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Originally Posted by sbm12
(Post 15681430)
Get a seat in the back half of the plane for 33" pitch instead of the 32" they offer in the front. @:-) TrueBlue won't get you much in value for cheap flights but it can eventually if you pay a tiny bit of attention to it.
I fly different airlines all the time. When the flight is cheaper, better timing, actually to the destination I want to go or even just for the cooler lines. Best I can tell I flew on 21 different carriers last year and I've already been on 4 different carriers this year. Limiting yourself to only flying one just for the miles is quite often an unwise investment. When you fly a couple hundred thousand miles a year, yes. If you're not flying as much, it's nice to to be able to bank most of your travel to one program to be able to redeem it at some point. (That's more of sticking to a specific program/alliance.) |
Originally Posted by joshwex90
(Post 15689578)
When you fly a couple hundred thousand miles a year, yes. If you're not flying as much, it's nice to to be able to bank most of your travel to one program to be able to redeem it at some point. (That's more of sticking to a specific program/alliance.)
If you're only flying 10-15K miles per year then you'll almost always do better by showing loyalty to your wallet rather than an airline or alliance. If you are flying 25-50K/year there are marginally better returns but it will very much depend on the spread you're paying to the airlines to earn those miles. Only when you start accruing miles in large quantities - and redeeming them at high valuations - do they hold real value over other loyalty, cash or reward schemes that are out there. |
Originally Posted by sbm12
(Post 15689883)
If you are flying 25-50K/year there are marginally better returns but it will very much depend on the spread you're paying to the airlines to earn those miles.
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Originally Posted by channa
(Post 15690151)
The RDM multiplier at the 50K level (in most programs) can be significant. But I agree, it's a YMMV thing. Things like 50K lounge access may have no value if you're wholly domestic, or you have a club card anyway. It really depends on your travhttp://www.flyertalk.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=15690151el patterns.
Calling Pegg-y... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md43_...eature=channel Now, picture this, you'll find it easy, same place, same guy: "This Jeff, Delll-ta SkyMilesssss...." I prefer to fly CO, UA and Star whenever possible. I'm a former redtail guy and nobody drinks the koolaid more avidly than former redtail riders. In fairness, I find that CO delivers a very competitive total value package. They do lots of things right, and better than the competition - some of this is simple but valuable stuff (like no IOS, refund of copay and miles if BF UG fails to clear, multiple avenues for revup or BF UG, exit rows at time of booking, decent cross-alliance benefit production as StarG etc.). Yes, Elite service and irop handling is questionable on CO but I can live with those. They're still better than DL SMS. I do sometimes have to fly DL because of company travel policy - DL is lowest cost, can't find a way to make Star work within parameters. And when I really have to be somewhere and DL or even (now) BA is cheaper and/or more convenient, or AF misfiles their Y+ to NOU or SJC, wherever, then I will use the OALs. As long as I reach my 100k EQM threshold on ConUniHound. DL is now my LCC and when treated this way, it works well. I like to fly others just for the occasional experience, but the FFP drives my primary decisionmaking. The family vac to FCO, SIN, LIS, TPE or wherever, is key and the juicy Starmiles are essential in realizing this annual event. |
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