JamesMQLD

Hi

I just wish to seek comment on the M&S programs vs what else is out there

We have flow TK business class for 2 European trips and have over 35,000points each.

We are planning to go to the UK again this year.

What i found was

1. TK M&S charge USD to transfer points to family members - my other FF programs does not - just limits one transfer per year
2. The fees and charges for a rewards flight is 469USD - almost half the fare!
3. The points vary for a guaranteed seat - greatly

So....shopping around on flightscanner today - the use of the TK M&S to save a seat (3pax) does not stack up (MNL to LON) compared to other Asean and MENA carriers without use of mileage points

Anyway - it is what it is. Just seems a shame really.

I am just wondering what other people have found out using TK M&S program or can suggest other way to make better use of points.

Many thanks


James M

craigthemif

45,000 miles gets you a one-way flight in Business Class from Asia to Europe. That is much better value than using miles for an Economy reward and paying the surcharges. (if paying surcharges, at least fly in J...)

It is also the fewest number of miles I'm aware of for such a long-haul reward from a Star Alliance airline.

There are unquestionably other frequent flyer programmes that don't add surcharges, but then you will require substantially more miles in the first place.

Free mileage transfers between people are actually quite rare because the option gets abused.

Just stick with it, and use your miles on Business Class (or to upgrade an Economy ticket to Business Class). There really are much worse ffp out there...

Enthilza

I agree with craig. The fact that status is granted for 2 years (compared to just 1 for most FFPs) is a nice feature, the accrual rate (if you do fly TK) is pretty good and as craig stated the miles required for awards is much lower than what you will see in other airlines.

And yes, use your miles for Business flights, don't waste them on Y tickets.

lento

Good thing is that it is quite easy compared to others to maintain status.
If you don't fly TK, miles are almost worthless.

AirCanada881

Can't you fly Star Alliance partners with TK miles?

lento

Yes you can, but surcharges, taxes etc would be so high, and very difficult to find award availibility. For example if you use points to book economy tickets, sometimes you can find cheaper tickets than the paid surcharges and taxes.

craigthemif

I don't know what the current status is, but I believe you used to have to physically visit a TK office to pay the taxes on a partner reward. And that's assuming you can navigate the language barrier with a call centre to get something put on hold.

For most people, TK miles are best for online bookings of TK flight rewards...

gr8pirate

My local TK office (LAX) now processes payments via e-mail, you need to fill out some forms and send copy of ID.

AirCanada881

Anyone ever score SQ J F or TG F with these miles?

Pendrive

Upgrading an economy ticket to business uses as many miles as buying a business ticket for miles in the first place. So if you want to use miles for business, do that directly. Otherwise if you buy an economy ticket and upgrade it to business you will find yourself using the same number of miles, and having to pay an economy fare on top.

AirCanada881

yes the difference being that business class award availability is nonexistent on alot of routes (EZE SFO LAX CPT to name a few)

craigthemif

I'm not 100% sure, but I was under the impression that TK upgrades booked into any J code inventory, whereas the pure award inventory was more restricted. Otherwise it would clearly make no sense to charge the same for an upgrade as a pure award.

And I'm guessing that there is no additional co-pay on the upgrade to cover higher surcharges.

But of course, you would earn miles on the underlying fare and people might be forced to buy Y due to company policies, so there might be some random reasons for wanting to buy and upgrade...

gr8pirate

In my case, taxes and fees for an award business class booking were high enough in comparison to a paid economy ticket that I just bought and upgraded the ticket.

Might as well pay a little more and actually get the miles if it's a long trip.

Rescmajster

no need to transfer miles to family members...just request for a family account and you can automatically merge your miles with your wife's ones.
status miles keep being independent, but all the bonus miles go to a single account (supposedly yours) and yo can use them for you or your wife at convenience.

pablitoooooo

Adding to this, the IAH office is doing this too, and my office at BIO (Spain) is now also able to finalize Miles & Smiles award bookings: they can contact a support center and take credit card payments. Finally it seems like this issue has been fixed.

I agree with others that this program is very generous: you just need to fly crazy one year (80 k) and you get EP/*G, or if you don't care for the free 2 yearly upgrades stick to E/*G (40 k). You get to keep your *G status for 4 (!!!) years total no matter what with the first option and for 2 years with the second. Once you have the status it's much cheaper to renew: you just need to have a good game plan every other year to earn the 40 or 30 k for EP or E respectively In one year or 65/40 k over two years. Finding a cheap 100% mileage accrual economy ticket is a good way to do that (I have found SQ IAH-SIN-MNL or BKK tickets in W to be great, as they give you 20 K for about 700$).

M&S is especially cool if your travels make it convenient for you to fly TK, but even if not, their *G will grant you access to UA lounges on all *A flights, including domestic UA ones. It also allows you to do free same-day changes with UA through their app under the usual rules for that procedure.

As someone who doesn't fly crazy much and cannot afford to spend tons of $ on airfare, I have found this to be the most affordable and reliable way to get and keep *G, especially compared to LH's Miles & Less stinginess with status or UA's changes to MileagePlus over the past years (PQD requirement, revenue-based accrual, etc.).