Hi Narob,
I did speak to Mexicana agents and they claim they are reviewing the Star Alliance deal again and might join them again, Not sure about that. There are rumors that they might join One World. But what I would do right now is keep those 25K aside for a future trip within the US on United as of now via the Star Alliance. I am sure before Mar 04 they will announce what they have decided.
Now since you are in MIA, i suggest start racking up miles on AA as the best option. AA & BA to India via LHR is a great option. You can get awesome deals from MIA to LHR for under $500 and upgrade those using the VIPOWs to Business Class and use only 60K miles from LHR to India on BA Business Class.
Get the AA MasterCard as well and get some additional miles and move the SPG points to AA. REMEMBER DO NOT MOVE THIS TO BA at any cost. Move to AA only.
Now if India is not where you wish to travel, I still strongly recommend AA since it has a better reach and talking of destinations other than Europe, with AA's parters most destinations are covered including Africa, South Pacific & Asia. The mileage program is decent and moving SPG points there would be the best bet.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by narob:
Swaghmar,
You have been great in giving advice in the past about Starwood/Amex/ Mexicana combo. We are concerned about which place to transfer our miles from Starwood. You seem torn between United and American. Can you advise for the party, that just earns mileage from credit card spending--about 80K/Yr? We unfortunately, had just put 20K miles/25K with Starwood bonus to Mexicana. Are they redeemable on United until March 2004. We also want to try to transfer miles from Starwood to the best mileage plan for us. We like to use FF miles for Biz class or better every few years to somewhere exotic--not Europe--that's a short hop as far as we're concerned. Please advise best plan for travel after March 2004 and what to do with 25K miles at Mexicana. We're in Florida, bye the way. Thanks ever so much</font>