My partner and I are planning to move (permanently) to NZ in 2017, and are considering which FF program would meet our needs for the next few years.
We are likely to do 2-3 return trips back to the UK each year. We’ll probably also visit the US at least once a year, together with another long haul holiday destination (we like to travel and see the world!)
Some of the US/other travel we’ll probably be able to do as stopovers between UK & NZ, and the rest we could do either ex-EU or ex-NZ. All long haul will be in J (or F), so status is of little use as we’ll already have lounge and baggage allowance. Jokers and GUFs (or equivalent) would be useful though.
It’s my understanding that if regularly travelling between NZ/EU, it’s far cheaper to start those trips ex-EU than ex-NZ (we’ll have flexibility to wait for sales, book in advance, be flexible with dates, etc.) Together with the requirement for 241s and GUFs to be used ex-LON, it probably makes sense to use the UK as our starting point even if NZ is actually “home”. Please correct me if this is wrong.
1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
>>> Reply: Reducing overall annual cost of travel, which probably equates to reward availability into J/F together with earn/burn rate.
2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
>>> Reply: 50,000+ - 5 long haul trips, with 20-30 sectors
3. What fare class do you usually buy?
>>> Reply: Business for long haul, fine with economy for short haul.
4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
>>> Reply: Both, but as we’re self-employed we have complete choice as to who we fly with (and a lot flexibility around dates)
5. Which routes do you fly most often?
>>> Reply: Likely to be 2-3 NZ-EU trips annually, plus a trip to the US and a long haul trip to somewhere different each year
6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: AKL or LON could be considered home as we’ll be back and forth between them
7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: Both BA Silver. Have 2 * 241s to use and ~220,000 Avios (between myself and my partner) + 300,000 Amex Rewards points to use as needed.
8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: Really not a fan of BA – will fly CW if I have to (first world problems!), but would prefer most other J products. Not flown F on BA yet, but will probably try it out on a 241 to Nairobi later this year. Was a big fan of Qantas new J product (and service) on BNE-SIN leg earlier this year.
If we stay with BAEC, and assume we do 3 trips between UK and NZ, a trip to the USA and a trip to JNB each year (starting the USA/JNB trips from EU), then I estimate I can do the whole lot in J+ for ~£6.5k / person as follows:
2* cash tickets ex-EU to AKL (using Qantas/Cathay and avoiding BA where possible, although spare avios/GUF to upgrade to BA F might make it more palatable) - £2000 * 2 = £4000 each
1* cash ticket ex-EU to USA - £1000 each
1* redemption to SYD in F (using BA 241 + GUF) – 125,000 avios + £600 taxes (would then need a separate cash/miles ticket onto NZ)
1* redemption to JNB in F (using BA 241 + GUF) - 62,500 + £500 taxes
Total outlay (for 2): £13,000 (ish) + 375,000 avios (+ 2* BA 241 + 2 * GUF)
On the cash tickets we’ll earn ~150,000 avios each, and I shouldn’t have any difficulty finding the extra avios through Amex spend/CC sign ups, etc.
With some careful routing and the odd extra trip, we’d also earn 3000TPs each to maintain GGL – we’d probably do a monster EU/HNL/PTY run in the first year to get over the 5000 mark. I’m guessing we’ll need the jokers to make proper use of the redemptions/GUFs.
So, I guess my question is, could we do better in an alternative program?
(Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help/suggestions)
Charlie