Aphrodite91

So I was all set with going with WorldPerks, but then I found out I might move to Australia for 6 months to a year in about a year and a half and NWA doesn't have a partner that lets me earn miles US-Australia. I was then curious what would be the best FF program for my purposes.

So some specifics: I live in LA and my family lives in NJ so I fly LAX-EWR 3 times a year and my primary concern is trying to get upgrades on this route even if it means taking a connecting flight or whatever. I also plan to go to Europe twice this year so I'd like to earn full EQM on the routes and I also need to fly to YUL in May. I may be able to get 50,000 EQM if I add in some mileage runs and if I get full EQM on all my flying. I'm basically looking for an FF program in which there are some options on getting 100% EQM when flying to Europe, but also one with flexibility so I don't end up living in Australia and not getting any miles. Any ideas would be really appreciated.

crhptic

Strictly speaking, it is not IMPOSSIBLE to earn NW miles going to Australia. However, you would have to go either through ICN on KE, or through Europe on KLM/AF. Either of those options is likely to be completely impractical from a financial standpoint, and is definitely impractical from a time & convenience standpoint. So, I'll grant you that it's not the best program if you're going to be flying back and forth US-Australia regularly.

The 2 airlines that have nonstops from LAX-SYD are United (Star Alliance) and Qantas (Oneworld). United also has service SFO-SYD and Air Canada (another Star Alliance carrier) has nonstop HNL-SYD. So strictly from the standpoint of Australia access, you're probably best off going with United since you have 3 nonstop flights US-Australia per day in that alliance vs. one in Oneworld and none in Skyteam.

The Europe flights are pretty much a wash; any major US airline can fly you there and you will earn full EQMs in their program. The only catch might be if you flew BA across the Atlantic, which does not earn miles in AA. Again, it seems a slight nod to Star Alliance over Oneworld.

The flight to YUL - again, anyone can do it, but Star Alliance will have the only nonstop service LAX-YUL (Air Canada).

As far as going back and forth to NJ - you don't say where in NJ, but if you don't mind flying into a New York area airport you might be able to experience United's P.S. out of LAX. AA doesn't have anything comparable.

As far as getting upgraded on the transcons...you probably actually have a better shot of that on United or AA than you would on a Skyteam airline anyway. Skyteam airlines all give complimentary upgrades to their elites (and, in the case of CO and NW, reciprocally to one another's elites) so unless you are a Plat, it may be difficult to get upgrades on heavily traveled routes with lots of elites (such as transcons). AA and UA both make you use some form of coupon to get upgrades, but you earn the coupons by flying and/or can purchase them. I don't fly either airline transcon enough to know what your chances of finding yourself shut out of upgrades as a low-level elite would be; perhaps others can speak to that better. However, I would add that on UA you can get into E+ even as a low-level elite, which, while not first class, is better than nothing (i.e. better than a regular coach seat on NW/CO/DL/AA/WN/whoever).

For all of the above reasons, I would probably go with United based on your upcoming flying patterns, but would advise you to get more than one opinion from others more knowledgable than me, too!

Aphrodite91

Sorry, not very terminology savvy. What is P.S.? Also, United doesn't give complementary upgrades for elites if their first class isn't full? You can only get this using one of their certificates?

I guess going to a NY area airport isnt a big deal although I really prefer going to EWR - just every time I fly from JFK I end up having some problems.

mahasamatman

P.S. is Premium Service. It's 3-class service (similar to international flights) from SFO and LAX to JFK. There's more info on united.com or you can check out the Mileage Plus forum.

The only "complimentary" upgrade you can get on UA is if you're an elite and purchase a Y or B fare. Other than that, your options are upgrade certs earned as a 1K (100,000 miles), 500-mile upgrades earned as a lower-level elite, or miles.

777-DCA

If you want "free" upgrades which do not require 500-milers or other sorts of upgrades you can fly either Northwest, Delta, Continental, or US.

With Continental they have partnered with Qantas, but you don't earn any elite qualification miles (only redeemable miles on certain fares). You could take the true-FTer route and go with Virgin Atlantic to Australia, you will have to connect in LHR from/to the United States. You can earn Continental EQMs with Virgin Atlantic but only on certain fares.

US now gives free upgrades and you can take United to Australia and earn EQMs.

pinniped

Aphrodite, for what you described, you should focus on United Mileage Plus for your mileage and status accrual. I'm personally a bigger fan of AA, but UA gives you a lot more options than anything else.

crhptic

Right - if you want to get in for free, you have to be on a Skyteam airline, or US (which I did not know until reading this thread, but then again I haven't flown US in about 3 years).

It's a double-edged sword, however; if you get in for free, so does everyone else, and unless you are a top-tier elite, it is HARDER to get in under a "complimentary" system than a "coupon" system. For example, on AA, I never made it past Gold (the lowest level elite in their system), but I NEVER was unable to upgrade a flight if I wanted to. I was limited by the number of coupons I received (which were, in turn limited by how much I flew), and by my assessment of whether it was worth it to spend $X to buy enough coupons to upgrade a particular flight, but the point is, if I wanted to upgrade any given flight, and I either earned or bought the coupons to do so, I got to upgrade. I never found myself "shut out" because first class was totally full. As a low-level elite on NW, I often find that first class gets filled with higher-status elites. On AA, while I had a limited number of opportunities to upgrade (i.e. I wasn't going to upgrade myself every flight), at least I got to choose when those upgrades occurred. On NW, it is theoretically possible that I get upgraded all the time; in actuality, I find I get upgraded about 25% of the time as a Silver.

In other words, there is a much higher incentive to reach the top elite tier in a NW/CO/DL type arrangement.

psyflyer

Using virgin to OZ via LHR from LAX???? makes no sense. (any how is this the true-FTer route? seems to me the dumbest route to take...no offense)
stick with Air NZ or Quantas... especially if your planning to go P/F/J.
My personal preference (meaning, miles and all theother perk stuff aside) is by far air NZ. BP is unbeatable price/reward-wise...

gemac

Since you don't mention any current status, let's talk about that too. On AA, you can do a Challenge to get Gold (entry level) or Platinum (mid level) status within 3 months. See the sticky at the top of the AA forum for details. You can then request a comp to UA (or wherever else you decide to end up). See the Status Match Master Thread on this forum. No need to fly for a year without status.

777-DCA

I only telling the OP what his/her options are, and going to Australia via LHR from LAX is one option. Would you rather have me not tell the OP his/her options?

Aphrodite91

Wow, thank you so much. That's the solution. I can't believe I didn't think of status matches. I worked it all out. I will fly to Europe using an AA partner (LAX-Europe is far), gain Platinum status via challenge, then get a status match on CO or NW, maintain the status next year and then just get a status match with UA once I move to Australia. This is excellent. And I guess after I fly to Europe, which will be this summer, the airlines situation (esp. with NW) will be more clear and then I can decide whom to go with, but there's no point in using anything other than AA to gain status.

777-DCA

There could be a problem with you flying to Europe with an AA partner. Be careful if you fly British Airways, because the amount of elite qualification points you receive depend on the fare class you paid for. It is the same for Aer Lingus, Finnair, and Iberia.. Also, the AA challenge (Platinum as well as Gold) is based on the amount of [/b]POINTS[/b] you receive and not on the miles flown. Each fare class receives different amount of elite qualification points.

Also, the status match is a one-time deal. Once you ask UA (or any other airline) for a status match they will not do it again, so use it wisely. Also, depending on when you submit your status match request to NW, Continental, or UA your elite status "length" will vary -- you could have the status granted to you for a few months or a year. See the respective boards for the airline on FT if you have questions or consult the Status Match Master Thread.

Aphrodite91

Ok, totally new plan now. I realised that awards flights to Australia on UA are 60,000 miles and 20,000 miles within Australia, which will give me a chance to visit some of some of Cairns, Darwin and Tasmania while living in Australia. So I'll get status via Platinum Challenge on AA, try to get a status match to UA, collect miles and then have a super time traveling around Oz.

777-DCA

UA was the best choice all along.