Originally Posted by
irishguy28
You need to decide what is the priority for you - and make your decision on that.
You don't really explain why you prize status so highly. For someone who only flies 2-4 times a year (or is there lots of shorthaul flying as well that hasn't been mentioned?), status is pretty meaningless - status is something that has value the more that you fly.
If lounge access is your thing - then perhaps getting a Priority Pass (etc) or just investigating the paid lounge options at each of the relevant airports may work out to make more sense (you'll be paying "extra" for lounge access - but you can decouple it from your FFP decision).
If it's other status "perks" such as additional baggage, these may indeed turn out to be much more expensive to replicate - but do you always need/use this extra allowance?
If the miles are your priority, then you do realise that by walking away from your existing FFP, you're potentially "orphaning" or abandoning those miles (perhaps you will be able to do something with the miles you already have, though). But check the rules of any other FFP carefully - as you know, Flying Blue earns only 25% on lots of economy fare classes on AF, DL and KL - but on some of the other SkyTeam airlines, the cheapest economy fares earn absolutely nothing on Flying Blue.
When comparing on the basis of miles, don't forget to factor in how easy it may be to actually spend them. Availability of awards and ease of redemption seems to vary wildly - so don't solely focus on the earning/burning rates (though these should be also carefully studied!).
Thanks for your reply. I do only 2~4 round trips a year and it's totally possible to earn Elite Plus/Elite because each one-way trip like HEL-AMS-PVG-WUH gives me around 11000km, and as long as the FFP like CZ Sky Pearl used to give 100% for the miles I flown, then 2 round trips already give me 44000km to be Elite and 4 round trips would be more than enough for Elite Plus. In last year alone I have earned 100000+km on my CZ FFP. As I mentioned my top priority is status earning with flying only 2~4 round trips a year like before, I would like to keep the benefit I can have from the status such as priority boarding, extra baggage and free lounge access. Actually my Diners Club card issued in Finland already enables free lounge access in most airports I visited, but I still prefer Skyteam lounge if I'm possible to use it with my status. A good point you did mention was how easily I can spend the points. I redeemed quite a number of times on CZ domestic flights and every time I didn't have any problem to get a flight as I wanted, probably they have lots of flights everyday on the same routes. I don't know how easy I can redeem with Skymiles or FB. Perhaps I should still stick to CZ? If I make 4 round trips plus a few short trips a year I can still barely manage to earn an Elite at least.