Originally Posted by
samnc0
But, one thing I don't understand is this: I want to book a hypothetical trip from Charlotte, North Carolina to Vientaine, Laos. United seems to allow me to do this without any problems, on their website. When I tried to do the same trip on US Airways, it didnt allow it, but United and US Airways are part of the same alliance, so why did US Airways give me trouble?
The key word is "website". The United website will show you more options because (in this limited case) it's a better website. The full set of options are available from US; you just have to CALL them. You won't be able to book it online. It's a technical limitation, not a program limitation.
I enjoy traveling to Asia, and it seems like a good way to get more use out of miles is to book a flight to a smaller town you want to see (such as Kashgar, China) if you want to see that area of China, instead of simply booking it to Beijing, China and then getting to the smaller city on your own. So, the 32,500 mile for a one-way ticket from Charlotte to say Kashgar or Vietaine seems to be a good value, especially since US Airways (and also American Airlines) did not allow me to book the hypothetical trip.
If an airline in each respective alliance offers that flight and shows availability for lowest-tier redemption, then it SHOULD be bookable using any airline's miles in that alliance. But you will generally have to call. So, for example, if Cathay Pacific flew to the small town, and had availability for low level miles redemption, you should be able to CALL American and book it.
I am assuming most of you only have ONE carrier you primarily use, right? In other words, it isnt worth it to get a FF card to cover United, American, and US Airways...or is it?
Many of us accrue our miles using credit card signups. It's a very good idea to diversify if that's how you earn. If you are flying one and only one airline, it might be a good idea to use only their program. If you fly on several, it's a good idea to pick one airline in EACH alliance so you can accrue on all the flights you fly.
The primary reason to earn in a single airline's program is to work toward elite status. For redeemable miles, most of us take them in whatever program is offering them via non-flying methods (credit cards, promotions, car rental bonuses, etc.) even if we concentrate our flying miles in one particular program. You never know when you might need to get somewhere and your primary program/alliance doesn't have availability, after all.
For what it is worth, my current plan is to keep United, use my HH points for some hotels since I need hotels anyway. The SPG card was intended to be dumped in a 1:2 ratio to the United account, but perhaps the best usage out of the SPG card is to keep it to get a few hotel stays.
It may very well be. A transfer to USAirways is still an option, but you'd need quite a bit of spending to get to a level that would let you redeem to, say, China. No reason you have to decide now. You can hold on to your SPG points and transfer when there's a bonus promotion.