Patron

Assuming a customer flies VIE-MUC-LAX-LAS vv on LH (LAX-LAS vv on UA) and wants to know, how many paid trips he needs to qualify for *G in any *A FFP, here are the results:

1. Paid discounted coach class ticket
2,70 Aeroplan/AC
2,99 Spanair Plus/JK
3,10 Frecuenta/MX
3,56 Diamond club/BD (requalification: 2,50)
3,58 Smiles/RG
3,88 KrisFlyer/SQ
3,88 Mileage Plus/UA
3,88 Royal Orchid plus/TG
3,99 EuroBonus/SK
5,01 Miles & More/LH/OS/LO (residents of Germany & Austria: 7,51)
5,54 Mileage Club/NH
7,14 Airpoints/NZ
7,76 Asiana Club/OZ (requalification: 3,10)

2. Paid business class ticket
1,49 Spanair Plus/JK
1,74 Frecuenta/MX
1,98 Diamond club/BD (requalification: 1,39)
2,00 EuroBonus/SK
2,16 Aeroplan/AC
2,38 Airpoints/NZ
2,50 Miles & More/LH/OS/LO (residents of Germany & Austria: 3,76)
3,10 KrisFlyer/SQ
3,10 Mileage Club/NH
3,10 Royal Orchid plus/TG
3,58 Smiles/RG
3,88 Mileage Plus/UA
6,21 Asiana Club/OZ (requalification: 2,48)

3. Paid first class ticket
1,22 Spanair Plus/JK
1,23 Frecuenta/MX
1,54 Diamond club/BD (requalification: 1,09)
1,72 Airpoints/NZ
1,74 Miles & More/LH/OS/LO (residents of Germany & Austria: 2,61)
1,81 Aeroplan/AC
2,00 EuroBonus/SK
2,60 KrisFlyer/SQ
2,60 Mileage Club/NH
2,60 Royal Orchid plus/TG
3,58 Smiles/RG
3,88 Mileage Plus/UA
5,20 Asiana Club/OZ (requalification: 2,08)

Warning:

• I hope there are no errors in my calculation!
• Using other carriers and/or routings may lead to other results!

Thank you mad_atta for correcting my Airpoints calculation!

[This message has been edited by Patron (edited 06-03-2003).]

Football Fan

As always, really good info! Thanks, Patron!

Gustaf

Really surprises me that Spanair is that easy in biz and first, didn´t have a clue about that

What happend to SK in First? :O

Great work Patron!

Gustaf

Patron

For paid First Class tickets EuroBonus offers the identical class of service bonus as for paid Business Class tickets. Therefore you need 2,00 trips as described and my assumption was 55k EB points are needed for *G qualification. Anyway, I updated the post and include EuroBonus in mentioned list.

Gustaf

To make it even more clear: Members in Sweden needs 100k to qualify for EuroBonus Gold, not very nice by SK but that´s the way it is

Gustaf

mad_atta

A very neat demonstration of why I, as a discount economy flier, have switched from NZ to AC after the 'revamp' of AirPoints - I could get *G five times over on Aeroplan without quite reaching it on AirPoints!!!

[This message has been edited by mad_atta (edited 06-03-2003).]

peter42

@Patron, could you calculate that for nonstop flights too, like FRA-NYC, or FRA-LAX ?

LondonElite

Great work Patron! Thanks

kawoh

mad_atta, I know exactly what you mean!! I think NZ are pretty darn tight when it comes to their program. They do have some very nice things in their program which is why I keep clocking up expenses on my Westpac c/card.

I shrug at AC though, their loyalty manager was recently in SYD presenting at a loyalty conference and they are getting tighter and tighter in their program as well. Any program which needs an ombudsman to manage flyer complaints also makes me think twice!

I like you usually fly discount economy so AC is fair from a bad lot. I guess it depends where you choose to redeem your awards.

Here is a rough comparison of an award on Air NZ from SYD-US on a range of *A programs:

NZ - 100k (LA only, otherwise 140k - earning is in KM not miles, but discount Y is only 70%)
LH - 90k (earning 1 to 1)
AC - 75K (earning 1 to 1? except some AC flights?)
MX - 70k (earning 1 to 1)
RG - 70k (earning 1 to 1)
UA - 60k (earning 1 to 1)

Is there any reason why you don't use UA as your program of choice? Is it a matter of ongoing stability? Remember AC is now in ch.11 too now...

Would you like to discuss this over a VB or a baileys and milk at forresters next week?

[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 06-03-2003).]

mad_atta

Patron, very interesting comparison but I think your figures for NZ AirPoints are actually a bit out.

As far as I can tell, according to the AirPoints guide the flights would earn the following:
VIE-MUC = 356km = 2 status credits in discount Y / 6 status credits in J
MUC-LAX = 9638km = 10 SC disc Y / 30 SC J
LAX-LAS = 380km = 2 SC disc Y / 6 SC J
Total roundtrip = 28 SC disc Y / 84 SC J

Star gold requires 200 status credits, which would therefore require 7.14 round trips in discount economy and 2.38 in business.

Far from a bargain (in discount Y, anyway), still, but rather more achievable!

mad_atta

Oops, we were posting at the same time.

My reasons for choosing Aeroplan over Mileage Plus:
First and foremost, because achieving *G is so much easier - this is a major benefit for me. Other reasons include stability (at the time I switched anyway - the day my first flights credited to AC they went into bankruptcy protection!!); other awards are cheaper on AC (e.g. Oz to any Pacific island for 35K in J - the sort of reward I might well use); and their elite rewards (in the form of mileage threshold bonuses) apply on all *A carriers, unlike UA where your status mileage bonuses only apply on UA - as I am unlikely to fly a great deal on either carrier (I fly NZ most frequently) that is important to me.

Having said that, Mileage Plus is a good programme - and I still belong to it, though I used up virtually all my miles and I'm not crediting to it at the moment. I also belong to NZ's programme, primarily to dump credit card points into or use for upgrades, but I'm so outraged by their earn/burn ratios and status qualification levels that I'm d@mned if I'm going to credit anything to it!

As for your kind invitation, I'll have to take a rain check! Quite apart from anything else, I'm unfeasibly busy at the moment and travelling a bit... but maybe (and I'm making no promises) some other time!