Does anyone have any thoughts on the SAS programme? It appeals to me because Amex membership rewards points can be transferred as destination miles. And 45,000 miles for Gold isn't too steep.

One thing I can't tell is whether there are multipliers on TATL flights for different fare classes. All they seem to specificy is minimums:

http://www.flysas.com/en/uk/EuroBonu...rlines/United/

I was eurobonus gold for years...it blows.
BAD redemptions and a surly call centre in Estonia.

good upgrades on SK metal though

Any consensus on the best just for redemptions? I thought UA used to be good but UA/CO may not be the same? Otherwise it may be A3 for me.

No you just need to get 40K miles in 12 months. I joined M&Smiles 2 years ago as I wanted a back up in case I would not earn enough miles to keep my Senator status.
For economy flights, M&S is quite good as all flights on TK earn 100 % while partner flights get normally 800 miles (or actual miles in case you fly further away (eg to Moscow (while M&M just give you 750 + bonus))

For C it is is not so attractive as you only earn 1.5 x (except on TK as elite)
Once you quality for E+, you get 4 years *G (soft landing to Elite) and you need only 40 K /1 year or 60 K / 2 year to requalift as E+ (to maintain E only 25 K is needed!!)
Outside *G there are no real benefits (in the past you could nominate another person for *G but now this cost 40 K miles). although the 2 free upgrades (also from the cheapest eco class) are more attractive then the senator e-voucher.

For me the big disadvantage of TK is that miles only are valid for 3 years. I have now 130 K miles in my account which is still not enough for 2 C tickets to SE Asia on TK but next year part of the miles already start expiring.
With no option to earn miles with credit cards (UK based) and low earnings on C tickets it is not so easy to earn a lot of miles.
Also redemptions out of London are very poor. I m flying with TK this Xmas on award and had to book flights from Brussels as there was no availability ex LHR...

Considering DJ
 

A bit left of field but if you're down under you could consider DJ.

Now, it's not Star, which is a pain, but there is decent earn on C on SQ and NZ, which is most of my flying. In the US there is earn on Delta - but at 1.5 DJ earn for F on DL it is (as I learnt to my cost this week) woeful in you do much in the US.

Major perk of Virgin Australia is the new Open Doors for Gold - the only FF left I can find that offers it now BA/QF/LH chopped it.

I was going to go for A3 for everything, but from what I've learnt this week:
No flex in bookings
Poor Earn/Burn
Uncertain future

I was reluctant, and now the nonsense that A3 won't let you use their status and earn on another (or rather, try to stop you), there is little point in orphaning 20k in A3 just to get *G, and it might as well go elsewhere.

For me the deciding factor will be whether the program awards 200% of miles for all C fares and redemptions not blocked by starnet... I assume that I have to move to m&m... What are alternatives?
Ax

I barely know Oneworld, but is there any FF program comparable to DC? Mean good redemptions, miles + cash posibility, etc?
It's a bit OT but still.... we are looking for DC replacement here either *A or not.
I may think about moving my whole pack of travels to another alliance if something like this exists out there.
Thanks!

I avoid the Estonian call center by calling their Swedish domestic number - way better service and of course in English, too.

As I fly a lot intra-Scandinavia, 12k for a return flight with no YQ is one of the cheapest redemptions I can get.

Earnings on LH-group flights in EU-Y are really poor, most of the alphabet is in the low-eco category (125) - many of the same booking classes earn in M&M 750+25%

Now that I requal'd till 2015 in M&M I very carefully consider which flight to credit to which programme - but that couple of long-hauls in C should take me to or very near to EBG (*G)

For me it would be best if they transfer me to BAEC -> Qantas as I am Australian Resident. I have existing QF miles which it can be top up with. Hopefully they will match me to Gold as well.

Then I also hope that *A will initiate status match for all existing BD S/G for then to keep flying *A.

I had no clue about this. This is a huge deal breaker for me.

GBM

Eurobonus has poor burn rate on all except SK metal- I ditched EB for M/M in 2001 and has never regretted it. It is not exactly cheap either- 30 k miles for a OSL-MOW one way redemption is much worse than M/M.

M&M is still my main FFP ^ but as said the SK intra-Scandinavia rewards are really good value + I can top it up with Amex MR.

I still think US Airways is the best alternative.

+ good award chart
+ 50k for gold
+ a lot of promotions to get more miles
+ earn chart not that bad
+ no YQ for awards


- no one way award
- 25% elite bonus not on that many airlines

Does this give access to lounges when travelling US domestic?

I have an LHR-SYD and SYD-LHR upcoming over Xmas, and some *A flights around Europe, which at 100% earn would have been enough to take me to BD*G.

I already have a fair few BA miles so am not so keen on my BD miles turning into BA miles - it would be a lot of eggs in one basket, and it is good to have a second alliance for when redemption availability is limited.

So -

Do I credit my upcoming flights to BD in the hope that a new BD*G will turn into SEN (or a consolation prize of BA G, which I guess would be an improvement on BA S)?

Do I credit to DJ? - assuming SQ>DJ credits come in by then, this would put me well on the way to DJ Platinum with the benefit of multiple soft landings. There is always the hope that DJ may join *A or ST or find a European partner - its current alliance arrangements are great if you are only based in Australia but not so good if you fly round Europe too.

Do I credit to A3 - therefore committing to use A3 as my main *A programme going forward? Since A3 does not have a UK or Aus based credit card, it is less appealing to me as a main *A programme than an airline which does, and the lack of flexibility changing miles bookings doesn't recommend the programme. Additionally, A3's future is perhaps the most uncertain of any *A carrier, as are the continuing terms of its frequent flyer scheme - so a little like BD I guess, without the credit card or any booking flexibility.

Do I credit to LH? - I have a LH miles-earning Amex and therefore my LH miles don't expire, but while my flying patterns could conceivably earn 40K miles on *A for the next few years, I don't think they would support 100K a year to maintain SEN, unless I don't credit elsewhere at all. If I keep A3 for status and use LH to build up miles for redemption use this might work - but I hear A3 are not too keen on this.

Or do I look at making anther *A carrier my main programme - and in this case, which one offers closest to the perfect combination of miles-don't-expire, one-way awards, flexibility in changing awards, *A upgrades, UK or Aus credit card, family accounts, low *G threshold and lifetime status? I think TK, SQ and SK are out for me due to miles expiry, and UA and CO are out due to own metal requirements, so I guess that leaves OZ, LH, A3 and US as *A alternatives. OZ does not offer miles don't expire, but miles have have 10 and 12 year expiry if you have status, there is a two year earning window for status miles and then a two year status period, and it offers lifetime status so it is looking the most tempting at the moment.

All I can think to do is not credit the SQ flights for a few months (but not too long!), and wait and see what happens...

Would welcome others' thoughts on this.