Updated 10.22.99

1. Make sure the fare class you fly is eligible for point accumulaton in the program you'll be depositing your points. And watch out for codeshare flights. I'm not on any codeshare flights so have not researched this point but from subsequent posts it has been reported that CP codeshare flights do not count on CPlus. Best thing to do is to call the program you want your flight to qualify on and make sure that the flight is eligible. And get everything in writing - have the agent note your file or e-mail the info to you.

My points will go to CP, AA, BA Canada and .... haven't decided on the fourth yet though I know it won't be QF or AY(see #2). I will be flying on CP, AA, BA, AY and IB in order to qualify. If you're going with Canadian Plus, please note the following:

IB - only full fare economy, business and first fares may earn points (however IB domestic full fares aren't too expensive!)
CX - the following fares may not earn points: Z,R,U,V,N,Q,T,X, & E.
AY - the following fares may not ear points: D & N. And these flight ranges: AY1001-4000 & AY7001-9999.
BA - the following fares may not earn points: E,O,P,T,X, and Z (from CPlus' April, 99 membership guide)
AA - the following fares may not earn points: transatlantic Q (from CPlus' April, 99 membership guide).

Of course I am relying on the other programs following similar rules but my queries with BA Canada and AA seem to suggest this.

2. Make sure the frequent flyer program you choose to earn your points on give you the best bang for your buck and offers you awards that make sense to you based on where you live and personal preferences. As already mentioned in other threads, QF is quite lame. Well I've since found out so is AY. In both programs your 100K points go a lot less since their awards are based on kilometres. Plus you apparently have to pay a fee to join QF! I also find CX awards high priced. Hence my indecision on the fourth program to use though at this point it will be between IB and CX.

3. If you're going for more than 2x100K bonuses and wish to minimize price (airport taxes can be hefty!) and travel time .... choose destinations that require a stopover (with a change of aircraft/flight number please!). E.g. instead of two return trips on AY I am taking a single trip with connections outbound and inbound.

4. If you go the route of giving your ff number at reservation (i.e. different ff programs for different segments) or at check in .... don't rely on the system to do this correctly and without hitches. Once points are credited to a program that's where they'll stay and they may not be transferred to another. I'm leaning towards a non automated approach so in case I'm late for a flight and forget to verify my boarding pass, I won't end up short one seg on one program and one seg extra on another! Of course this begs the question ... do I have more faith in the postal system? Whatever you choose to do, don't lose your boarding passes or ticket coupons!

5. If you are not already a member of the ff program(s) you'll be accumulating your points on, make sure you join it/them before you take your flight(s) ... the programs usually stipulate that you have to have signed up before flying in order to earn miles (i.e. no retroactive credits). And apparently AY requires that you have joined their program before the start of the promotional period in order to be eligible for the bonus. From what I have seen so far none of the other ff programs have this stipulation but don't quote me on this!

Note portions of this post have been gleaned from other posts by other mileage enthusiasts (thanks). Have fun all!

[This message has been edited by Gabriel (edited 10-22-1999).]