SENNINHA

Hi everybody

i am in a middle of a puzzle trying to figure out wich frequent flyer programm to choose

my plan was to build with Etihad ( allmost Gold ) but the new rules are killing me.
I am about to buy a business class ticket to USA and i am not sure it will be Etihad.
I can buy EVA AIR or UNITED and make my Mileage Pus stronger
I can buy AA or QATAR to start collecting with ONEWORLD ( and keep travelling Etihad )
or buy etihad and collect the miles on oneworld
If i decide to move ONEWORLD, do you think i should enroll AA or QATAR ?
i am french living in THAILAND
therefore i have access to french and thai credit cards

Thanks for your suggestions


(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
good service on ground , extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates and earning miles in cheap economy fares

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
about 70000
my yearly travels are as following, allways departing from BKK
5 trips to Europe ( 3 France 1 UK 1 Germany )
1 Bahrain
1 USA
1 Tokyo
1 malaysia
1 Shanghai

i pay all in economy except the US trip wich i offer myself business class and my goal is to use my miles to reward the US trip in premium class

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Economy except the 1 US trip per year
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
i travel for work and i choose and buy all my tickets
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
asia - europe
BKK AUH CDG
(6) What is your home airport?
BANGKOK

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
I curently have basic status at UNITED with 20000 miles left on it
i also have etihad Silver and only need 1 flight to be Gold ( 30000 on it )
Flying Blue ivory 35000 miles thanks to AMEX AIRFRANCE


(8) Preferred Airlines
ETIHAD QATAR EVA

sbm12

The converse of this is that WN allows all other changes for free. Also, if the OP's flying is just that route then they are not likely to have sufficient elite status so there will be fees for those same-day changes.

Unclear that this is the case.

You can buy in to the lounges the same way; just depends on the terminals. And neither OAK nor BUR have lounges anyways. Lining up is no different than what UA does and there's no requirement to do it; you can board later if you want, just like on every other airline.

Utazo

Hi All,

I was based in Europe and used Lufthansa MM program for business and personal travel. Recently I reached Senator status and moved to SFO. I'd appreciate your suggestions on which ff program to join, eventually first with status match, if possible/realistic. I would like to use the points earned to buy award ticket for our family visiting us from Europe.
In more details, my answers to the questionnaire:


1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
upgrades, priority services, baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, lounge access, etc.
>>> Reply: award redemption (rates and access), possible upgrades

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
less than 25000 miles, 50000+ miles and 20-25 flights, etc.
>>> Reply: 50000+ miles:3-4 business class SFO to Europe, 4-5 transcontinental to East Coast on business, occasional US 2-3 domestic flights

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
first, business, premium economy, economy
>>> Reply:business/economy about 75/25%

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
>>> Reply: Yes, I'm quite flexible. I travel for both work and pleasure.

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply: transatlantic and transcontinental domestic US

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply:SFO

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: Miles and More Senator, I still have 60k points, I also have 120k Delta points

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply:not really, I found Lufthansa reliable and of consistent quality.

As additional information, I have MM credit card and Amex delta gold, SPG and Citi premier

Thank you!

JerryFF

Definitely not correct unless you have elite status. Most majors charge $50 or $75 for same day changes or standby.

Mwenenzi

How long is living in SFO for? A short time or for ever?
For work travel do you have a choice of airline or does a corporate policy need to be complied with?

USA based airline ffp's tend to more generous (earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry) than non USA based airline ffp's

You could join UA. If you have a non USA address [] you do not have the $$ rules for status. Use your M&M status for the benefits, then change ff number at the gate:- may work or may not

You will not get a status match in the same alliance (i.e. UA)
AA do not match, but offer a challenge

Utazo

Thanks for the advice!
I plan for long term, I have flexibility choosing the airline.
I was wondering how to accelerate UA status: could this or something similar work?:
- status match LH senator to Alitalia
- status match (or challenge) Alitalia gold to UA?

azepine00

Ummm with all due respect lets see...

Op is a plat on ua.

Op is from lax ans his wife took a job in bay area - seems like they will indeed live in different cities

Boarding after everyone on wn means a middle seat unlike majors with seat assignments, e+ and possible upgrades.

Lounges would be in sfo and lax since oak and bur are not really good options with majors to begin with but op seems flexible there...

dkjb3t4

I'm flying within China from time to time and was wondering which mileage programs (both airline or credit card) offer good value.

My questions are the following:
Are there any excellent frequent flyer programs among Chinese airlines?
Are there any programs which allow you to transfer miles from one of the credit cards?
Are there any programs with good redemption value either for premium cabins or for economy?

greycap7

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
upgrades, priority services, baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, lounge access, etc.
>>> Reply: upgrades, good award redemption rates, lounge access.

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
less than 25000 miles, 50000+ miles and 20-25 flights, etc.
>>> Reply: Will be flying about 2-3 flights per week.

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
first, business, premium economy, economy
>>> Reply: Economy

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
>>> Reply: I can choose airlines for the most part, and I travel for work.

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply: Domestic east coast.

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: DAY, CVG

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: NO

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: None.

stompey55

Found out today I am going to be traveling to Kiev ~4x a year in at least premium economy from the US. I also travel to see my folks in a different part of the country. I have no idea where to join or rather credit since I tend to use my miles to fly myself and family around as well

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
upgrades, priority services, baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, lounge access, etc.
>>> upgrades, good award redemption

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
less than 25000 miles, 50000+ miles and 20-25 flights, etc.
>>> At least 40000 just in base miles, but class of service bonuses can help, at least 24 segments a year

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
first, business, premium economy, economy
>>> econ, prem econ

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
>>> I can choose for work as long as within reason. Travel for pleasure as well

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Transatlantic - 4x RDU-EWR/IAD/ORD-FRA/MUC-KBP. Then domestic from RDU-ALB/BOS and personal travel after

6. What is your home airport?
>>> RDU

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Lost status on UA. Focus for 2016...

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> LH, UA, B6, LX. Though have CSP, Plat Amex and AA Plat cards - so for awards i'd fly *A or OW

Thanks!!

Mwenenzi

What airlines can fly you to Kiev and/or in PE?

For upgrades you are likely to be disappointed unless flying USA based airline. With non USA airlines always expect to fly in the class/cabin you buy.

For upgrades the general rule is you can only upgrade a flight marketed (flight number) and operated (metal) by the airline of your frequent flyer programme (no codeshares) with your airlines upgrade instrument (e.g. SWU, miles) or complementary with status (if applicable). All subject to the t&c's of your FFP and your paid ticket. Low cost tickets are often not eligible for upgrades. However as is the way with FFP's there are some upgrade exceptions

stompey55

Choices are usually: UA, LH, BA (but this has seemed to be most expensive), AF, DL (KLM/AF flights)

Eta Theta

I am looking for advice as a newbie to frequent flying. I will be doing a lot of flying in Europe in 2016, then internationally in 2017. I've flown on mostly budget airlines previously so this is very new to me. UK based. Star Alliance looks appealing because it has the most airlines subscribed to it. What would you advise?

## My Questions

1. If I achieve a high tier status, on say "Star Alliance" on a particular airline will I receive the same benefits on another associated airline? I am wondering if it is worth using Aegean Airlines to start with.

I've read the FAQ in this forum so I've answered the questions:

## FAQ Questions

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
1. Priority services, especially if I can get fast bag drop. I want to avoid long queues.
2. Extra baggage allowance (one bag, aside from hand luggage would be very useful)
3. Lounge access
4. Upgraded class/discounted flights

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
<25000 in Europe, <25 ;25000-50000 international, ~25-50.

Internationally I am prepared to fly from Europe to Australia and back if it gets me the miles. It is hard to judge precisely just how much flying I will be doing in 2017 but it will be great if know what to aim for.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
I have been using Skyscanner for a while now but I will be more flexible in the coming year. Economy.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
I can choose whatever airline or class I want.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
See (2);

(6) What is your home airport?
MAN - Manchester Airport currently but probably looking to be in Budapest and Berlin for most of 2016.

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
I have none of these, yet!

Reply:
(8) Preferred Airlines
None.

Utazo

Is there a "non-credit card" way to start United on a bit higher (at least silver) way after being Miles and More Senator?

lakersgo

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
Reply: Good award redemption rates, baggage allowance, upgrades

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: Currently less than 10,000 miles a year but thinking about flying more (20,000 to 30,000) in the future. I want to travel around the world with a couple of domestic trips too.

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
Reply: Economy. Whatever the cheapest.

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Travel for pleasure. No preference on airlines as long as it's not charing everything like Frontier does.

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
Reply: Domestic. Perhaps a couple of trip to Europe or Asia.

6. What is your home airport?
Reply: This could change. But as of now, it's SFO/OAK. I could move back to Washington, DC in a year or two. So please keep this in mind.

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
Reply: I have an account with United MileagePlus. This is opened when I signed up for Chase Explorer a few years ago. The card has been cancelled and my MileagePlus points (8000 points) will expire by 10/31/15. Is it worth keeping it? Or should I just sell it and start afresh?

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
Reply:None.