Originally Posted by
AKGhost
Hey FTers,
I had a quick NRI Question. I am based in LAX and fly to CCU 2X a year ( Usually via some Star Alliance carrier) and fly around 2 - 3 transcons a year here in the US. I have ~ 300,000 Million Milers on Delta (when I was young I flew the JFK - BOM via FRA route a bit too much) but aside from that nothing else, no statuses.
My goal would be to find the cheapest fares to CCU in general while accruing miles on an Indian Airline to status so that after moving back to CCU I could have status, discounts etc, while flying domestically in India and outbound to SE Asia, Europe, and the U.S. CCU would be my home base in India.
- What airline frequent flyer program would you kind folks recommend?
- Is there a credit card or other means to boost status + mileage. An added bonus would be if it could be used in the United States.
.
Hi,
Your 1st goal as u say is to find and take the cheapest fare to CCU..So, I would see what are the options available for ur travel dates .. Normally I guess u would get AI, EK and sometimes LH or other airlines in ur shortlist...
For accruing those miles in Indian airline partners, as Saad said below both KF and 9W have very decent alliances globally.. But note that unless they are code-share , u will be able to get ur miles credited to tht FFP, but not status .. So, if u r looking for status miles, then u need to book on codeshare partners ( but I wouldn't do that, since my rule is to avoid codeshares if I can)..
IMHO, status within India is not very important since flights r short duration and unless u fly a real lot it tough to retain it..Codeshare as i said may be a lil expensive option but it
depends on the sector and load tht day..
Seeing this forum and being a member of 9W myself, I believe it may be a better option to become a member of KF's King club which has a partneship with Delta and Continental and gives 100% credit even for the lowest Y classes..U hv more partneship options with Jet, but the redemption options are less and KF is one the way to join the OW which will give u AA as an option later..
For Credit cards, both 9W with citibank and KF with Amex has CC's which will give u miles for spends..All are intl valid CC's..
Ofcourse others may hv their own views
