Originally Posted by
ShyGuyCalif
Air Canada miles might not be very useful as I can't use them to anywhere but canada. Can I transfer them to United??
As others have mentioned, AC miles (and UA miles) can be used on any Star Alliance carrier.
1. Ability to collect miles which I can use for flights between US and Asia. I feel sticking with Star Alliance is good options.
You'll be collecting those miles 500 at a time. If you do it that way you'll end up with at most 25k miles and perhaps another 12.5k to 25k in status bonuses for at most 50k.
2. On time and ease of checkin at airports.
Don't walk...RUN! and enroll yourself in NEXUS. This is a secure traveler program that will allow you to enter Canada and the US almost always avoiding lineups and talking to customs and immigration people. This is the most important way to save time at the airport - far more important than your choice of carrier.
Be aware that both YUL and LGA are prone to weather delays and congestion issues all year round.
Please recommend me based on your thoughts.
I'm not sure how important cost and flexibility are, but you may also wish to consider Air Canada flight passes. It seems to cost at least $470 per round trip (230 per segment) with advance purchase and selecting the cheapest flights. Prime time flights could be lots more. Flying week in and week out could see change and cancellation fees pile up - or not at all. Who knows.
AC fares come in three flavours: Tango Plus (nonrefundable economy, change fee, no standby), Latitude (full fare economy) and a few Executive (business class) options.
You can purchase AC passes in 10 segment packs at each level for $281 per segment for Tango Plus ($75 change fee) or $388 per segment in Latitude. These are fixed prices and not all that dependent on availability until the flight is seriously full.
The Latitude passes offer
free upgrade to business class if there are any empty seats 48 hours before departure, and are fully flexible. You can also go standby on earlier flights, for example.
If you are certain to travel 8-10 segments per month for a year, you could consider the Unlimited Passes, which give you unlimited travel for a monthly fee. A six month pass at Tango Plus and 8-10 segments a month works out to $213 to $270 per segment or so. At Latitude you're looking at $295 to $370 per flight (flexible with free upgrades).
A nice bonus with the unlimited passes is that you get 10000 miles per month fixed earning with Tango Plus and 15000 per month fixed with Latitude. You would also be granted instant Elite status (Star Alliance Gold with lounge access and priority everything) with the Latitude option. If you want miles and you are really flying with such regularity between YUL and LGA, this would be the best way to get them.
If you managed to accumulate 100000 of these miles using one of these pass options you would become top tier on Air Canada - Super Elite, which has benefits many people find useful. If you were to earn 35000 miles you would earn Elite status - a decent mid tier program.
You could use these passes to travel from EWR as well (and to and from a variety of other US and Canadian cities).
Flight Pass information relevant to you (assuming you live in the US) is on the US edition of the AC website - look under Flight Passes.
One big variable here - will you have lots of other flights, or almost all LGA-YUL? Because once you throw in a few long haul flights here and there the calculus might change.