Originally Posted by
cfischer
If you plan on flying a few times a year US-SIN on dirt cheap UA fares I would look at
https://www.wheretocredit.com/united-airlines/g to find the
programs that still offer 50% of the distance for UA's cheapest fare classes. BOS-SFO-SIN r/t earns 11150 miles. Depending on the actual route and how often you fly you can certainly aim for SAG with some of the programs. Worth taking a look and buying low (but not rock bottom) like 'S' can yield 75% (which is often the cheapest you will find anyway); with 3 r/ts a year can easily get you status.
https://www.wheretocredit.com/calcul...S/SFO-BOS-UA-S
In post 1
whereifly stated
"redeem award flights / upgrades on SQ, offset air ticket cost with miles, maybe also have lounge access".
With reward flights is all about earn to burn, taking into account carrier surcharges if any. Real taxes are the same.
Freq flyer miles are *not* all equal to earn or burn between ffp's. That 50% 75% will not all get the same reward flight and/or status with different ffp's
With freq flyer program
A X flights at 50% may get a specific reward flight, but with another freq flyer program
B X flights at 75% may not.
A simplistic method is how many SIN-LAX flights in a fare class (S, etc) will it take to get an economy reward SIN-LAX
Guide -->
https://www.awardhacker.com/#f=SIN&t...=0&c=y&s=1&p=1
https://www.flightconnections.com/fl...-singapore-sin
Upgrades, other than on the own airline of the ffp, are optimistic. Star Alliance has a cross airline upgrade scheme, but requires a high cost base economy fare, that I expect
whereifly will not be buying.
Cash and ff miles/points/avios to buy a flight is generally poor value of the ff miles/points/avios.
Lounge access comes with flying business class or mid tier status. Will be a hard task to get meaningful status on cheap flights.