Originally Posted by
Sublimeload
Hey all, long time reader, novice poster.
Firstly I would like to thank you for your time in reading this post.
I'll get straight down to business.
I signed up for UA Mileage Plus earlier this year. I did it because I booked a flight from ORD - NRT for 350 on their site.
....
Can anyone please help me with some info on a mileage program that doesn't play these games? I'd love to sign up for miles with star alliance directly and earn gold status on base miles alone, but there is no such program. The best I can find in a cursory search was Air Canada, but I am not yet a member and am not aware of their programs pitfalls.
HELP!
and thank you
Each program has its own pitfalls. There's no free lunch with FF programs, it just depends on which carriers, which fares, and which routes you fly. If you're always looking to fly on the cheapest UA fare, and cover lots of long routes, then SQ's KrisFlyer is worth a look. But you can expect to find Catch-22s in every program.