Infrequent Flyers: the best loyalty programs for the disloyal
Mar 25, 2014, 9:19 pm
#76
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Posts: 6
missing aegean airline's miles&bonus?
It seems the good program should include Aegean Airlines Miles&Bonus, not only the lower threshold towards Gold star alliance, but the requalification is so easy comparing to others. and once you reach gold with only 19000miles, the miles never expires as long as you fly once within 36 months?
Mar 26, 2014, 1:01 pm
#77
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Programs: Frontier Gold, DL estranged 1MMer, Spirit VIP, CO/NW/UA/AA once gold/plat/comped gold now dust.
Posts: 38,151
Just for fun I tried plugging in DFW-PHL for September and it had good availability both ways midweek and Saturday at 5K each way (10K total + $20 RT). In checking the nearer-term April and May off-peaks, though, everything at the low level was gone, so there appears to be healthy demand. The off-peak times only cover about a third of the year, mostly in the spring and fall slow seasons. Outside that they have standard and "peak" times (mostly late summer and holidays). A standard award, if u can get, would be 25K RT and a peak would be 55K, which is no great shakes compared to the legacies (OTOH, the World MasterCard does award 2 miles per dollar spent and has a 5K threshold bonus for $10K in annual spend).
IMO the real prize out of DFW is an off-peak RT to Cabo at 5K + taxes + likely $15 junk fee. I was lucky to get one of those & combine with an ATL-DFW RT back in mid-Jan. Word must've gotten out about it since, as they appear very hard to find..
Mar 26, 2014, 1:03 pm
#78
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA 1M
Posts: 31,475
They've got it rigged so you need to be logged in to your Free Spirit account to see the miles needed, so I s'pose there's potential to show different people different amounts (like DL does with special allocations for elites). Either they're not that sophisticated yet or I should complain about the results they're showing me.
Just for fun I tried plugging in DFW-PHL for September and it had good availability both ways midweek and Saturday at 5K each way (10K total + $20 RT). In checking the nearer-term April and May off-peaks, though, everything at the low level was gone, so there appears to be healthy demand. The off-peak times only cover about a third of the year, mostly in the spring and fall slow seasons. Outside that they have standard and "peak" times (mostly late summer and holidays). A standard award, if u can get, would be 25K RT and a peak would be 55K, which is no great shakes compared to the legacies (OTOH, the World MasterCard does award 2 miles per dollar spent and has a 5K threshold bonus for $10K in annual spend).
IMO the real prize out of DFW is an off-peak RT to Cabo at 5K + taxes + likely $15 junk fee. I was lucky to get one of those & combine with an ATL-DFW RT back in mid-Jan. Word must've gotten out about it since, as they appear very hard to find..
Just for fun I tried plugging in DFW-PHL for September and it had good availability both ways midweek and Saturday at 5K each way (10K total + $20 RT). In checking the nearer-term April and May off-peaks, though, everything at the low level was gone, so there appears to be healthy demand. The off-peak times only cover about a third of the year, mostly in the spring and fall slow seasons. Outside that they have standard and "peak" times (mostly late summer and holidays). A standard award, if u can get, would be 25K RT and a peak would be 55K, which is no great shakes compared to the legacies (OTOH, the World MasterCard does award 2 miles per dollar spent and has a 5K threshold bonus for $10K in annual spend).
IMO the real prize out of DFW is an off-peak RT to Cabo at 5K + taxes + likely $15 junk fee. I was lucky to get one of those & combine with an ATL-DFW RT back in mid-Jan. Word must've gotten out about it since, as they appear very hard to find..
Mar 26, 2014, 11:40 pm
#79
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 5
As far as I seem to take it from their webpage, Singapore Airlines miles are postponed by account activity. Confused and want to find out which of the two is true, because I might just guilt myself an upgrade this year if they're due to disappear soon after.
Mar 27, 2014, 1:17 pm
#80
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Programs: Frontier Gold, DL estranged 1MMer, Spirit VIP, CO/NW/UA/AA once gold/plat/comped gold now dust.
Posts: 38,151
August is considered a peak month for the first half and standard for the second. I checked it (though with my account) and it was 27.5K each way across the board (though no RT required). According to the chart that's their highest level for that route and the worst they can do for a region 2 for anyone (i.e. their version of wanting more miles because of demand). A normal peak award would be 17.5K each way for that, and a normal standard would be 12.5K OW.
Mar 27, 2014, 1:59 pm
#81
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA 1M
Posts: 31,475
August is considered a peak month for the first half and standard for the second. I checked it (though with my account) and it was 27.5K each way across the board (though no RT required). According to the chart that's their highest level for that route and the worst they can do for a region 2 for anyone (i.e. their version of wanting more miles because of demand). A normal peak award would be 17.5K each way for that, and a normal standard would be 12.5K OW.
Mar 27, 2014, 7:22 pm
#82
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: Total Rewards Diamond, Delta Gold, Starwood Gold, Mosaic
Posts: 235
Asiana should be taken out of the bad category. The information in the wiki is incorrect. Miles expire after 10 years. The fact that miles expire is a bummer, but if you haven't used them in 10 years, you probably weren't going to anyway.
Mar 28, 2014, 2:12 pm
#83
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: drifting with the best price
Posts: 7
Heh, that's easy! Avoid them all and save money, take the airline that flies you most directly or offers the best service, lots of choices there. If you still want to, use a card that rebates money - or at least a card like AMEX that allows you to spend points on travel and other stuff, or even transfer those points to airline programs. Works best for me, but as you guys say here "YMMV" of course.
Mar 28, 2014, 11:49 pm
#84
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,268
I've now managed to pick up 35K in United miles since last July solely going through MyPoints and Opinion Miles Club for surveys and light shopping. Nice way of picking up some bonus miles if you've got more time than money on hand.
Mar 29, 2014, 8:06 am
#85
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: The city of sex and drugs and KLM
Programs: KLM FB, BA EC, Miles&Mafia, Delta SM, Mile High Club
Posts: 347
Aegean was already on the list of good programs at miles.site666.info.
However, they're not as good as I thought. Only sign up with them if you're sure you can grab 4.000 *A of them in the first year. Otherwise...
They don't want signups for long term trickle collection.
4000 *A miles doesn't sound like much, but if most of your flights are with OneWorld or SkyTeam...
However, they're not as good as I thought. Only sign up with them if you're sure you can grab 4.000 *A of them in the first year. Otherwise...
Originally Posted by Aegean T&C
It shall be made clear that: (a) If the Basic Member has not collected 4,000 Miles within a period of twelve consecutive (12) months from the date of the first valid flight that registered miles), then the accrued Miles shall not be automatically reset, but shall rather be successively deleted, once one (1) year elapses from each flight event, effected within the said 12-month period. To this end, the Account shall continue to exist until zero Miles exist, except for the initial Welcome Miles (1.000 Bonus Award & Tier Miles, granted upon the online registration). (b) The twelve-month period for the accumulation of the 4,000 Miles will count from the date of the first valid flight that registered miles.
4000 *A miles doesn't sound like much, but if most of your flights are with OneWorld or SkyTeam...
Last edited by Diabo; Mar 29, 2014 at 8:24 am
Mar 29, 2014, 8:22 am
#86
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: The city of sex and drugs and KLM
Programs: KLM FB, BA EC, Miles&Mafia, Delta SM, Mile High Club
Posts: 347
Originally Posted by small print
http://www.singaporeair.com/jsp/cms/en_UK/ppsclub_krisflyer/termsconditions-kf.jsp
16. A member’s KrisFlyer miles will expire after three years (or one year for miles received from contests) at 23:59 hours Singapore time (GMT +08:00 hours) on the last day of the equivalent month in which they were earned. For example, miles credited to a member’s KrisFlyer account in July 2011 will expire at 23:59 hours Singapore time (GMT +08:00 hours) on 31 July 2014.
17. KrisFlyer miles that are due to expire for the first time may be extended for a fee. For KrisFlyer members, miles may be extended once for a period of six months only. KrisFlyer Elite Silver, KrisFlyer Elite Gold and PPS Club members may extend their miles for a period of one year only.
18. KrisFlyer miles that are due to expire may be extended for a fee, up to five months ahead and inclusive of the current month, in blocks of up to three consecutive months.
16. A member’s KrisFlyer miles will expire after three years (or one year for miles received from contests) at 23:59 hours Singapore time (GMT +08:00 hours) on the last day of the equivalent month in which they were earned. For example, miles credited to a member’s KrisFlyer account in July 2011 will expire at 23:59 hours Singapore time (GMT +08:00 hours) on 31 July 2014.
17. KrisFlyer miles that are due to expire for the first time may be extended for a fee. For KrisFlyer members, miles may be extended once for a period of six months only. KrisFlyer Elite Silver, KrisFlyer Elite Gold and PPS Club members may extend their miles for a period of one year only.
18. KrisFlyer miles that are due to expire may be extended for a fee, up to five months ahead and inclusive of the current month, in blocks of up to three consecutive months.
Mar 31, 2014, 9:53 am
#88
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,574
Contrast to DL: I have 41,000 DL miles right now but I dread using them for any kind of Y ticket. I hold no status and I know that will be a dreadful travel experience. So I'll hold the miles...and potentially benefit when I can book a one-way J award in 2015.
Southwest's obvious disadvantage, of course, is no global partnerships. But I assume most fliers are aware of this going in...
Apr 1, 2014, 8:07 pm
#89
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: The city of sex and drugs and KLM
Programs: KLM FB, BA EC, Miles&Mafia, Delta SM, Mile High Club
Posts: 347
I've added Southwest to the list. They'd have a great program for non-americans if they join one of the three alliances 