Originally Posted by
TomPete
I've been with M&M till now but not really happy with their tax policies (EDIT: should be "surcharge policies"). Makes the awards too expensive. So I'm looking for a better option.
(1) What is your home airport? Currently UIO but could change within this or next year, possibly to HKG
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Usually cheapest
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? Somewhere between 8k-20k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc) None
(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.) Good award redemption rates & options (mainly flights)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc) To ZRH more than others but also a lot of random short trips (South America, Asia).
(7) Preferred Airlines Non in particular...though I try to stay away from American ones.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) Leisure I guess (I'm a digital nomad, can always choose airlines/class of service)
Based in Asia I used Miles and Smiles simply to achieve status. When booking I was generally pretty careful about the fare class as often $20 - $100 would mean the difference between no points through to full credit and mostly my fares were paid by company. However if you can get credit card spend adding to miles that may influence the program. I preferred to direct credit card spend to a hotel program.
If based in Hong Kong Asiana may be a good option and dare I say it Air China which if travelling within Asia may be an airline that you will travel on a lot if you want to stick with Star Alliance.