alanw

Exactly. I only fly C and F as a rule, and I use DC because of the high earning and C&M. My take was that most members are in the same situation. It's not a good choice for Y flyers.

Kevincm

It's not the greatest choice with the lack of 1x earning fares, but there are a lot worse around, and it is entirely possible to qualify/re-qualify for *G - and is still one of the easier *G's to obtain and hold if you're slowly doing it.

How you use those miles you obtain is another matter.

ScottieFlyer

i'm not sure I grasp your point. It seems to me it is even a good scheme for 'nonflyers' given the nonflight earning opportunities. Changing travel needs see me in transition from UA to EK but I'm making hay at DC while the sun still shines. Without trying very hard, invaluable advice from FTers, and having flew only a few domestic Y flight, over the past year I have accrued and redeemed 4xOW J with SOs from Europe to South East Asia using C+M and I hope to add a further 2xOW by the end of the year. I cannot believe my luck and wish I had joined DC much earlier. That said, for the 10 years previous I flew usually about 100K/yr with UA mostly in Y (that's all employer would pay) but at the time their scheme was great too so with a combination of SWUs and comp upgrades the majority of my flights were in C. I believe the benefits received might even outweigh the costs incurred but I make no apology for that. If the airlines want to favour and reward C and F flyers more generously (which ultimately they do in any case) then they should design their schemes like BA EC.

jason8612

Wirelessly posted (Blackberry 8900: Opera/9.60 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.2.13918/554; U; en) Presto/2.2.0)

Sorry but a program where its at least 2x the eqms needed for gold compared to other *a airlines, a program which has members with no status miles expire after a year even if they had some travel, one that doesn't always follow the *a rules, subpar europe flights (cancellations without notice and a valid reason, a piece of bread with some old cheese as food, fighting eu comp rules over 2years) and even on the lh board many members would agree that lh sen is getting worse and is subpar.
I would never go to lh mm and avoid lh europe flights.

Traveloguy

The post above shows how little you know about the programme.

FWIW, BD is possibly one of the worst programmes in *A in respect to economy earnings. Many discount Y fares out there earn little if nothing whereas LH is far more generous.

Yes, BD is generous, but that is very much if you fly in either F or J and hit above 55K.

jbfield

I fly economy and BD has been great. I can't think of a better program to have earned miles with. I doubt I'd be gold if it was M&M...and I doubt I'd even try. At least on BD I am sufficiently encouraged to try to earn Gold even if it involves flying a little bit more than I otherwise would have.

There is the trouble of avoiding some of the deep discount fares inorder to earn miles, but they haven't always been that common on my flights.

NewbieRunner

A couple of inaccuracies: M&M may require twice the EQMs of some *A FFPs to achieve *G but the status lasts at least 2 years. If you don't have status (or a M&M credit card) miles expire after 36 months, not after one year.

Since I don't see M&M in the poster's profile I'm puzzled by such a strong aversion to M&M. No one is forced to join a particular FFP.

Kiwi Flyer

Right. IIRC for LX takeover by LH it took around a year to get the bilaterals renegotiated to allow for.

If 9W (or any other non-EU airline) were to try similar it would take substantially longer and probably some would be unable to be renegotiated thus the airline may have to drop routes.

bmi goldenboy

Words of wisdom jbfield ^

I almost exclusively fly in economy, sometimes Y sometimes cheaper if available at a time i need but only once a year in paid J TATL. I manage to achieve over 55k no probs but do fly very regularily. This year I earned many more miles on BD metal than on TK, SK or LH and enjoy spending them C+M with DC. I tried BA a few times and prefer BD and don't actually like the T5 lounges as they've been mobbed when I've used them. I like the LH SEN and FLT lounges but I am concerned about the earn and burn rates on M+M

I look forward to being able to upgrade more easily on a variety of routes. I also believe from reading the M+M threads that there are more earning opportunities to make the chance of retaining SEN after 2 years more possible than I originally thought.

Here's hoping.

jason8612

to get to KRK i basically have to take LH. BA option is gone, LO is only from WAW which the flights that I would take WAW-KRK is only the midnight one (by the time I would fly in to Europe and get to WAW, Im stuck there) and LH from what I saw into and out of KRK has a horrible reputation. Frequent cancellations, late, etc.
Its a personal thing, and LH is taking over many of the FF programs...

kt74

Yes, but Jet and Kingfisher are haemorrhaging cash at the moment...

OTOH, I know of at least one Middle Eastern airline with more cash than they can sheikh a stick at, who would buy anything under the sun right now, and to whom BD have been, errr, "leasing" slots (clue: not Qatar, not Emirates, not Oman, and not Gulf)

If I was LH and really wanted to get rid of bmi, I would employ some decent corporate finance advisers... (as well as improve M&M )

Savard

Sorry, but isn't that just plain wrong? I flew to FRA-SIN-SYD on a discount Y-Fare (W or V?) on SQ. I got 100% mileage, whereas my buddy on M&M got only 50%. And I am pretty sure I found a few Airlines and Fare-Classes where this was the case, before I decided to go with BD. Honestly I do not see any good argument for me (personally) to switch to M&M, except maybe for the Credit Card earnings.

With my flight profile (Long Range Discount-Y and Friendship Fares without mileage accrual), I wouldn't be SEN on M&M, simple as that. And if some M&M-HIgh-Society-Wannabees think that makes me a Frequent Flyer Wannabee, so be it. Asiana's Lounge @ICN was probably equally nice for me as a BD*G as it would have been for a SEN.

edit: just checked. there are a few airlines, where earning is better on M&M. Most of them are in fact M&M Airlines. I hardly ever fly them (even though I'm German). The Airlines I fly more often with (SQ, UA, US, TG) offer better Y-earnings on DC.

MarioRossi

Sorry, but this is totally different from what I've been experiencing. I've never had any issues on this route and out of curiosity I checked todays flight. First one into KRK was 12 minutes late, seconds one was 7 minutes early, third one even thirteen minutes early.

I guess your sources and maybe also your conception are a bit wrong!!

jason8612

sources are me and friends and family that I pick up/drop off. I probably go to the airport 15-25+x/year with family members, friends, myself, and majority of the time that flight is delayed or canceled from what I saw 1st hand. Overall it might not be, but I judge it on personal experiences, not the masses as I'm flying them and I'm the member of the FF group, so it affects me. I asked the ground manager and a few ticketing ladies and they also say that their flights are delayed/late often. Actually I arrive at the airport with my laptop and my wireless modem with EF open and sitting outside the ticketing desk just in case it gets canceled.
Just flew LH, and the flight to MUC was a tad late, giving me a short conx. No issues with that, but on a F/C ticket, a car transfer from a apron to a apron position would of been nice. Some priority boarding also could of been nice and something other than a green paste looking thing for the food would of been nice. LX on the other hand was excellent (minus the delayed baggage)

Traveloguy

It should also be noted that M&M is more generous in respect to Euro hops than BD, as well as being better even on premium fares on SA, SQ, TP, CA etc.

I'm not saying BD is bad, I'm just advising people that in many cases they would earn more on M&M than they think and that 100K M&M status miles does not equal 100K BD status miles contrary to the stuff often spouted in this thread. For example many of the often discussed LX runs earns considerably more on M&M than DC.