prs5117

Hi all,
I have a new job that will require me to travel frequently, but I don't have much experience with the system so I have a few questions.

For background, I am based between Philadelphia and Newark, so either of those airports are good for me.

I will be flying to Europe around 4 x a year. And a trip to Asia 1 or 2 x per year along with various inter-US travel.

Is United the best choice for me?
Which credit card should I get?
Does having 11,000 SAS points this year help me at all?

Thanks for any help!

malmostoso

Hello prs5117 and welcome to FT!

First things first, you should try reading the various FAQ threads scattered around.
Regarding your questions, make sure you check out the sticky thread on the various *A FFPs.

The most important factor is whether you will fly economy or premium cabins, and what you are looking for in a FFP. If you want to redeem free flights, then UA is a good choice, as taxes are quite low. If on the other hand you want to get perks such as lounge access, SK's program is not that bad, as their Gold status is relatively easy to achieve at 45k points in a year.
Of course staying with SK would mean very limited credit card options.

Gamecock

While the kneejerk answer is UA out of Newark you may want to consider AA out of PHL and BA out of EWR. (Credit to AA)

As already stated above, it all depends on what your priorities are.

1KHI

Another very important factor is whether you will achieve 100K miles or not. If you do, probably executive platinum with AA will be your best choice, as it tends to be superior to 1K on United, especially out of EWR vs PHL. If you will fly less than 100K but more than 75K miles, then probably UA platinum is better than AA platinum. At 50K, it might be a tie between both programs.

djjaguar64

I would see where in Europe you are flying to, then based on that, chose the Star Alliance member such as SN Brussels or Turkish Airlines. TK has a 2 year validity for Gold.

dvs7310

With the domestic travel included, unless your employer pays for domestic F then I'd probably go UA without question so you have free economy plus as well as enhanced baggage allowance if/when needed. UA doesn't extend many benefits other than the minimum of what's required to *G members of other airlines.

If you did decide to go with AA/OneWorld instead then AA does extend MCE to OW Saph members.

Someone mentioned that if you will get 100k miles a year then AA was superior and I might have agreed before but AAdvantage is changing next year and I think UA 1K may be back as equals, especially considering that status miles are much easier to earn in *A than OW if flying partner airlines frequently.

sebanto2001

You could also consider BA, you could achieve easily BA Silver and that would open you lounge access when flying domestic with AA in Y + 1 free checked luggage.
When flying to Asia, you could use Finnair -> good prices in premium cabin and still credit TP to BA.
The only con is the high YQ surcharges when redeeming avios (miles) for reward flights.

dvs7310

That's a fair plan, and honestly the YQ isn't always high on Avios redemptions, it depends heavily on the carrier. My biggest gripe with Avios is that it's point to point so if you need a connecting flight it's multiple awards vs one award for the total distance (as it would be in other total distance based programs). This is contrary to the reality of connecting tickets often being cheaper when using cash than non-stop on routes where non-stop is available.

I personally like Avios for certain types of redemptions but I live in a major international hub as does the OP (NYC as a whole, not necessarily EWR), but it's a not always a great program for people in small and mid-sized cities. I wouldn't use it as my primary program myself, but I can get all the Avios I need from Amex spend.