|
I have decided on M&M. I already have enough Star Alliance flights booked this year to bring me very close to SEN anyway, and I already have an OWE sorted out until early 2013. BA is my primary carrier.
As I do not often get an opportunity or inclination to redeem miles, preferring generally to use the miles to upgrade, M&M would suit me best. |
I have used DC extensively for long-haul premium travel for the family using Cash & Miles and only using miles purchased outright to a family account plus some credit card spend. I don't think we've bought longhaul tickets outright for years, so in our case too DC has been absolutely fantastic.
I appreciate that there is nothing comparable out there but that maybe US Airways has the programme that gets you further in terms of buying miles (with their frequent 100% bonus on purchased miles)? It'll take us a lot longer to buy our way to C class tickets for the family though... Would you agree with this in terms of burn rates per $? |
Originally Posted by RoarAhead
(Post 17902285)
I have used DC extensively for long-haul premium travel for the family using Cash & Miles and only using miles purchased outright to a family account plus some credit card spend. I don't think we've bought longhaul tickets outright for years, so in our case too DC has been absolutely fantastic.
I appreciate that there is nothing comparable out there but that maybe US Airways has the programme that gets you further in terms of buying miles (with their frequent 100% bonus on purchased miles)? It'll take us a lot longer to buy our way to C class tickets for the family though... Would you agree with this in terms of burn rates per $? |
Looked left, looked right, spent a lot of time analysing all options, but at the end of the day, I remembered why I joined DC in the first place which was easy *G status.
I don't know why I have hesitated so long but Aegean is just the inevitable choice, even if it doesn't feel right, but then nor did BD at the beginning... Credited my first flight yesterday which, co-incidentally, was the day I received a nice shiny box from British Midlands with my latest Gold card valid until March 2013. I had never counted on much in the way of miles from BD - it was all about status. So imagine my surprise at suddenly finding myself with enough for two BC tickets from Europe to Aus, and availability on SQ A380. Thank you BD - I will miss you. |
Well I've had the morning all to my self so I've looked at all the *A options and came to this. My needs are *G over spending miles and generally fly UACO TATL or LH in Europe.
Aegean is probably the best with 32,000 miles (based on a 50% earnage rate) to requalify yearly *G on cheap UA flights and 50% on S class. Ethiopia is good with a high 50,000 points for *G but 100% on cheap LH fares (apart from L,E,K). Asiana is another option for me since this is all 2 yearly and 50% on S LH fares and 100% on UA. |
I'm looking to move to M&M due to ease.
However I have an upcoming trip in June on Virgin with six family members and was wondering if anyone can advised how best to pool the miles. There doesn't seem to be too many FF schemes that accept Virgin miles and have the ease of DC, however with its seeming impending demise it looks like DC won't be an option but I will be spending any miles later this year. Any advise is welcome? Thanks |
Buy US Club membership
Originally Posted by wyvern
(Post 17862993)
No, I am not actually. I thought I had read it somewhere but cannot now find the reference. Mea culpa - always check before you post!
Having looked at the US programme again, the US*G requalification is 50K, lifetime US*S is a available at 1M miles but not lifetime *G. I guess it is a programme to consider, though the lack of US lounge access on domestic fares and the lack of lifetime *G would put it behind SK for me. But for those UK DC members who fly UK-US regularly, fly in business/first on US metal (getting bonus miles which would assist with requalification), and have Amex Platinum Chargecard/Priority Pass for US domestic lounge access) then I guess it may be more attractive than OZ or SK. Last year US had a deal where you could buy annual Club Membership; for around $250, which includeds US & United Clubs, (you can use even if your not flying star) and all Star alliance clubs (must fly with Star with these). |
US Low Cost Awards--Good Program
US does have some great earning promos plus for Europe/South America where else can you get value J to Hawaii for 60k.
Plus if you do travel in the USA the upgrade percentage even as silver is quite good. My experience with inter-europe flights in J (excluding LOT which as great) has been so so, having US Airways be much better with its domestic service that what I have found in Europe. Thus, I really feel that the (along with TAP & LOT) are underappreciated Star members, with outstanding service both on their regional flights as well as transatlantic. Also I should mention that you can buy a 2x or 3x multiplier on some tickets at a good rate. |
I was gearing towards OZ, but I decided to sign up to US today. Did anyone notice that Virgin Atlantic flights count towards Preferred Status? This is great for me personally as I do fly that airline to Asia often. US is also part of E-Rewards and I can use a SPG credit card to earn extra miles. The earn/burn ratio is better than OZ too. Finally, an opportunity to buy miles to get *Gold is very good.
|
Originally Posted by NickB
(Post 17899207)
One of those programmes where miles expire, though.
I also like the fact that you can purchase up to 10000 status miles if you are an elite. |
I can see the advantages of US, but for me, UA tops US providing I can keep my 1K status since that gives me 6 SWUs (= Global Premier Upgrades) rather than US's measly 2 upgrades. Given the amount of Y international travel I do, that's a big difference and very attractive to me. If I have spare miles left over, I may put them in A3 to get United Club access when travelling internally, but given most of my internal travel is on same day as international, then it's hardly worth it. I'll still miss DC though...
|
Originally Posted by Obokata
(Post 17892631)
I heard that you have to visit your TK local office physically to reserve award flights, though. If this is true, then lots of inconvenience there.
*A flight can be booked over the phone but you will have to go to the office to have the ticket issued. Very inconvenient. Also staff at the call centre speak often very poor English, making it very difficult to discuss with them (and you have to call to Turkey) With only 150 % earning in C, miles staying only 3 years valid and no credit card earning (at least not outside Turkey), it is quite difficult to earn enough miles for a long haul flight for a family holiday in C (or F) If based in London, it is almost impossible to find available seats during the holidays to Istanbul unless you use the guaranteed seat (but in this case a return ticket from Europe to Istanbul would set you about 100,000 miles back!!) From other airports (and outside the major holidays) the limited capacity on TK only has reasonable availability. |
changing from DC/Exec club to Aadvantage
I'm going to miss Diamond Club- especially on my main redemption route from MAN to DEL. I am DC Gold and BA Exec Club Silver now (losing status in March). Flying from MAN- it is hard to travel with BA because it is so much more expensive than Star alliance. However, in terms of cheap (in terms of miles) redemptions to India, it is hard to find cheaper ones than Aadvantage (30k miles one way in business, 60k return). I will still hold on to some OW status (CX gold card, through AMEX plat), but I think my plan is to earn Aadvantage miles on OW flights and credit card, mainly for cheap redemptions from UK to India. It's a bit crazy, as I don't plan to fly AA at all, so perhaps others may persuade me otherwise
|
Coming around to US
I was looking closely at UA but US is starting to appeal a little more after reading suggestions here.
- Bonus miles on US, LH and UA/CO operated flights depending on status level (25, 50, 75, 100% bonuses) - You can buy up to preferred status levels if you are a few miles short - Status and award miles on Virgin Atlantic flights - No US metal requirement for status On the downside: - no E+ - Talk of them leaving *A Not sure about the burn rates, on face value they appear ok but it is not clear if these are return (I assume they are) or one-way. This popup is confusing me too "One-way award travel reservations are available for the same number of miles as a roundtrip award travel" :confused: |
Originally Posted by netd
(Post 17919052)
Not sure about the burn rates, on face value they appear ok but it is not clear if these are return (I assume they are) or one-way. This popup is confusing me too "One-way award travel reservations are available for the same number of miles as a roundtrip award travel" :confused:
|
Originally Posted by holtju2
(Post 17919829)
You can ticket OW awards as well, but you need to pay the RT price.
|
I just got done with burning well over 100,000 miles. Now down to chump change. I suppose this will convert into three or so Avios.
For the last half year, crediting was to UA, AC. At this time, only Gold status remains to transfer (for whatever this will be worth). Good-bye BD. It was always entertaining: Will the website work? Does the agent in the ICC manage a simple booking? Does someone take responsibility after BD forgot to ticket a reservation? |
Originally Posted by netd
(Post 17920169)
Ouch, that's a pretty big negative right there.
|
Delta thinking about purchase of US airways http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-ai...usition-2.html
|
Originally Posted by Leedsflyer
(Post 17920860)
Unlike US, UA does have one-ways :)
How useful do you find the SWUs? Flying UA would probably take me to Europe via the US so these would be handy but how useful are they in reality? Compared to say DC eGUVs? Worse, worser or worserest :D? |
After seriously considering SK (as I wrote about some pages ago), I finally made my decision today to move into CO/UA. The main reason for doing this is that TK is offering some really good V-fares GOT-ICN and I just bought a couple of roundtrips with them. Beside TK it appears as if only UA will offer 100% credit for these fares (and these V-fares cost 600 EUR compared to a 100% earning fare with SK which is 950 EUR so in total I save more than 1200 EUR).
The reason I went for CO/UA is (a) some odd 16k+ miles I have with them since the old pre-Star CO-days and (b) that TK miles expire after 3 years which is really short. The 1MM long-term future is also appealing. My only problem now is the 4 paid flights with CO/UA requirement, for the moment I only have 2 paid flights with them booked this year, if bad comes to worse I will do a quick ICN-NRT run but I will first write a letter asking for a status match of my BD Gold once we know what will happen. I have already requalified for next year so I guess my new BD card will come more or less at the same time as the program is discontinued... sigh... |
Originally Posted by ErasmusEBS
(Post 17926102)
...but I will first write a letter asking for a status match of my BD Gold once we know what will happen.
|
Look at Avianca/Taca Lifemiles program
I posted about the new Lifemiles program on the Star board, however here are some key areas:
Much like both UA/US, there are unlimited domestic upgrades (Columbia) however, there are also unlimited international upgrades (on any published fare) and four 1 way vouchers upgrades (on any published fare) for Europe. Under there program you can buy miles, sometimes for 2X. There is a mile and cash option just like BMI. The high mileage redemption---includes earning miles based on class of redemption and miles flown: thus you can redeem a reward and earn millage on it. Lifemiles is soon to be a star member, with a very strong Latin American network and several US gateways.@:-) |
Originally Posted by netd
(Post 17926214)
That's exactly what I have done, perhaps a bit prematurely but I'm flying with them in two weeks time, I'll let you know how I get on with it. Still waiting for a reply but over in the UA forum the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ed-2010-a.html thread says this is not uncommon.
|
Originally Posted by gkbiiii
(Post 17926483)
I posted about the new Lifemiles program on the Star board, however here are some key areas:
|
Originally Posted by heramato
(Post 17926568)
A business class ticket from South America to europe: 184,000 miles! :eek:
No, one-way MCO-MAD would be 24k miles and $460 cash/miles, or 48k miles and $920 round-trip. The total for lets say the one-way would be $461.86 with taxes. How is this much different than BMI? |
Originally Posted by gkbiiii
(Post 17926912)
No, one-way MCO-MAD would be 24k miles and $460 cash/miles, or 48k miles and $920 round-trip.
The total for lets say the one-way would be $461.86 with taxes. How is this much different than BMI? Anyway, am I missing something about redemption ammounts? Check here a LH flight in business class: 184.000 miles https://www.lifemiles.com/eng/use/par/parairluf.aspx Also Iberia: https://www.lifemiles.com/esp/use/par/parairibe.aspx |
Originally Posted by netd
(Post 17924975)
Yep, now looking back at UA again!
How useful do you find the SWUs? Flying UA would probably take me to Europe via the US so these would be handy but how useful are they in reality? Compared to say DC eGUVs? Worse, worser or worserest :D? I don't expect to always succeed in using them on my desired flights, though careful research as to which days/flights have most availability improves chances :). Note one can't book into the very cheapest booking classes though, so if you are constrained to always doing this then it's less useful, but there is still a reasonable range. There are of course also many more possible flights to use them on. You also get CR1s (even as Platinum with a qualification of 75k miles) which can be used within region 1 (North America). They also have unlimited domestic upgrades, but these are relatively scarcer and depend a lot of status, fare class etc, but again I've had reasonably good op-ups on these. CO also has time of purchase auto-upgrades from M fares which I've used at least once. |
Originally Posted by Leedsflyer
(Post 17927529)
Infinitely more useful...
|
Originally Posted by heramato
(Post 17927041)
Well.... many things. The price of the miles, the absense of Family membership and so on...
Anyway, am I missing something about redemption ammounts? Check here a LH flight in business class: 184.000 miles https://www.lifemiles.com/eng/use/par/parairluf.aspx Also Iberia: https://www.lifemiles.com/esp/use/par/parairibe.aspx |
I re-qualified BD*G for the period Jan 2012 - Jan 2013. I have a flight coming up that will push me over 38,000 miles, thus re-qualifying me for Jan 2013 - Jan 2014.
What is the chance if Diamond Club converts to BA or LH, that my status on those programs will be (1) carried over and (2) valid to Jan 2014? |
Originally Posted by sniles
(Post 17942991)
I re-qualified BD*G for the period Jan 2012 - Jan 2013. I have a flight coming up that will push me over 38,000 miles, thus re-qualifying me for Jan 2013 - Jan 2014.
What is the chance if Diamond Club converts to BA or LH, that my status on those programs will be (1) carried over and (2) valid to Jan 2014? |
Originally Posted by treadsoftly
(Post 17947556)
I'm in the same position. Have enough status in the bank to requalify as Gold until July 2013 now. Am hoping for a status match recognising this, hopefully with LH.
As for the LH status match, it sounds unlikely based on post 414 on pg 28 over here. Finally, one question I've not seen asked/answered (and it may be a really dumb one) -- when will we lose our *A privileges? As soon as the sale goes through? So, presumably, by 31 March? I'm not much of an airline historian -- how quickly does the "divorce process" proceed? Thanks! Mike |
Sorry about that!
Originally Posted by CDG 1K
(Post 17765134)
I am Star Gold with three carriers (BD, LH, lifetime UA) and OW Emerald with two (CX, MA) so I think I can add my opinion here in terms of comparing the two alliances.
First of all no program out there will beat DC's earn/burn ratio. The program's generosity with M+C is fantastic as is the OW award for half the miles. And if you make it past the 55k threshold to the point you can earn 6x in F and 4x in business, nothing comes close to DC. So sad to see it go but we all knew it was coming sooner or later- I think most of us assumed it would be merged into M&M so the fact that it will probably merge into BAEC, came as a great surprise to me. One person's ideal program wouldn't necessarily be the best for others depending on the fares paid. I can speak from the perspective of someone paying premium longhaul international fares. If F and C are your principal fare basis, then M&M is the way to go in Star with 3x and 2x miles respectively. If those flights are on a LH family carrier (eg. Swiss) you earn another 25% executive bonus for a maximum of 3.25x which is the same as DC. However the burn rates in M&M are nowhere close to as low as DC, so make sure to try to take advantage of 50% mileage discounts on companion award tickets and 25% discounts on child tickets to compensate. US has a decent Star program because the burn rates are quite low, but then again the earn rates are low too. However, US has buy one get one free mileage sales from time to time which make it ridiculously cheap to pick up 100,000 miles. So if you factor in those sales, the earn rates are pretty low overall. In terms of a comparable program in OW to DC, only Malev would fit the bill since they offer about 3x and 2x for paid travel in F and C respectively. Emerald status (200,000 miles to earn Platinum in Malev's Duna Club) is easily attainable with a few first class long haul tickets and once platinum, you will earn a 25% base mile bonus on all OW flights similar to M&M (except the 25% is only good on LH family flights where as Malev gives the bonus to all OW flights). So a first class CDG-HKG flight nets me 29,500 miles each way. CX is a terrible program in terms of Earn/Burn ratio. Why do I keep it? Because I mostly fly CX throughout the year and having Diamond status with Marco Polo gives me a lot of benefits in terms of excellent CX service on the ground, in the air, guaranteed seats with 24 hr notice on any CX flight and better award redemption availability. They really look after me as a Diamond member but as soon as I reach my Diamond status, all my remaining OW flights get credited to MA since I can mop up 3.25x miles in first, compared to 1.5x miles in first had I credited the flight to CX. So for First and Business travelers, I would rate M&M the best after DC in Star and Malev the best in OW. Second best in Star I would give to US where the earn rate is very good and they don't block star partner flights like UA does. UA's program is ridiculous when it comes to trying to booking premium award space on Star partners, so unless you fly primarily within the United States and you only want to fly UA on your hard earned free tickets, Mileage Plus is probably not for you. I just wanted to apologize for my absolutely TERRIBLE advice for recommending Malev's Duna Club program. I had no idea that they were on the brink of bankruptcy. That being said, I lost 350,000 miles, and combined with my immediate family members, we're all out about 950,000 miles. Unless that is another OW airline picks up that program, which I highly, highly doubt. Sorry for the bad advice regarding that one! CDG 1K |
Originally Posted by CDG 1K
(Post 17956421)
I lost 350,000 miles, and combined with my immediate family members, we're all out about 950,000 miles.
A timely warning to us all not to be excessively squirrel-like (and to be cautious when it comes to FFPs run by airlines we don't know well). |
Originally Posted by IMH
(Post 17960747)
Ouch. :eek: I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that you have our sympathy.
A timely warning to us all not to be excessively squirrel-like (and to be cautious when it comes to FFPs run by airlines we don't know well). |
Originally Posted by netd
(Post 17932019)
Thanks for the run down, nice to see some real world experience with these. Over in the UA forum this sort of info seems to get lost in the noise.
|
At the business travel show, representatives from Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa seemed to have little idea about next steps.
The Lufthansa rep was confident that Star Alliance would somehow address the hole that bmi leaves. The Turkish rep said that her manager has been told to use his miles quickly. |
Originally Posted by netd
(Post 17932019)
Thanks for the run down, nice to see some real world experience with these. Over in the UA forum this sort of info seems to get lost in the noise.
|
Originally Posted by Singapore_Air
(Post 17975698)
The Lufthansa rep was confident that Star Alliance would somehow address the hole that bmi leaves.
Of course I have a self-motivated reason, namely that I have a number of *A flights booked for March and am still sitting on bmi as my only *A carrier. TIA. |
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 9:42 pm. |
This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.