rushjc

Hello all,

I've learned a lot from these forums, but I'm a newbie to actually posting a question so please forgive any ignorance or lack of abbreviations (you guys amaze me at your knowledge of all the abbreviations!), hehe.

I was fortunate enough to snag two of the error fare deals on New Years Eve. Consequently, I will earn 655 Marco Polo points (combo of J and F fares) and 62,740 Asia Miles if I choose to credit them to CX. The Asia Miles award chart looks really lousy compared to others, so I doubt that anyone would recommend pooling miles there, right? If I understand the Marco Polo rules correctly, I will still earn Silver Status regardless where I credit the miles because Marco Polo points are different, yes?

I realize that I probably have a golden opportunity to credit the miles elsewhere and use a long-term strategy to acquire (then maintain) status in a totally different program. And that is the crux of my question. Where should I credit all of these miles and what would you do if you were in my position? I'll try to explain my travel patterns if that helps.

A bit of previous context: I also snagged one of the Hong Kong Airlines error fares last year which gave me instant Silver status with HX/HU. I flew with them a few more times and enjoyed the perks of that status, but I'm in the southeast US so going thru LAX or SFO to get to Asia is inefficient. There weren't really any status match opportunities to pursue since those airlines aren't in alliances and I couldn't find any information to say otherwise, but I did enjoy the perks and it really got me thinking about this CX thing and how I can maximize the opportunity.

I travel most often to Asia (about 5x/year) using paid economy tickets or business class award tickets (miles earned via credit cards - Citi/Chase/Amex). I'm based in ATL, so Delta rules the roost here. Very little international presence and ridiculous prices as a result of that, so I almost always depart from ORD or JFK. IAD is an option, but usually there's a better deal out of ORD or JFK. Same with IAH. I'll fly out to LAX, SEA, or SFO and go from there if the deal makes it worth it. I could probably be described as a "value flyer" meaning that I don't need this perk or that perk to be happy. Biggest bang for the buck is what gets my attention.

My domestic flying is about twice a month on average, either with Delta or Southwest. I prefer Southwest, but sometimes Delta is the only practical option. United and American have limited presence here. I don't fly enough domestically to meet any US-based airlines spending requirement, so I assume that my best long-term strategy is to concentrate on a non-monetary requirement program.

For my international travel, I don't always go for the absolute best deal (chinese airlines), but I could see myself being loyal to an airline/alliance that has these four things:

1. A good award chart
2. Reliably good cash fares
3. Most flexibility in transferring in points from credit card currencies.
4. Has an east coast presence, preferably in two places (for positioning flight options and cost comparison).

From my own research, that's probably something in Star Alliance, but I haven't found one that really meets all of the criteria. Asiana meet #1 , #2 , and #4 , but is not a transfer partner of the credit card currencies I have. I could get an SPG/Marriott card and fix that, but I understand that it's not worth it after the conversion.

So, this is where I need some wisdom from the collective hive mind.

1. Where should I credit all of these miles?
2. What's my best long-term strategy?

Using wheretocredit.com, it looks like that would be Alaska Airlines for the easiest and quickest status earn. But then what? I assume I would then status match against Alaska next year to......?

Thanks!

Thanks in advance for your advice. I'm happy to fill in any blanks if I left out useful info.

rushjc

Mod: Please delete this post. I realized almost immediately that I should have posted it in the Information Desk rather than the CX-specific forum to access a broader knowledge base.