWorld Sapphire - gives access to all business class lounges; AA EXP -Oneworld Emerald - gives access to First lounges as well where they exist. This includes the nicest lounges in the world, CX's F lounges in HKG - when flying CX (or any Oneworld carrier) in coach.

BA Gold (Oneworld Emerald) is the same, except US domestic itineraries are not excluded. So I get lounge access when flying AA domestically on coach fares, in F 90% of the time with free AA EXP upgrades, and free lounge access at the same time with my BA Gold (Oneworld Emerald) card.

Same with Star Alliance:
BMI Gold (Star gold) gives me lounge access alliance wide, including UA and US domestic on any fare.
Without BMI Gold, I would already have lounge access as a 1K if flying international on any fare.

Same with Skyteam....I am surprised someone as well posted as you would not know this.

I was thinking in terms of individual airlines that offered their elite members lounge entrance based on status alone. Are there any?

We only fly business or first internationally, so the only time we would ever use our 1k/Star Alliance Gold status would be if we were connecting to another Star Alliance flight within Europe. There really is no point in flying any class other than coach within Europe, IMHO.

We did not have lounge access in AMS last week connecting on KLM to CPH, but AMS is such an amazing shopping airport that it really didn't matter.

I was thinking in terms of individual airlines that offered their elite members lounge entrance based on status alone. Are there any?

Most non-US based airlines offer this, at higher status levels (eg One World Sapphire and Emerald, Star Alliance Gold).

I was thinking in terms of individual airlines that offered their elite members lounge entrance based on status alone. Are there any?


Yes. As I explained above, most (all?) non-US based alliance players offer this benefit as a status perk. Each of these airlines is an "individual airline that offers their elite members lounge entrance based on status alone." Too many to count.

And US airlines offer this same benefit with the exception of purely domestic itineraries. For example, AA offers me free lounge access based on my EXP status. When I have an itinerary in coach LAX-MIA-LHR-CAI, I have access to the AA F lounges at LAX, MIA, and LHR. I would also have access to the BA F lounges at MIA and LHR. Based on nothing else than my AA status.

On some international airlines you have to be flying that airline or an alliance partner; on many you do not. Your status works the same as a membership would in the US. So I can access the BA lounge in LHR when flying LH, for example, based on status.

Some US airlines also offer their international members a free lounge membership. For example, CO gives Platinum members with a UK address a Presidents Club membership automatically.

Perhaps you meant to ask: Does any US airline offer its US members free lounge access when traveling them domestically based purely upon status? That answer is no. (Until very recently, DL did by virtue of giving DL top tiers a free Crown Room Membership).

I am sorry. I guess I am not being very clear.

What I wanted to know is which specific airlines (not alliances) offer their own customers free access to their own lounges.

For instance Lufthansa I know has a Senators lounge, which I am assuming is free to all Senators.

Which other airlines do this? I don't think that there are any in the US, but I may be wrong.

... Lufthansa I know has a Senators lounge, which I am assuming is free to all Senators. ...

correct, entrance even ok when arriving (can use it as an arrival lounge, but in most places, like ZRH, only if I don't have to get checked luggage after arrival, as most of these lounges are situated in either secure areas (in Germany) or before immigration/luggage pick-up (ZRH, GVA).

LH's own business lounges are also free for all departing costumers with miles&more-FrequentFlier status (miles&more Star-silver status).

I am sorry. I guess I am not being very clear.

What I wanted to know is which specific airlines (not alliances) offer their own customers free access to their own lounges.

For instance Lufthansa I know has a Senators lounge, which I am assuming is free to all Senators.

Which other airlines do this? I don't think that there are any in the US, but I may be wrong.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

How have I not answered this?

My above post covers when AA offers AA customers AAdmirlas club lounge access, when UA offers UA customers Red Carpet lounge access, when US offers US customers lounge access to the US Airways Club, when DL offers DL customers access to the Delta Crown Room, when Continental offers CO customers access to the Presidents Club, and when Northwest offers NW customers access to the NWA Worldclubs for free based on status.

How have I not communicated? :confused:

Please re-read my posts or explain how I have not answered your question.

Are you trying to ask for a list of airlines who let you into their lounges even when you are not flying them based on status? If so, as I stated in my last post, no US airlines do this for US based residents. Many international do, but I don't have that list off the top of my head (the number of airlines is vast - probably more than 100).

But when it comes to lounge access, alliances cannot be ignored; you cannot be an LH senator without being a Star Gold, giving you unlimmited access to LH clubs anytime but also UA clubs when you fly UA domestically. I understand your goal is domestic lounge access? You can be a Star gold on another Star carriers having only flown UA and US crediting the miles to other Star carrier. If you are not allergice to UA/US YUP fares, BMI star gold would only take you about 18K of flying UA/US discounted F per year to attain.

I am sorry. I guess I am not being very clear.

What I wanted to know is which specific airlines (not alliances) offer their own customers free access to their own lounges.

Again, most non-US airlines, as long as flying on that alliance. A smaller set of airlines and statuses (many non-US top-tier statuses for example) also provide access even when not flying.

Thank you for your patience and explanations, Kiwi Flyer and wanaflyforless. You both obviously fly a lot more airlines than we and have thought a lot about these access issues, which have simply never concerned us.

OK, here is our personal situation, and a very specific question.

Please understand that Hunki and I, who are both 1ks and RCC members, only fly internationally in biz or first and frequently use the international RCCs (as well as other *Alliance lounges). So, we have simply never had occasion think about the basis of lounge access for coach passengers. We just assumed that we gained access to the RCC based on our RCC membership and our class of service, not our status.

Are you saying that if we were not RCC members and were flying internationally in coach (perish the thought) that we would still have access to the international RCCs?

OBTW, Kiwi Flyer, thanks again for passing "Night Over Water" along. It has pretty much hooked me on Ken Follett. I picked up one of his books last week and two more of his books at the book exchange at my gym this morning. I always think happy thought of you when I read his books. ^

Yes on international *A itineraries a 1K has access (plus 1 guest) to the designated *G lounges even when flying economy. Non UA/US *G's additionally have access (plus 1 guest) to domestic lounges within USA, when flying *A in any class (thus for these there is no point in having paid RCC membership - just throwing money away).

if we were not RCC members and were flying internationally in coach (perish the thought) that we would still have access to the international RCCs?

yes - and to all StarGold lounges (most SEN lounges are StarGold lounges too)

Thank you very much. That explains a lot of RCC meet-ups with folks who were not members and were flying in coach.

For us, Kiwi Flyer, RCC membership is crucial to our business, as we frequently fly US domestic transcons with connections and need a place to conduct business--often tracking down missing crates on our way to shows.

Perhaps you miss the point. If you had other *G status, say with AC, then you would not need to purchase RCC membership in order to use RCCs when flying *A domestically in USA.

Similarly on One World, have non AA Sapphire or Emerald status and you can use the Admirals Clubs (and Flagship Lounge for Emerald) when flying OW domestically in USA.

For us, Kiwi Flyer, the point is that we only fly about 125,000 revenue miles these days and the bulk of those miles must be on UA, for two major reasons:

A. To maintain 1k status and receive our 6 SWUs, 8 CR1s, and God only knows how many 500 mile upgrades each per year; and

B. To hit 1,000,000 BIS miles and attain lifetime UA Premier Executive status before we move into our retirement.

Therefore, we really do need RCC membership to access US domestic RCC lounges. I still kick myself in the behind for not allowing Hunki to buy a lifetime RCC membership for something like about $200 many years ago. :( I had no idea what that would have meant for us today.

So far, it looks like we will stick to our original retirement FlyIRA plan:

A. Attain lifetime PremEx status on UA and accumulate several+ million UA miles.
B. Accumulate several+ million AS miles.
C. Accumulate about a half million miles each in AA and NWA.
D. Accumulate a few million HHonors and SPG points each.
E. Continue our RCC membership for life, paid with miles.

This should provide us a lifetime of free and tax-free, luxury travel all around the world. What more could we ask?

I would be curious to hear others lifetime plans.

... This should provide us a lifetime of free and tax-free, luxury travel all around the world. ...

Unfortunately most carriers now charge taxes and additional fuel costs on award tickets too (for sure LH, Swiss LX, OS, TG, SQ, SAS do, and I think UA did introduce this same policy late automn 2006 as well?). Free is no longer free (of taxes and fuel-costs). :(

Yes, that is true Rudi, but at least for now (pray God this never changes), we don't pay any taxes on the actual value of the miles and points themselves, which could be a pretty hefty sum.

Wouldn't it be something if all Americans were required to give say 25 or 30% of their miles and points to the Government which would in turn used them to offset its travel expenses. :D :D

I would be curious to hear others lifetime plans.

For me, no significant miles will get saved for retirement. They devalue, so I use the miles now and earn interest on $ in the bank.

So say I have 5 million miles and $100K.
- I could use the miles now for $200K worth of tickets, or in 20 years from now for $150K worth of tickets.
- I could use the money now for $100K of spending power, or in 20 year from now for $250K worth of spending.

What should I use now?

My lifetime airline plan is lifetime status and lounge access. I already have lifetime AA Saphire status on Oneworld (so alliance wide Oneworld lounge access and double miles), and hope to gain BMI lifetime Star Gold if their program stays around. If BMI doesn't stay around as a desirable program, I may settle for UA lifetime Star Gold (assuming UA is still UA). As for Skyteam, I am contemplating a CO lifetime lounge membership; just trying to figure out how much I will be flying Skyteam though. None of Skyteam programs are as rich as my Oneworld/Star options, so not sure...

It is all dependent upon one's personal circumstances. Your plan sounds like a good one for a younger person, wanaflyforless.

As long as we are working, most of our travel is paid for by our business and we have the opportunity to earn lots and lots of credit card miles and points without any real effort on our part. Once we retire, we will have to pay for our own travel and our primary mile/point earning power will go away, so for us, it makes sense to make hay with the sun shines.

Since we would like to retire within the next few years, we only have the opportunity for lifetime status on one airline--UA--unless we dramatically overhauled our credit card system, as start putting the bulk of our purchase toward AA. That's something I have thought about, but it has always seemed like too much work to shift everything around.

After we retire, we will only travel on miles and points so we will have very few earning opportunities. Since all of our international tickets will be in biz or coach, however, lounge access will not be an issue.

It is all dependent upon one's personal circumstances. Your plan sounds like a good one for a younger person, wanaflyforless.

Agreed. ^

Years until retirement are a major factor. As is the number of tickets you pay for. (In my case, I'm self-employed, so the equation is a little different.)