Sorry for late response, I got hit with the 5 posts per 24 hr limit....
Originally Posted by
Antonio8069
I do not understand your point? UA is out for you because you always pay the cheapest flight? With respect, UA has the cheapest flights to/from Asia. Where exactly do you live that this is not the case? Kalamazoo?? BTW, UA automatically gives me preferred PE seating. Does AC do that for you?
I split majority of my time between LAX, YVR, MUN and CGK. The rest are all over the place. My travel agent in Asia, for whatever reason, usually has promotion fares for BR, CI, and CX but not UA that's why I rarely fly them for my Asia flights. I usually fly PE and above for my long haul flights so I never considered the PE seating perks but that's a good point. I will probably try to focus more on UA flights now, thanks!
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Asiana/OZ has financial problems, and who knows if it survives independently for a decade more.
I am not aiming for any additional lifetime elite status with any airline programs. I was close once with the deceased Star Alliance carrier BD, and it went. My lifetime status in other airline programs become less and less valuable over time even as my flying has stayed steady or perhaps even increased in ways.
Good point. Will look to a more stable airline.
Originally Posted by
dvs7310
PQDs are irrelevant for lifetime status only your annual status, so don't worry about that. In the current United program, you have 3 important numbers (for US residents, foreign residents don't have PQDs).
PQD = Premier Qualifying Dollars - you need a minimum as a US resident depending upon the level you wish to achieve. Only earned on UA flights OR flights ticketed by UA on 016 ticket stock (you can get LH and NH flights ticketed this way as well as several other *A carriers but this does assume you can book yourself and get reimbursement rather than being forced to use the corporate travel agent, as they'll more likely take the simplest route and ticket on the other carrier's stock)
PQM = Premier Qualifying Miles - These are awarded for all qualifying Star Alliance travel, regardless of carrier, as long as it's a qualifying fare class. See UA's award charts for various airlines for details. for example all LH fares earn 100% or more PQMs - These are the miles that qualify you for various UA status levels, 25k Silver, 50k, Gold, 75k Platinum, and 100k 1K (together with the appropriate PQD for each level)
RDM = Redeemable Miles - these are the miles you seen in your mileage balance that you can spend on award flights for UA or other Star Alliance carriers.
So United may be a fine program for you and I'd say if anyone is still going to have a lifetime status in a decade, it's as likely to be them as anyone else.
Yeah it looks like UA is the program to focus on for now. Thanks so much for the detailed explanation!