Hi all, Thanks for any possible info!
1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
Class & seat upgrades, mostly from Economy / PE to Business.
Easy status gain & maintenance, long term value for miles / points.
Good mileage gain from Flex tickets.
Optional Status match with current LY Matmid gold,
and possible future status match options from New FFP to other FFP's if I decide to move .
2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
70000+ Miles, 30+ flights/sectors
3. What fare class do you usually buy?
business / premium economy on long haul, economy on short haul
4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes. I choose my flights and airlines, can choose business on most long haul flights over 6 hours.
I travel mostly for work.
Some pleasure short flights, also rail travel in Europe.
Also use combined rail & air tickets for the domestic leg of a long haul flight.
5. Which routes do you fly most often?
5-6 Europe to SE Asia , varied, such as BKK, SIN, BLR, HKG, SZX Mostly Business class
1-2 Transatlantic Europe to East coast US - Boston / Washington DC Economy / PE
5-6 Central Europe to TLV : mostly BUD - TLV , Vienna - TLV. Low cost / Economy
1-2 Europe to UAE Low cost / Economy
1 TLV - UAE Low cost / Economy
6. What is your home airport?
BUD / VIE (Plus train)
I may relocate next year in central / western Europe, will keep similar routes.
7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How many miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
LY Matmid Gold ~80000 points , ~2900 / 5200 diamonds.
Miles & More member 31,059 Miles 366 Points.
Also small amounts of Emirates & Etihad points and old united & delta miles.
8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
KLM, Swiss. Emirates, Hainan,
EL AL / Israir to TLV during current war.
9. [redacted]
10. I'm interested in matching manufactured spending programs, especially flexible financial services such as Revolut's points to miles etc and no / low for-ex fees.
Thanks!
R D , welcome to FlyerTalk!
But for the fact that you prefer not to fly QR, I would say that AA's AAdvantage program would serve you well: AA miles are very valuable, and AA only collects carrier surcharges on award tickets involving BA or IB. In addition, one can earn AA miles -- but not status points -- when flying on EY, which serves VIE but not BUD.
AA might still be worthwhile if you were to relocate to Western Europe, where flying on oneworld carriers other than QR would not require as much backtracking when flying to Asia.
Other than AA, I'd say that Iberia's program would be best for gaining status quickly with your travels to Asia, as long as you're willing to backtrack to LON, HEL, or possibly MAD.
I'm not as familiar with Star Alliance programs, one of which might be better in your situation.