Star Alliance - Which frequent flyer programme should I join?

Hi there

I'm travelling for the next 12 month on a RTW ticket, mostly with the following airlines:
Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, Singapore airlines.
And now I'm not sure which frequent flyer programme I should join. What's the difference between the programme? It's all a bit confusing, help it's greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Katinka

p.s.: I'm already AA Advantage member (one world alliance), and I've found it very easy to collect miles with them and with their partner airlines.

It is quite complicated. Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines are both part of *a so you can earn and spend miles on either airline because these two airlines are in the same partnership. Virgin Atlantic is not part of *a. However, Virgin Atlantic is an airline partner of both Air New Zealand and Singapore. You can earn miles on both these airlines on Virgin's Flying Club programme. You can also book award flights through Virgin for flights on both airlines. You may not be able to book award flights on Virgin thru the two airlines-I'm not sure. You will have to check Air New Zealand's and Singapore's websites.

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to join both *a and VS Flying Club. Then if you are flying either one of the three airlines, you can assign your miles to either of these programmes. Both programmes are pretty good. I think *a allows you more latitude in lounge access and airpasses. Virgin offers all kinds of ways to spend and earn miles.

Which airline do you think you will use the most may help determine how you will use a Star vs. Flying Club programme.

thanks!!

mostly I will fly with Air NZ, but the longhaul - europe to usa and north east asia to europe - I fly with VA. I will talk to Air NZ and find out if I can add VA miles to their programme.

thanks!!

mostly I will fly with Air NZ, but the longhaul - europe to usa and north east asia to europe - I fly with VA. I will talk to Air NZ and find out if I can add VA miles to their programme.

Yes, you can collect miles on VS (that's the IATA code for Virgin Atlantic) flights in NZ's Airpoints program, but they do not count towards status.

should I better then collect with KrisFlyer?

Hello Katinka07,

take a look to BD British Midland Frequent Flyer Programm, you can also collect Virgin Atlantic Flights on it.

They have a special offer to join, a free lounge invitation for you and a guest.

Or in Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer you can also collect Miles on Virgin Atlantic.

Which Bookingclasses your flights are Virgin, SQ and Air NZ?

I think the better choice is BD, you are faster to Gold *Status.

Greetz

Svenfly

I have booking class
VS - Q
NZ - Q
SQ - M
Silk Air - Y

For economy travel on this trip, and not a frequent flyer on *A, I would not join Air NZ. NZ Airpoints is revenue based and geared towards those who regularly fly on Air NZ.

If you don't have much other *A flying then status is not likely a major consideration for you. While you might get a low level status on either BD or SQ programs purely from this trip (I haven't checked the maths), the benefits are not much. BD silver lounge access when flying BD is probably the best benefit of a meagre lot.

So, for me the main factor is how many miles will you collect and will it be enough to redeem for an award which you'd like to take. BD is probably better for you than SQ, but it depends on where you want to travel on the award.

since I never fly with BD I guess I will go for SQ. my rtw mileage is approx 33500 and plus internal flights in usa and europe (covered by *A).

since I never fly with BD I guess I will go for SQ. my rtw mileage is approx 33500 and plus internal flights in usa and europe (covered by *A).

There is no need to fly BD just because you are a member of their FF program. Note that miles in SQ's program expire after 3 years (can be extended for another 12 month by paying a fee) whereas they don't expire in BD's program if you have activity every now and then (every 3 years?), which may make an important difference to you.

Go with BD...you cant go wrong...and currently they had an offer where if you sign up you get 9000 bonus miles....check it out www.flybmi.com

Also, with your 33,000..you can then buy up to 20,000 miles a year...makes a great cash+miles reward ticket....you simply cant go wrong!!!

Also, all 3 airlines are part of BMI...!!

thank you all so much for the clarification and your advice!