I've never changed dates in the last 10 years, except on business trips. My holidays are about as predictable as the date of Easter.

If you want to lessen the inconvience, which can be huge if you're doing "tentative booking", I'd advise to book all your trips as two one-ways. If you want to leave one day later or before, you'll lose only on this leg of the trip.

it is not automatic and decision is made by each program on a combination of many factors as well as bilateral relations between different airlines, otherwise earning rates throughout the alliances will be harmonized long ago.
if you ask me, I would do the same way as A3 - give more points to C and F in exchange of giving less to discounted Y. that will help keeping their non-flying membership containing of people they receive highest compensation for when they receive credits from other *A airlines.
AX

You're right, and C and F flyers have a tendancy to avoid flying in the back of the plane. I am pretty sure I am not alone in thinking like that, even if not everyone has an extreme viewpoint on the question. Those who fly premium cabins often when they get their shiny card will continue flying mostly premium cabin... Hence no need to pay for their lounge access on flight, because they'd have lounge access anyway.

Is this any different to a discounted economy or business class ticket? If I cancel my LH Z class tickets, it's goodbye £2k. It's a gamble I choose to take in return for a £4k saving over a flexible ticket, but obviously others may care less...

ok,
i think M&M , and A3 are the best FFP's for accural.
US and TK have better spending rates.
I already have US accounts ( never credited any flight, only use them for to buy miles when them run promos ).
I will ask for a status match with A3 and TK and credit my *aliance flights, where I get the best deal.
May be also open a M&M account and credit some flights there, if using the lounge benefits on TG Y domestic flights with a matched A3/TK card.
Should pic benefits from all FFP's.

I appreciate the flexibility but, in practice, I barely ever change dates on award tickets. For one thing, as time progresses, availability in redemption classes on alternative flights is often not there. Also, I often book non-cancellable/changeable accommodation at destination so I would stand to lose quite a bit if changing dates, which is a disincentive. As kt74 suggested, it is not fundamentally different to booking a discounted revenue ticket. Sure, there is a risk (and the risk is higher with award tickets since travel insurance will not pay back) but that does not necessarily make it fundamentally unattractive.

I do have some award tickets which are more speculative and which I do cancel more readily (not so much using DC but using BAEC since cancellations are costless as a gold). These are often short-haul "insurance" bookings which I often cancel when my plans are clearer and I can find a revenue ticket alternative at a price which is still acceptable. Clearly, I would not use an FFP like A3 for those kind of bookings. For my ordinary award bookings, OTOH, why not?

My circumstances are based on flying around 40-50K miles a year on *A, mostly Y/Y+ longhaul with some European flights, some paid J flights. I am also fly a similar amount again on OW and/or non-aligned carriers e.g. VA/EY.

I have been looking at A3, OZ, SK and US but have widened the comparison to include Egyptair (MS) and TAP (TP), ANA (NH) and for good measure LH.

I have excluded some airlines which require minimum sectors on their own metal or with a higher *G re-qualification level.

I may have made some errors - not all the airline websites are that easy to follow - so if anyone knows that any of these programmes do thing differently, please post corrections, or PM me and I can amend.

There isn't an easy answer as to which programme is best - on my flying patters, I am thinking it may be best to have two *A programmes: A3 for one-way awards and relatively long-life *G status, and another for UK credit card earn and flexibility in changing award tickets - I am not sure which, but am tending towards LH, SK or US because of flexibility.

It is a shame that VS and/or VA virgin group of airlines have not joined *A as one of these would probably be my *A airline of choice if they did.

And if SK or US or TK introduced lifetime *G or *A one-way awards, or both, then this might be a deciding factor for me.

A3 - Aegean Airlines Miles&Bonus

+ G threshold 19K (20K with 1K join bonus) from scratch and apparent almost-lifetime *G (so long as you credit flown miles every year)
+ miles do not expire so long as you credit every year (otherwise 3 year validity)
+ ok earn rates, 200% on C class, 100% on most SQ Y fares which I do a lot longhaul
+ ok burn rates
+ one-way awards possible
+ children can join from age 12

~ long-term airline viability ok, programme may change

- no changes possible on award bookings
- 50% miles loss on cancelled award bookings
- minimum mile credit only on certain carriers/fares
- low credit on discount Y european fares
- *A upgrade awards not possible (may be coming soon)
- no family membership miles combination scheme
- no bonus miles for Silver/Gold

LH - Lufthansa Miles&More

+ Sen/*G threshold 100K within a calendar year from scratch and 100K within a calendar year to renew
+ Sen/*G statue valid for 2 years
+ mileage does not expire if you use a LH branded credit card or have status otherwise it expires after 3 years
+ good earn rates in premium cabins
+ OK burn rates
+ cancellation and rebooking of award tickets available for a EUR 50 fee
+ bonus status and destinations miles 25% for Sen/G and FTL/S members
+ children can join from age 2 (children join Jet Friends and their miles do not expire)
+ *A upgrade awards possible
+ companion awards for Sen at 50% of award miles
+ flight saver awards with reduced miles for late bookings within LH group
+ RTW Ticket at 180K miles in Y, 325 in J, 480 in F
+ UK credit card (Amex and Visa from MBNA) available

- one-way awards possible only within LH group
- relatively high Sen/*G threshold
- low earn on low economy fares (e.g. Singapore K,W at 50%)

MS - Egyptair Plus

+ low G threshold 60K from scratch and 30K (within 2 years) to renew
+ lifetime *G (Platinum) at 1M flown miles
+ one-way awards at 50% mileage
+ good burn rates (160K for UK-Australia in J, 240 in F)
+ children can join from age 2
+ low (5% miles) cancellation fee on cancelled reward/upgrade tickets
+ low (50 USD) fee to change upgrade reward/upgrade tickets
+ *A upgrade awards possible
+ RTW Ticket at 180K miles in Y, 280K in J, 400 in F
+ gold members can transfer miles 5-50K miles to another member FOC

~ family membership miles combination scheme (all miles credit to the main member; family members stay as blue status - so not so good if your family would otherwise get status too)
~ 40% G bonus miles on MS flights
~ award tickets can be redeemed for any family member

- there seems to be a requirement to attend an MS ticket office for an award ticket to be confirmed
- not brilliant earn rates (typical F 200%, J 150%, and a lot of higher discount Y fares that earn 100% on other carriers e.g. SQ W,U,L,K class, which earn 100% on A3, earns only 75% on MS)
- miles expire after 3 years (unlimited validity once you reach Platinum level)
- no current option for miles earn with UK credit card
- long-term viability of airline/programme unsure (lifetime Platinum requirement may change)

NH - ANA Mileage Club

+ *G threshold 80K from scratch and 50K every fixed calendar Jan-Dec year to renew
+ ANA's excellent online booking too (including *A partners)
+ ok burn rates
+ children of any age can join
+ transfer
+ *A upgrade awards possible
+ RTW tickets available
+ UK credit card point earning points transfer from SPG Amex

~ bonus points for status are on on full fare and premium cabin booking ony
~ mileage validity 3 years (though unlimited for G/Diamond)

- poor earn rates
- no family membership miles combination scheme
- no one-way award bookings except own metal flights
- no changes to award bookings except own metal flights

OZ - Asiana Airlines Club

+ *G/Diamond threshold 40K from scratch and 40K every 2 years to renew
+ *G/Diamond 2-year card validity
+ 12 year mileage validity for Diamond/Diamond Plus (10 year for Gold/*S and 5 year for standard membership)
+ lifetime *G (Diamond Plus) at 500K flown miles
+ UK credit card earning possible with SPG Amex
+ OK burn rates for longhaul - calculated on overall distance, UK-Australia return is 120 in Y and 180 in J
+ award tickets on OZ flights can be refunded for a $30/3000 mile fee (free for domestic)
+ children can join from age 2 (Magic Miles) or 11 (Asiana club)
+ *A upgrade awards possible
+ Diamond/Diamond Plus can transfer awards to other members - negates need for family membership miles transfer
+ 10% millage bonus for Diamond and 15% for Diamond Plus (think this is on all flights)
+ infant redemptions available at 10% of adult rate
+ long-term airline viability good

~ refunds of mileage may be on cancelled bookings if no portion of the award tickets have been issued (website unclear)

- there seems to be a requirement to attend an OZ ticket office for an award ticket to be confirmed
- poor earn rates (typically +50% in F, +25% in J, 0% in a lot of discount Y)
- one-way awards not possible except for Asiana flights
- no changes possible on award bookings

SK - SAS EuroBonus

+ *G threshold 70K from scratch and 50K every membership year to renew (UK)
+ UK credit card earning possible with Amex UK Membership Rewards
+ no award booking fee for Silver/Gold
+ *A upgrade awards possible
+ children can join sat any age
+ award tickets can be refunded or rebooked at no fee
+ long-term airline viability good
+ 100% earn in Y on SAS

~ 5 year mileage validity - not as good as indefinite but better than 3 years
~ 25% points bonus (Gold) and 15% (Silver) members when flying with SAS group
~ OK burn rates

- low earn rates (on SQ, F/J earn 200%, full Y 100% but mid Y W,U,K,L earns 25%)
- no lifetime *G at present, though it has been rumoured
- one way awards only on SAS group flights

TK - Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

+ *G/Elite threshold 25K (outside Turkey) from scratch, requalification 25K in first year or 75.5K in 2 years, *G/Elite 2-year card validity
+ option to purchase up to 10K membership and/or status miles
+ Good burn rates for longhaul - UK-Australia return is 100 in Y, 150 in J, 220 in F
+ *A upgrade awards possible
+ awards can be booked for third parties
+ children can join at any age
+ long-term airline viability ok

~ OK but not brilliant earn rates (typically +50% in F, +25% in J, but discount Y tends to be 25%-70%, few instances of 0%)

- there seems to be a requirement to attend an TK ticket office for an award ticket to be confirmeds
- one-way awards not possible except for TK flights
- no changes possible on award bookings except for TK flights
- no UK miles-earning credit card earning
- miles expire after 3 year
- no family membership miles combination scheme
- award tickets cannot be issued for infants

TP - TAP Victoria

+ *G threshold 100K from scratch and 70K every membership year to renew
+ one way awards possible at 50% miles
+ nomination of partner for *G level
+ discounted companion redemption (60% miles) for Gold members
+ schedule changes on same route possible on *A awards
+ good earn rates (many F is 300%, international J 200%, full Y 100%, MOST discount Y 50%)
+ children can earn from age 2
+ some status miles can be purchased if needed to top up status level
+ *A upgrade awards coming soon

~ RTW awards possible but not cheap (250K miles Y or 350K J)
~ 50% miles bonus for G on TAP flights
~ long-term airline viability relatively OK

- poor burn rates (about 1.5 times other airlines in Y, though not as poor in J)
- no current option for miles earn with UK credit card
- miles expire after 3 years (unless extended for a further 3 years for a fee)
- no lifetime *G
- no changes other than date and flight number possible on award bookings
- no refunds possible on cancelled award bookings

US - US Airways Dividend Miles

+ *G/Diamond threshold 75K from scratch and 50K every calendar year to renew
+ miles do not expire if account kept active within 18 month period (otherwise 3 year expiry)
+ good earn rates
+ good burn rates
+ UK credit card earning possible with SPG Amex
+ full refund of miles on cancelled award tickets (with USD 150 redeposit fee)
+ children can join
+ RTW awards possible
+ *A upgrade awards possible
+ 500 min mile per segment earned by Preferred members
+ award booking fees waived for Gold preferred members
+ complimentary US domestic upgrades for Preferred members

~ long-term airline viability OK (though may buy or be bought by another carrier over time, e.g. rumours of Delta buying US or US buying AA, which could affect Star alliance membership)
~ 50* (Gold) and 25% (Silver) bonus miles for Preferred members only on US air and certain partners

- almost-lifetime *S (Silver Preferred) at 1M miles (account most be kept active every 3 years), but no lifetime *G (though rumoured as being possible)
- no one-way awards
- USD 150 change fee for award tickets
- *G (Gold Preferred) does not include lounge access on US domestic itineraries (maybe not such a problem if you hold Amex Platinum ChargeCard which gives this on AA, Delta and US)

Conclusions

A3 wins if *G is more important than changes to award bookings or if one-way *A awards are important - it is a shame award bookings are not changeable and there is not a UK miles-earning credit card.

OZ is good for low lifetime *G but not so good on some other aspects.

SK is good as a European-based programme with reaosonably low *G qualification and changes to award bookings permitted.

US is a good programme but for me is less attractive than SK.

TK has a lower *G threshold and 2-year gold card validity but is less good on flexibility of changes to award booking and earn and burn rates.

One-way *A awards and/or lifetime *G would make SK, US or TK much better.

LH offers benefits of no miles expiry (if you use a LH credit card) and better award availability, but the threshold to maintain *G is higher.

TP does not look so good due to combination of poor burn rates, no UK miles-earning card and no lifetime *G.

MS is a bit of an unknown but the combination of low *G renewal and a 1MM lifetime *G looks appealing - if would be good the earning rates were a little better and there was a UK credit card option.

These conclusions may not suit all flying patterns. For example, LH is generally accepted as being better if you have a lot of paid flights in premium cabins.

Avianca-Taca LifeMiles
 

As Avianca/Taca is joining Star this month, you all might want to look at them. They do fly to Europe and offer unlimited upgrades throughout the Americas, plus '4' oneway upgrades to Europe for their Diamond tier, which is only 75k miles.


http://www.lifemiles.com/eng/abo/wnb/wnbelitab.aspx

The Lifemiles program has many of the same benefits as BMI including a cash/miles option and the ability to redeam high priced awards with cash/miles and earn miles for the award miles flown. What other program allows you to earn miles (as well as class of service bonus) on an award ticket?

Also right now you can buy LifeMiles on a 2x1 basis.

http://www.lifemiles.com/eng/tra/pro...f.aspx?D=DOF24

Plus, IB, UA & LH Pre-Star (LH 200% earnings on F/J) are an earning/redemtion partners as well.

There is a LifeMiles Credit Card with at 20K bonus, as well as a debit card and secured card option, with bonus miles.

http://www.usbank.com/cgi_w/cfm/cred...tancia_sig.cfm

LifeMiles has hotel partners that include: Hilton, Marriott, Best Western, Intercontinental & many others.

Rental Cars: Hertz, Sixt, Global & Others.

Other partners including Dining, as well as other areas.

Can you clarify where it says you can earn miles on an award ticket?

Seems to me there might be a lot of changes coming as part of *A integration. I'm not convinced for a start that Gold will map to *A Gold.

Can only see the upgrade rates without registering but the redemption rates based on upgrade rewards look to be horrific. The cost of a two way redemption upgrade from economy to business from the Americas to Europe is 50% more than the cost of an entire ticket from scratch on bmi. Even if these rewards turn out to be available on *A, they won't be great value.

LifeMiles Chart
 

We've put a lot of thought, and invested a lot of money into designing an Elite Program that rewards your loyalty with your most valued benefits. Take a look below to see the privileges you qualify for when becoming a LifeMiles Elite member and flying with operated flights by Avianca and/ or TACA.

To compare LifeMiles’ Elite Program to other programs, go to our Program Comparison Tool


Silver

Gold

Diamond

Status Qualification Requirements


Miles flown in a year, between January 1st and December 31st

Silver 22,000

Gold 40,000

Diamond 75,000


Segments flown in a year, between January 1st and December 31st

Silver 25

Gold 45

Diamond 85


Mileage Earnings


Bonus Miles

Silver 25%

Gold 100%

Diamond 100%





Upgrade Benefits


Complimentary, automatic, space available upgrades on international flights (all fares, excluding routes to and from Europe)

Silver Unlimited, 48 hours before flight

Gold Unlimited, 72 hours before flight

Diamond Unlimited, 120 hours before flight


Complimentary, automatic, space available upgrades on domestic flights (excluding Promo fares)

Silver Unlimited, 48 hours before flight

Gold Unlimited, 72 hours before flight

Diamond Unlimited, 120 hours before flight




Complimentary, automatic, space available companion upgrades when traveling in the same reservation (excluding Promo fare in domestic routes and routes to and from Europe)

Silver Unlimited, 48 hours before flight

Gold Unlimited, 72 hours before flight

Diamond Unlimited, 120 hours before flight




Space available, system-wide upgrades on all routes (excluding Promo fare in domestic routes)

Diamond 4 coupons per year


VIP Lounges Access


Complimentary access to Avianca and TACA VIP Lounges (click here for availabe lounges)

Silver Member Only--No Guests

Gold Yes and 1 Guest

Diamond Yes and 1 Guest


Complimentary access to other VIP Lounges (click here for availabe lounges)

Gold Member Member Only

Diamond Member & One Guest

Complimentary access to other VIP Lounges (click here for availabe lounges) for 1 companion traveling in the same booking

Diamond member & one guest on same booking



Other Benefits

Priority check-in
Priority boarding
Priority baggage handling

Baggage allowance (2 bags of 70 lbs. each)

Advanced notice for LifeMiles promotions
Access to Elite telephone assistance desk

LifeMiles redemption fee waiver* Diamond

When you redeam the max award it says miles earning as yes.

Does anyone know if OZ and TK actually make you attend at a ticket office in person to confirm an award booking - or if this condition is a hangover from the days of paper tickets and is not enforced in practice?

Thanks for all the work you put into comparing programmes, wyvern.

Anyone considering Miles & More should bear in mind that some of what you wrote has changed or will be changing on 1 September:

+ one-way awards will be possible on all airline partners;

- "discount" business fares (Z from 1 September as well as -- with immediate effect -- the new P booking class) will earn fewer miles than people have come to expect (Z = 150%, P = 100%) and will not be eligible for upgrade awards;

- earning rates are also being slashed for "discount" business fares within Europe.

M&M was never great for people who only buy economy tickets, but it used to be easy to keep M&M status by taking advantage of summer/winter business fare sales and/or by taking a few cross-border flights within Europe (e.g. 10,000 miles for a LHR-ZRH-FRA return using an LX "Business Saver" fare). That will no longer be the case. The changes kill M&M for me and, I suspect, for many others here.

What's so awful about LH M&M?

Earn/burn rate for business class travelers is not very good as it is now, but it will become poor when Z only earns 150% and P 100%, especially if P is priced as the current Z. In economy, many classes earn fewer miles than other programs would give for them.

100K miles to *A Gold - highest bar in the alliance, when coming from BD which had one of the lowest, at 39K for *A Gold requalification.

http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-IN...rds/index.aspx

-Simple awards for yourself or friend etc. can be done online
-TK upgrade & companion-awards can't be done online
-Star Alliance awards can't be done online
-Star Alliance upgrades can be done online


was told this last year by the resident gurus in the TK forum

Except that elite bonus miles do count for status, so, in reality, you are really talking of 75K miles if flying on M&M airlines or UA, which is not bad on average. Before the latest round of earning devaluation, it was in fact quite reasonable: 3 long-haul Z class to West Coast USA, for instance, would have done it. With earnings in business class at 200% (whereas a lot of *A carriers will only give you 100% for business) + 25% elite bonus, it was OK. With discount business earnings reduced to 150% (Z) or 100% (P), this is more problematic.

Almost -- it's actually 80,000 (which the 25% "executive bonus" then increases to the required 100,000). Remember too that the bonus only applies to the base miles, not to any class of service multiplier. Still, as you say, it was not an unattractive for anyone taking occasional long haul returns in Z.

Sadly, "more problematic" is a major understatement. A return IAH-FRA-LHR in Z used to net me nearly 29,000 miles towards requalification. In the new P booking class it'd be fewer than 15,000. Getting *G for three long haul returns plus a couple of short hops was attractive enough (especially with status granted for two years, making it easy to take a break from earning in order to redeem some miles). Doubling the number of flights needed means that M&M is not a remotely attractive option for the overwhelming majority of readers here.

Duh :o, of course.

Agreed. I have also pretty much written off M&M as a result of this.

That said, to be fair, even with a doubling of flights, *G status for 6 long-haul deep discount business class tickets, while not particularly interesting for quite a few of us including me, is not a ridiculously high level especially, as you say, for 2 years of *G (and 4 years of access to LH lounges given the soft landing to FTL) and compares honourably to many programmes, although obviously not the BDs or A3s of this world which are unusually generous with granting status.

Emailed the EK credentials to SAS on 20th of April, received a confirmation on 23rd, and today received the SK Gold pack in Hong Kong. Pretty decent turnaround time.

Advice on program to move to
 

Hi - I lived in Northern Ireland and have six years *G with bmi. Last year I moved to the East coast of the US but stayed with DC. At the minute I have 670K and DC membership year ends 23rd Feb 2013. In anticipation of not getting a good offer from BA I have credited all flights this year to AA or UA and am nearly at sliver in both. However, I can't decide who to go with, BA/AA fly direct from BOS-LHR and getting on early in the US always helps due to the large carry on bags. UA/US probaby have better internal connections out of BOS.

I have three transtlantics booked at the minute BA WT+ (BOS-AMS) and BA WT (BOS-LHR) and AC Econ (BOS-MAN). Can anyone give me advice on what might be the best move - I'm encouraged to fly national carriers if possible so getting status makes sense. I do like *G and AC do a great job.

Totally confused what to do so I'll appreciate any help -sorry if these questions are repeatitive this is my first post. My wife and daughter are BD*S with about 70K miles each.

Thanks in advance

One thing I would mention about Miles&More is that I have found using their call centres for award and revenue bookings has been much more pleasurable. Generally I've got through to either Germany or South Africa and have found most of the time that things were clear and quick on both sides. With M&M there is also the advantage of the companion award.

Welcome to FT, BOSflies.

I've suggested to the mods that they move your question to the separate thread discussing the best FFPs to replace DC for members in various countries and situations. [Edited to add: now done; thanks mod(s).] I'm sure a few of us will try and offer answers -- especially if you can give us a better idea of how much you typically fly (nearly at Silver with UA and AA gives us some idea, of course, but a fuller version would help).

With your big stash of miles, you'd better get status on BA as you may find it useful to have it (especially if you can retain Gold: possible or not?) when you'll will redeem your points: increased award availability and lounge access on OW flight. As an US-based member, *A status won't give you lounge access unless you're on an international flight. That would tilt my choice toward OW, but only you can assess if the flight network is convenient for the US routes you fly.

Status for two years is definitely something interesting that some programmes, like LH's SEN, offer. You can take a "year off" and spend your miles without dropping. I didn't know the 2-year period also applied to FTL, though.

With regard to status, I am not sure it matters that much to people who take 6 long-haul flight a year in business: most of the elite benefits, they get by flying business anyway, and I am not sure that exec who fly 6 TATL in business per year fly a few in Y on top of that. Well, there's an economic crisis, so maybe... And the elite bonus between FTL and SEN is the same, so it doesn't change for them (slightly better lounges, though).

What I feared about the P fare stinginess was confirmed anecdotically to me today. LH is starting a sale ex-France. I selected a few destination and put them in ITA: they're still more expansive than BA's regular fare for this summer. I got 1989 € for bussing from SXB to FRA and flying to YVR, and that's compared to Z fare from LUX (around the same distance as FRA ;) ) on AC or OS through VIE around 300 € more expansive. P fares are promotional, but not groundbreaking deals. Even when comparing to regular Z fare from LH, I feel flying Z would be more interesting for reasonable valuations of M&M miles.

who do i go to? help!
 

Hello everyone,

I could really do with your advice as I'm getting all a bit confused about which frequent-flier program to move to now that our beloved BMI Diamond club won't allow people like me to credit flights from Star Alliance partners.

So not sure what to do?

I live in the UK and I fly Star Alliance network a few times a year long haul

I don't expect to get any status but just want somewhere to put my miles everytime i fly.

I obviously want good earn and burn rates

but I want to be with a carrier's that are dependable,with good customer service and most importantly will not go bust!

I have seen the comments about TK and a3 and still not sure which to go with :-(

any comments or help you can suggest would be greatly appreciated
thanks
Ali

Plus side of A3 :

* you'll probably get status anyway
* earn/burn is the better of the two for premium travel

Minus side of A3 :

* bad earn/burn for discounted economy
* small company, may suffer from adverse economic conditions

Plus side of TK :

* larger company, more revenue from domestic captive market, hence perhaps more financial solidity (but I didn't look into their debt load)
* better earning rates in economy overall

Minus side of TK :

* redemption more costly

I'd say it depends on your usual class of travel. If the carrier's product is mattering to you, TK has an excellent longhaul product (in J, and I was told in Eco too).

I think A3 is probably the best programme for anyone who will earn 4K-20K status miles a year (or achieve 20K in one year, then fly once a year on *A thereafter).

At 20K a year Asiana (40K over two years) is also an option.

Once you get to 50K status miles a year, it is easier to maintain status with a number of carriers and one can look at earn and burn options in more detail. Both SAS and US let you maintain (thought not attain) *G for 50K status miles a year.

At higher levels of status miles LH offered better benefits, however the recent changes to LH make it less attractive to anyone not flying full fare.

The three programmes I could find with a low gold qualification threshold, no own metal requirement, fairly OK earn and burn ratios and a UK miles-earning credit card option were Asiana, SAS and US.

The lack of a UK miles-earning credit card option is arguably Aegean's biggest drawback: potentially more of an issue than its non-flexible award tickets. This is also the reason I would not choose Turkish or Egyptair, both of which have low *G thresholds and otherwise look like OK programmes.

Between Asiana, SAS and US: are SAS or US's flexibility of changes to award bookings better than Asiana's lower qualification threshold and lifetime *G status at 500K miles, and is US's approach to mileage expiry better than SAS's flexible award bookings? I am still undecided.

Hi All I'm new here but following this thread quite closely but still can't make up my mind.

I don't fly too much..about twice three times a year and normally I try flying with *a. I fly mainly USA or southeast Asia and sometimes Arab states.

I prefer to have a uk credit card based mileage earner and wondered for my type of usage which Ffp would people recommend for me?

I earn about 30000-40000 through credit card and flying a year with dc and near 16000 status miles. If possible I'd like to get to silver status with the new Ffp quickly.

I normally like to redeem a 'free' flight for my wife and I every two years with the miles we earn plus the credit card etc,

Any suggestions? I'm currently leaning towards US airways but not quite sure as they don't have family membership, any other Ffp that I'll suit my needs well?

Thanks in advance.

OZ might suit you - if you get 20K status miles every year (40K every 2 years) you will progress to *G. Plus you can transfer miles from a UK or US based Amex SPG card (the UK one was recently offering 20K point signup bonus, which translates to 25K Asiana miles, and through the SPG points transter, to 1.25 Asiana miles per pound spent for transactions going forward. No family membership but you can redeem flights for family members. Only real downsides: no one way *A redemptions, and no changes to *A award bookings once ticketed.

Which *A FF replacement have you gone for (European people)
 

Hey all,

Firstly I need to appologise as Im sure this has been answered but I can see the wood for the trees for the amount of discussions :-) and Im quite confused...

Im a A* gold member in UK, fly mainly European & once or twice to the US..

What replacement *A card shall I go for considering im mainly interested in burning miles.

Currently I see the following

• LH M&M : Lots of lounges, likely for me to get to silver but no hope for silver also naff burn rates
• AAA : Most people seam to be going for these guys, especially as they status Match

Asiana Airlines : Not sure about these people..

So for the European flyers, whats the best replacement?

Many thanks

US Airways for spending miles, and A3 for status. Then again I also have top-tier UA status (at least for now) and have use for those miles too.

thanks, I saw that thread but was confused..

It appears A3 is good. US is no good for me as I never fly them (and I think you need to fly them at least a couple of times to keep miles)...

So its a toss up between A3 & TK


groan.. I was sooo happy with BMI...

US requires activity on the account for miles not to expire (that includes shopping via their portal, so relatively easy to do).

I've actually decided to use them to park my *A miles, I don't think I'll ever get status but should eventually have enough to redeem in J. They have one of the best redemption rates (nothing like DC) compared to others.

Only potential concern is that there is a lot of talk of them merging with AA, and a a potential move to OneWorld.

I don't need status. I need a program with alternative ways of earning miles (hotel stays/buying miles/etc) and good burn rate on business class bookings. I think AA is my program but I am not sure how long they will last. So what does the wisdom of the board recommend?

Nothing comes even remotely close based on the itineraries that I have booked using BMI miles.

Famous last words, but I wouldn't worry too much about AA. Even if they do merge with US Airways, the frequent flyer programme is a huge asset and is likely going to survive.

Not thought of Asiana before. What are the earn and burn rates compared to other *A's?

Are the United and US ones not as good?

Thanks