Hi!
(1) What is your home airport? TPE/HKG
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? P fare (UA NH)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 60K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? BA GGL
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Good earn/burn rate on N. America - Asia route, Gifted status, Upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often TPAC TPE-SFO/TYO-LAX/EWR
(7) Preferred Airlines UA seems to be the cheapest J usually
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Work/Family
Hi all, I am an OW guy... for *A, I have been jumping between OZ and UA and TK here and there with the crediting...but I think I want to consolidate and focus on one FF in the future....typically I would fly between Taiwan and US about 3-4 times a year in J. While the status is less of my goal, it is always good to have, especially traveling with partner/family. I have been torn between AC's aeroplan and UA. Normally the fare between US and Taiwan has been UA/NH being the cheapest and the timing works well for me.
1) I don't know if I would spend extra $500 dollars on AC metal to meet the AQD requirement...But AC has a generous UA P fare 150% crediting miles and the redemption rate for N.America - Asia is much easier vs. UA
2) UA has been my first FF back in the days, so definitely some nostalgic value in that (only a low 200k in lifetime miles). UA has 150% on NH P fare...so that is somewhat good, but the difference between earn/burn rate with AC is still a bit low. And recently devaluation and constant negative changes with MP is making me hesitant about jumping back onto UA.
3) OZ is also another okay one. But it only values 70% with NH P fare which might be a danger for me. It doesn't have that much of upgrade system...so yea...
4) I have experience TK award redemption process. Let's say it's not good.
Maybe I am too deep into the comparison and missing out the obvious. Please help! haha. Thanks again for you amazing peeps.
First, if you care about upgrades on transpacific flights, please note that United upgrades their own elites ( including MileagePlus Silver ) before passing to other Star Alliance Gold members in case of an op-up situation. If I'm not wrong ANA has the regular *A upgrade process ( NH*G -> Other *G -> NH*S -> Other *S ). This would be the only advantage of United MileagePlus compared to other carriers; however, it's harder to achieve status on UA.
Also, be aware that when flying with your family ( presumably 3+ people ) it's harder to get an op-up regardless of the FFP and the operating airline as they prioritize solo travelers.
If you're flying NH often, you might try NH Mileage Club as the threshold for *G is 50000 miles ( minimum 25000 miles on ANA Group ). However UA P fare credits 70% of the flown amount to NH Mileage Club.
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles is easy to achieve status and it's much more easier to maintain status; however, as you mentioned the redemption process is not customer friendly as other programs. Also UA P earns 100% and NH P earns 70% so it wouldn't be the best option.
Asiana is also easy to get status and the best perk of it is that it offers lifetime status. However, similar to TK Miles&Smiles UA P earns 100% and NH P earns 70%.
Air Canada could be reasonable if you decide to fly one time on AC. If I'm not wrong they often have $400-$500 transpacific fares so the $500 requirement is not hard to achieve. However, you would need to do this every year, not only once.
You haven't mentioned it but TAP Miles&Go is also a program that you should consider. UA P gives 200% and NH P gives 150% and it's 50000 miles to maintain, 70000 miles to achieve *G.
3 round-trip UA flights P class from Hong Kong to West Coast USA would lead you to *G and 2 would be enough to maintain *G the following years. The redemption availability is similar to most *A carriers and it has more award availability on TAP.
If you have further questions don't hestitate to ask.