Originally Posted by Kiwi Flyer
Yes there are lots of things to consider.
For me the main factors include (in no particular order):
* mileage earning on usual routes/class of travel
* mileage burning - great earn rates arent much help if awards are ridiculously expensive
* lumping these together is probably best - ie how many trips on a typical trip does it take to earn an award you'd like to use
* award availability
* special services available to flown carrier's elite - includes free upgrade vouchers, better seating etc
* ease of (re)qualifying elite status
Of course others may (and do) disagree!
Well, I totally agree with
Kiwi Flyer. ^
One further point, that I found important was: you have to remember that an invidual airline's *G (for eg. SEN for LH, or KFGold for SQ etc...) are heaps more important to them than 'other' star golds. So I would not underestimate the importance of choosing the airline out of the *alliance that you would fly most often. The star alliance is pretty wide and varied. And a substantial proportion of the benefits of an indiviual FFP are limited to that carrier.
Just keep in mind the motto:
Not all star golds are created equal. 