MSPeconomist

I don't think the OP has any miles or points at all at this stage. AFAIK he/she has listed flights taken, which need to be retroclaimed if possible. The question seems to concern which FF programs to join and where to credit miles for each flight/trip.

arollins

OP clearly says he has point w Qatar & Avianca, thus that is where he should credit the flights that have been taken by him. I used Qantas by error, should have been Qatar. He should read more about the programs he belongs, credit flights accordingly, and concentrate his flying to an alliance in order to maximize his earning potential. It appears his home airport is BOG, thus Avianca should be a primary carrier and is Star Alliance. Qatar, his other point program is One World, but, I'm not sure if this is the correct One World partner to earn miles. Not knowing anymore where his flying take him, or if he belongs to any other program, the current 1W flights he has taken should be credited to Qatar, as most other he should have been a member during or prior to taking the flights.

Mwenenzi

Not having claimed the miles/points yet restricts you options a lot.
How long ago were these flights?
Do you have the physical boarding passes?
Many ffp's require you to be a member at the time of the flight.
Most ffp's have a time limit on the date of the flight and date of the retro claim

FFP's have airline partners. For example Malaysian & Sri Lanka are partner of Qatar. You put in a retro claim for the MH & Sri Lanka flights with QR
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html

rajuabju

Another vote for WN. its such a short flight, you wont care to be upgraded to 1st much. WN ... so many flight options.

Btw, to the extent you can, AVOID SFO, and use OAK.

SFO = notorious for delays due to fog.
OAK = one of the easiest in and out airports in California.

I used to fly LAX to Bay Area weekly for 3 years... the few times I had to switch to SFO or SJC, I dreaded it.

On the other hand, if your goal is to accumulate status on another airline for the purpose of international reward redemption, AA would be my choice

dhruv26

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: Lounge access and extra luggage allowance
(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?)
Reply: Usually economy
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: Economy
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Pleasure. Can choose airline.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: London - Hong Kong, Hong Kong - Singapore
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: LHR/HKG
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: Marco Polo 13,462 miles, Krisflyer 6,702 miles, Virgin 13,433 miles
(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific


Live in Hong Kong but attend college in the UK (travel from LHR-HKG during holidays thrice yearly). Travel from HKG to SIN about twice a year and travel to India (usually Bangalore/Delhi/Bombay) from HKG once a year. Will also make a couple of other trips each year for holidays either from LHR or HKG. When travelling with my parents tend to use Star Alliance as my parents are PPS Solitaire members but when travelling alone (LHR-HKG) airline choice based on price.

JDiver

The problem with SFO is not fog, per se. It is the fact that the runway pairs were built with substandard separation )the 10-28 pair is built on a narrow landfill extension pier) which requires one of each runway pair be closed when there's any impediment to visibility (rain, not just fog, and rarely smog) and any other FAA mandated conditions that might call for traffic reduction and separation.

OAK would often be a preferred choice for that reason, and the OP indicates greater convenience for access reasons as well.

WN / Southwest seems to be the only airline flying BUR-OAK nonstop.

rajuabju

Thanks for clarifying; I always thought it was fog that hit that side of the bay but didnt impact the East Bay.

I learn something new everytime on FT

azepine00

Strongly disagree with wn recommendation. Unlike wn all majors will allow you standby or confirm same day flts free of charge so you can book tix on sale and then fly as needed depending on your schedule. Companion pass is of little value if you and spouse live in diffent cities. You ll have to line up in weird lines to board without any lounges if you get to airport early.

Between aa and ua there are pros and cons - aa has option of redeeming avios to keep costs down while ua has more flights.. aa program is better at least for now...

I did this for 2 years myself...

wmweeza

Not that you needed an update, but here it is anyway. Hubby likes to save money and I like to help him do that...so..

I tell hubby weeks ago "Tickets are over $100 cheaper if we book now". His reply "It's too early, just wait". One week ago "Can we book now?" ..."No honey lets wait".
Guess what the prices did? Yup, no more savings. If we book one of the airlines I wanted to try we'd pay $588 MORE because he didn't want to book early.
I had a weird experience with United, I'm still open to flying them but was hoping to try Virgin airlines. Now because of his Oh lets just wait" attitude I can't do that. From now on, I'll just book it myself. Tickets were $500, they are now $1200 on Virgin all because he dragged his heels, so next time I'll book it myself.
Tomorrow I'll do the actual booking when he gets home, though I highly doubt prices will fluctuate much in one day. Plus middle of the day flights are getting snatched up, I live 3 hours drive from the airport so I'd have to leave my house around 3am for an 8am flight and that's what time many of the flights are now available.
On the plus side this is now a cautionary tale for my husband on timing for holiday flights

Bowgie

I agree with all the above except for some of the Delta comments. They fly EMB-170's and CRJ900's on the route, which are quite comfy in first or coach. Longer segments like SEA-LAX serve LUVO-brand meals in first.

I see no sign of Delta giving up on their west coast regional service because it would be tantamount to giving up on their SEA hub.

Finally, Delta gives 500-miles minimum MQM's on any flight segment. United does too, but for their elites only. Connections help with status earning.

homanga

First Time poster so go easy on me.

Short background that I am getting ready to start a new travel job which will have me traveling for ~3 round trip segments per month. This will all be business related travel that is 100% covered by employer but I get to book the travel on my personal CC and get reimbursed monthly.

That being said, I am trying to chose what the most advantageous FFP/Travel Rewards CC would be for me. While I know this is FT; this in some degree applies to hotel as well given I will be booking my own hotels etc in the same form.

Appreciate any help/advice and apologies if this isn't the perfect forum for this. Below is the basic demographic to help with the above.

Questions
For members asking for information, to help people to assist you, can you please provide:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Upgrades, award travel, priority service, lounge access (in that order i'd say)

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Estimate ~25-30k miles but ~70 segments (lots of short flights based out of Chicago)
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Economy/Premium Economy
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Work, can fly any airline, first won't be covered for reimbursement
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
US Domestic out of ORD to lexington/memphis/nashville/etc
(6) What is your home airport?
ORD
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
No current status anywhere; just spent my 60k DL so basically no significant miles banked.
(8) Preferred Airlines
Fly most of pleasure on SW currently; no huge preference open to any and all given above post.


My intentions are to sign up for 1-2 CC's associated with said airline/hotel/car rental I choose to focus on and maximize benefits received through the above travel plans. Thoughts on which airline is likely to maximize these benefits (key note being my focus on flights taken will be on time and not necessarily minimizing direct costs as they are reimbursed).

Thanks Again.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

As the OP will be flying domestically out of ORD, AA or UA (each of which has a hub at ORD) would be the obvious choices.

To where does he want to fly when redeeming miles, and in what class of service?

homanga

Likely international and potentially business but economy, acceptable


And yes I have spent a decent bit of time looking at the FAQ and Newbie Threads. That being said looking for potential of combining both new FFP/CC to the most optimal given I will be using most of my travel for business without significant cost restrictions.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Take a look at the AA and UA redemption charts, and Google "ORD airport wiki" to see what international destinations have nonstop service on AA, UA, and their respective partners. Note that UA charges more miles for premium-cabin travel on partner metal than on UA metal; AA's premium-cabin rates are the same across carriers.

However, AA assesses hefty cash surcharges for long-haul award travel on BA, and more modest surcharges for award travel on IB. No surcharges on any other AA partner. UA does not assess cash surcharges for award travel on any partner.

While you certainly can get a credit card affiliated with your first choice of carriers, that might not be necessary or even optimal. An Amex premier Gold or Starwood card, or a Chase Sapphire Preferred card would earn points that could be converted to a number of different airlines (and some hotel programs). But if you opt to fly with AA, certain Citi/AA credit cards will earn you a 10% rebate on AAdvantage flight-award redemptions, and also make available reduced-rate redemptions to various North American award destinations on a rotating basis. The other benefits you would get from an airline-affiliated credit card will be duplicated by frequent-flyer elite status, which you would earn after a few months of your anticipated flying. (If you opt to go with AA, you can look into their Gold and Platinum "challenges," which would get you elite status more quickly.)

wmweeza

Can anyone explain the price gap? Why would Delta, United etc be around $450 and Virgin be $1010?

Nevermind, figured it out. I guess I'm trying to book too early? If I try booking for late October it comes out to $400 on Virgin, much closer to what I anticipated