bodhed

Hi folks,

I'm fairly new to this frequent flyer malarkey so any advice much appreciated. I'm based in Manchester, UK (MAN).

Over last 12 months I did quite a bit of travel, all in economy, including:
MAN>LAX via LHR, 3 times (twice on BA, once on Virgin)
MAN>Hong Kong on KLM
MAN>Beijing (Air China one way, BA return)
4 other internal China flights via various operators
MAN>Athens via Frankfurt on Lufthansa

I haven't yet claimed all the China flights or the KLM one either. The China flights were back in October 2014 so I may be too late to claim now?? I couldn't decide which Star Alliance programme to join so didn't get round to it until now. The LH flight I haven't claimed either yet. I guess United's Mileage Plus is an option as is Lufthansa's Miles and More.

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
MAN

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Economy

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
25-50k

(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.)
I like the idea of upgrading and lounge access... I also like the free stuff you can redeem miles for, I got some nice bits and pieces from Etihad's rewards a while ago and that was redeeming miles only on one trip.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
UK>USA for business as I'm a film producer. Other UK>Europe flights for pleasure/tourism.

(7) Preferred Airlines
I'm a big fan of Etihad for Asian flights - even their Economy is excellent, better than Emirates who are good as well. The BA and Virgin LHR>LHX in economy were quite disappointing. When flying to USA I prefer to connect in LHR and go direct rather than having to connect in a US city since you have to go through the whole re-checking baggage nonsense in most US airports which is a complete pain.

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you choose your airlines, class of service?)
Both, usually I'm booking myself so can choose.

Am happy to use a credit card if that helps collect miles too. Thanks for you help in advance!