flying fast

I have been a Northwest Gold elite member for years. As I have been living in Eastern Europe for some time, and the Northwest/KLM's routes that I have used seem to be disappearing or becoming more inconvenient, I would like to start using another program. Star Alliance is appealing, because Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, and LOT all service the cities I go to. I have already written a letter to be sent to the Miles & More department requesting that they automatically upgrade me to an elite status if I come over. My question is this: does it matter which airline in the Star Alliance that I switch to, as far as benefits are concerned? I will probably be using several airlines, but was wondering if one was better than another due to award upgrades, seat upgrades, etc.

I appreciate any tips or advice!

chalf

There is currently a related discussion in the Star Alliance forum in the context of a status match promotion in the UK. Many posters discuss and/or provide links to the various pros and cons of the Star Alliance programs.

Rudi

'our' BlondeBomber made a brilliant comparison sheet of the different StarAlliance frequent-flier-programs.

In this post
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum82/HTML/001814.html
you find the introduction, description of the different comparison sheets and then just click on the appropriate link there.

StSebastian

The general perception is that LH's M&M doesn't comp to Senator...you might want to look for a comp to a mid-tier level at a three tier program so you can start out *G. Don't know if that will work for you in your location, but check out BB's *A chart and see what might be the best for your travel patterns.

And yes...it matters a lot, but it depends on your flight patters for which one you want to sign up for.

And welcome to FT!

[This message has been edited by StSebastian (edited Mar 10, 2004).]

Sweet Willie

Agree on both statements!

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flying fast

Flyer talk,

Thanks for the responses everyone. I was away for a month and did not have the web page address. The comparison chart was great, but made me realize as much of the jargon I know, I do not know it all! There was a lot I had to figure out.

The web site is very fine for frequent flyers, and is pretty comprehensive. Now I know where to look for all my future questions.

Regards

ozstamps

If this thread was moved to the Star Alliance Forum (not sure why it was not actually?) you'd get a lot more response. IMO.

flipside

And with a few magic clicks.... off it goes!!!

TheGonch

I am in a similar boat. I am LH FTL, earning about 45k a year on SQ flights FRA-JFK, and take some additional trips within Europe, all economy out of my own wallet. I like having the lounge usage when available, but since I know where to pick up the free newspapers in FRA, I can live without it.

Given the changes to M&M, I am trying to divine whether another program will make better sense from August. Does anyone have any suggestions?

TheGonch

RichardMEL

I'm not fully up on the LH changes, but I understand they are cutting mileage earning on lower fares, and the usual kind of thing. Still, I think the original poster should prob go with LH Miles & More. Why? They live in Eastern Europe and have identified LO/LH/OS as airlines that serve the cities they will be going to/from. Since LH Miles&More covers all 3 airlines, flying on any of those will accrue status points, and any upgrades earned could be used on those sectors.

For the person who flies FRA-JFK on SQ a lot - why not funnel miles to SQ KF? At least you could then save up to upgrade sectors at some point - if you fly enough to make that a worthwhile thing. Otherwise look at the award charts vs. your earning rate and try and decide what might give you the best bang for buck.

TheGonch

Thanks, RichardMEL. I checked the KrisFlyer website. It looks like Gold status only takes 50k, which I would probably be able to reach if I forced a few thousand more miles on *A.

Anyone know if I could get KrisFlyer status match for my FTL status, given how much of it has been earned on SQ metal? Or is this a better question on the SQ forum?...

mmk318

Hi ! MM might have the advantage of being the Frequent Flyer Program for LH, OS and LOT. However, they are changing the rules of the program on Aug.1. If you fly with a discounted ticket in coach, you will not earn the full miles. Instead they will just credit a certain amount, which goes as low as 125 miles per flight. And this is nearly nothing !! I am currently collecting on MM with an FTL status. However, I also think of changing the program. If anybody knows a good program, just let me know. I am flying mostly LH.