LonLH

I recently tried to book an award trip after looking up availability on ANA, the agent forgot to add the infant to the booking (which I realised after I looked up the booking on checkmytrip.com to see if it has been ticketed). So the agent had to cancel the original booking and the seats were gone when he tried to book the same dates again. I escalated the issue and ICC promised they will speak to TG and try to get the seats released again- nothing happened and the seats were gone for good.

NewbieRunner

On the other hand with M&M you get a 25% bonus for your status miles as well as award miles from flying M&M integrated and North American based airlines.

That's one of the reasons why some people fear DC may not last in its current form in the long run. Have you heard of US Airways' "Double bonus for purchased miles" promo and checked their burning table?

yyliu88

To Op，

I don't see a reason Not to move. I know many people complaint about ICC call center, but my experience with them were excellent(with one exception). I have redeemed more than 20 tickets using BMI miles already.

I use the ANA tool to find seat myself, then call them to book the ticket by telling them segment by segment, quick and easy.

My family used to credit miles to M&M for LH Z class btw europe and asia, before I told them about BMI, it took them 5 RTs to get a business class RT ticket from PVG-PRG. Now, it only took them one RT + one more one way to get them RT from PVG-PRG in business class.

I know C+M the cash portion is not cheap, but consider the money saved + flexibilty on redeeming one way ticket, the actual saving is huge!

demue

I'm in the same situation. What I did was first requalify for SEN and then I started to credit to BMI (from scratch). I made Gold and from there onwards kept checking for each flight where do I get the better mileage based on booking class and earning table. Often it is with BD and so the miles go there (particularily if they are on non M&M airlines) like in the case of SQ, TG and so forth.

Also as a potential worst case scenario from LH taking over BD I'm currently assuming that if 'unwelcome' changes happen the extreme will be that my BD miles get merged with my LH M&M ones so I'm back where I would have started if I had credited to LH in the first place, only maybe a few miles better off.

Hope this helps.

stephem

I have had some very bad experiences with the BD call centers, failing to ticket, ticketing wrong, hanging up, taxes incorrectly calculated every time, you name it. While I agree that the earning (with C and F class) and burning (w/ cash+miles) is really good with BD, there might come a point when even that is not worth it.

On my last booking with BD I decided to make the jump over to M&M. I don't have the time in my life to deal with the hassle of the BD call center, although I still have a pile of miles there and will have to deal a few more times. Maybe I am unlucky with them, maybe you guys have more patience, but I don't need the miles bad enough to put up with that call center...

BristolTraveller

As you can see from my profile, I'm both an LH SEN (*G) and a BD *G.

I prioritise re-qualifying my LH SEN for these reasons:
* Own metal award / upgrade availability. LH fly longhaul to places I need to go to.
* Customer benefits (op-up priority, irrops handling) are worth more when I'm flying long haul, and (again), LH fly longhaul to places I need to go to.
* Star Upgrade Awards. IMHO *A Upgrade Awards, combined with B- tickets are a special thing. Good miles earning, low redemption rate for upgrades, better system-wide consistency (a B is a B is a B *almost* everywhere), generally good VFM.
* 25% bonus STATUS miles on "inner-circle" and US/CO/UA metal.

As I have to requal my SEN on Economy flying for the foreseeable future (thanks GFC), I need to keep churning those miles through. Using BD C+M is very attractive, but doesn't earn those all important status miles.

BD is great as a straight earning and redemption plan. It's easy to earn destination miles, and the redemptions are sweet. But by golly it's hard to fly BD to useful places (GLA/MAN/VIE... I think are my only ones), so the benefit of automatic upgrades, 35% bonus etc. are rarely appreciated.

Strangely, I also keep a BD card because I rather like BD on the times I fly them. There is something unique about the experience, and I'd rather it stayed around rather than being subsumed or left to die.

Flying Lawyer

Non-direct flights within Europe are pretty expensive with DC. LH offers premium economy searts for SENs (one of the reasons I am still a SEN). LH call centers are great, bmi is worst rubbish one can imagine. DC earns less miles on (almost?) all flights within Europe and no miles on certain discounted eco fares. DC earns less miles on business and first class on certain airlines. LH offers star upgrades, BMI doesn't. Companion award on LH is great value.

However: DC is great if you fly First and Business on LH and other "full mile" airlines and even better if you fly them frequently (55+ club).

However: LH is a real airline with worldwide presence. In any case of irregular situations this is really helpful.

RAPC

Not that I don't agree with your points, but people seem to forget that DC is also great for cheap economy on US carriers. It isn't only good for premium cabins. Like anything, it is down to individual individual flying / earning preferences.

SingaporeDon

[QUOTE=aster;13349838]BD's program gives you a 25% mileage bonus not only for flying BMI, but also any *A carrier. That is something you won't get with M&M.

QUOTE]

And BMI also converts status miles once you reach the threshold to destination miles