Originally Posted by
vasantn
My daughter is moving to Heidelberg, Germany (nearest airport FRA) and she will be coming back to New York to visit 3-4 times a year. She does not enjoy flying so she prefers nonstops. Star Alliance seems to be her best bet where she has the choice of UA, LH, and TP. Which airline's FF program would it make the most sense for her to join?
Economy, Premium Economy, or Business? JFK or EWR? Does she check a bag?
What doe she hope to gain from being in a frequent flyer program?
LH had been planning to revamp Miles & More to be much more appealing than it is today, but they've apparently suspended that effort. Getting any status level on UA requires four UA-operated segments per year, which means at least two round-trips to EWR rather than JFK. If she's flying in economy, four RTs on that route may not be enough to qualify even for UA Silver status.