Originally Posted by
GBadger
Hi all,
My sister lives in the DC area. She travels regularly for work, but her miles get distributed over a bunch of programs, so she doesn't reach elite status with any of them (except Amtrak). I'm hoping that any DC based people could share their thoughts on what combinations of programs would work best for her. I should mention, that since she's often flying for meetings, she does not want to play the connection game, and prefers non-stop flights whenever possible.
Where she goes:
She flies regularly to the west coast: SAN, LAX, SFO, PDX, SEA, YVR, PHX
Also makes some trips to Europe, particularly: LHR/LGW, AMS, FRA
And is starting to do some business in the midwest and southeast as well: MSP, MKE, MIA, FLL etc.
Who she typically travels with:
Amtrak (northeast)
Virgin Atlantic (London)
NW/KLM (Europe)
American/United/Northwest/USAir (West Coast/Midwest)
Programs she is a member of at this point:
Right now, she has accounts with Amtrak, Northwest, Delta, and USAir. The Delta account was basically picked up to cover travel to London on Virgin.
So, any advice? I would like to see her somehow close either NW or DL. DL would seem to be the obvious choice if she had another place to pick up Virgin travel. Also, I was thinking that maybe an Alaska Airlines account would be helpful, since they cover much of the west coast (with a stop in SEA), and also cover a wide range of the airlines mentioned above.
Thanks for your opinions.
Seems she should pick one airline from each alliance if her flights are so distributed. No reason to have NW and DL different accounts simply because she flew that airline. They have reciprocity agreements for earning/redeeming. So breaking it down, the choice would be between UA/US for *A or CO/DL for SkyTeam. I wouldn't even bother with OneWorld as most of the places she flies to would involve multiple connections and AA does not discount on these routes, i.e. PDX, AMS, MKE.
Star Alliance argument
So now the arguments, why UA? Most non-stop and transcontinental flights in area and E+ seating helps.
Why US? Discounted flights and easier unlimited upgrades for elites as opposed to other airlines
SkyTeam argument
Why CO? Great partnership with Amtrak for earning/redeeming and Platinum status gets access to Acela lounge. Also good fares and codeshare with Virgin Atlantic. Lastly, domestic upgrades!
Why DL? Domestic awards do no require Saturday night stay and allow stopover enroute when flying DL plus partnership with Virgin Atlantic.
Why NW? Upgrades!
Lastly with European partners KL and AF, great connections all over Europe even from IAD.
I guess I would be more inclined towards CO or DL, despite having to make connections when flying domestically. But that is why you would have a secondary account such as UA.
So in conclusion, having to fly all over the map, it would be nearly impossible to limit to one airline for all your travel needs. However, if focused on alliances, you could keep your frequent flyer accounts limited to two.
Now the next question, what hotel partnerships are you looking at now?