Originally Posted by threetruck

My wife and I will retire in June and begin working in a Kenya orphanage this fall. We will be flying to and from Kenya once a year for as many years (goal is 25) as possible. We are very inexperiences in the frequent flyer world, and would like to stretch our mission dollars as far as possible. Thanks for any help you can give us.

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
Pdx.
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Coach.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
18k per person.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)
No.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? (Frequent upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, good award redemption rates, free lounge access, etc.)
Legroom, legroom, legroom, however I can get it (I'm 6-7).
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
Pdx to Nairobi for two every year. Also, we must fly out of the East Africa Union and back to Kenya once every year. It could be South Africa, Europe, etc..
(7) Preferred Airlines
None. Whoever's got the most legroom!
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Missions work.