Originally Posted by anishub

There are no known IGI airport (is probably Indra Gandhi International, you are referring to) it is called DEL in airport codes.

One of the good option, will be to fly via the Pacific, instead of Atlantic. You could add an additional stopover in either BKK/SIN/HKG. You could use UA MP to collect all miles and start your trip from one of this cities to NYC. Getting to any of this cities are usually very cheap on the regular carriers or even some LCCs.

Originally Posted by Mr. Bean

If you're going to do that, I would join AC Aeroplan to get *G status for 35,000 miles. Then you can get lounge access for all your trips, even the domestic ones in the US. Just credit all your *A flights to Aeroplan. This gives you the option to fly either LH, LX or CO TATL to India (and a bunch of other *A, too).

IMO, JetPrivilege is not ideal due to high redemption rates and YQ fees. Unless you plan to do a lot more flying than 2 rts a year, I would avoid the program.

As for Air India, your redemption (and earning) options will be rather limited until/if they join *A. And then... who knows. And in the (unlikely?) event that they do join *A, you can then credit those flights to Aeroplan

Originally Posted by aktchi

Hi Sahil, I have been flying US-India for 25+ years and still cannot guess with any accuracy which airline is going to offer the cheapest fare just once a few months from now, let alone for several years in a row.

The best you can do is join a program which is a member of an alliance. One of the Star Alliance (*A) airlines should serve you well. Then fly a *A carrier each time - see staralliance.com for a list - whenever possible and credit the miles to your primary program.

Sometimes it will happen that the cheapest fare is not from star alliance: the cheapest *A fare could be $1000, but Etihad might be offering $800. In this case you'll have to choose between benefits of program loyalty and saving money. All of us have to make such calls every now and then. However, absent huge savings, I see no reason to prefer a stand-alone airline like Etihad or Jet.

Good luck. Let us know what you decide.