yneris

Hey to everybody!

I'd like to ask the following:

- I will be relocating in Atlanta Georgia, from Greece and i am confused on which mileage program i should use.

- I am currently enlisted in Miles and More of Lufthansa and to be honest i'm fully satisfied with the service as a company. I also have the miles and more credit card, which is pretty neat.

- I will be travelling mostly international (Europe) but being in Atlanta, means that with Delta i would have a lot of choices flying domestically comparing to United (due to the fact that they are in Star Alliance).

Should i convert to Delta Skymiles and if yes why? I hate their international flights (flew a couple of times from New York to Athens)

Your input will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks a bunch!

DHalltheway

:-:Welcome to FT OP!:-:

Maybe you want to start by giving us some figures in terms of domestic travel vs international travel.

The thing that pops up to my mind immediately is why not both? DL for DOM and LH for International?

yneris

Happy to be in your wonderful forum!

Roughly i will be doing

4-5 international flights to Europe

10-20 domestic flights in US

I'm also interested in the benefits of each program. I know that getting status with Miles and More is tough but it's pretty neat!

FederalFlyer

Probably even more info would be helpful. But here are some considerations:

Domestic Travel:

You'll get different opinions of course, but I think Delta is pretty good for its elites, of which there are 4 levels: Diamond (125,000 elite miles/year); Platinum (75,000 elite miles/year); Gold (50,000 elite miles/year) and Silver (25,000 elite miles/year). As a Platinum, I think Delta is very good domestically. Most of Delta's planes have a first class cabin and my upgrade percent is 100% on the year and was around 90% for last year (but yours may differ depending on where and when you are flying). And, if you get the upgrade, Delta offers a pre-departure beverage which I think is nice. Also, most of Delta's planes are equipped with WIFI (for a fee) and many have in flight entertainment.

Other perks that I get value out of as a Delta Platinum include free 'same day changes' and free changes to award tickets. Also, I get (as do Golds and up) a 100% bonus on SkyMiles (not elite miles) earned from flying.

International Travel:

This is where Delta is pretty abysmal since there are no complimentary upgrades for elites on international flights. While you can select as a benefit 4 or 6 System Wide Upgrades (if you reach Platinum Medallion or Diamond, respectively) that can be used to upgrade an international flight... they can only be used to upgrade very expensive Y/B/M fares that generally cost as much or more as a business class ticket. Also, since Delta is a 2 cabin carrier (i.e., economy class and business class) you can not redeem SkyMiles to book First Class tickets on any 3 cabin Sky Team partners (e.g., Korean)... business is as good as you can get using SkyMiles.

Earning Status on Delta:

Here's something else to think about: with Delta, through the Amex Delta Reserve card, you can earn 30,000 elite miles/year without flying. That means it only requires 45,000 additional elite miles to reach Platinum status. And 45,000 miles (plus the 30,000 from the Amex DL Reserve) provide more benefits being a Platinum on Delta than most will get from just earning 45,000 elite miles on another carrier.

Personally, if I flew 100k and up a year so that I could achieve top elite status on another carrier, I might consider switching to another carrier. I'd really appreciate a better alliance with first class cabins to redeem miles on (like Swiss or Cathay or Lufthansa). With Delta, Korean business class may be as good as it gets. I'd also love complimentary upgrades on international flights or upgrade certs that actually have value (which I know at least AA provides its top elites). But, for me, I simply don't fly anywhere near 100k annually, so those perks are out of reach for me on any other carrier and I'm happy being a Delta Platinum.

irfan23

FederalFlyer said it all. Good work. ^

yneris

Thanks.
But versus Lufthansa on International flying? Lounges access?
How easy is to get status mile (how many flights).

Is it better to stay with Miles and More and use United Airlines, so to accumulate as many miles as i can in one account?

GRALISTAIR

Well I have experience of this. I am a European (UK) Passport holder and also a US Permannet Resident (Green Card Holder). I relocated to Georgia (north of Atlanta). As it is the busiest airport in the world and also the number1 hub for Delta, my boss strongly recommended quote "switch your allegiance to Delta". It was great advice. I strongly recommend you joining the SkyMiles program and using Delta as your airline of choice if you will be living in the Atlanta area.

and +1 to the poster above who suggested getting a DELTA American Express card and using that to book flights if at all possible.

yneris

Gralistair

Thanks for your note.
Which things you enjoy most at Delta and how would you compare it with an European carrier (i.e. British Airways)?

mattsteg

Meaningful status, in terms of lounge access (on international flights), is 50k miles, less if you get some MQMs via amex. For domestic access, either 125k miles or buy in for lounge access.

The problems with sticking with miles and more are twofold. First of all, it's not a great earning program. Lots of low fares only earn partial miles on United, and the elite bonus is very poor. US-based programs put a stronger emphasis on redeemable awards, and if much of your travel is in the US you're not getting the most out of miles and more.

If you wanted to stick with flying LH, I'd evaluate whether it makes sense to participate in e.g. United's program. I'd probably go with DL out of Atlanta, though.

In terms of miles in one account, the biggest thing is to have "enough" to redeem for what you want to. Beyond that, diversification can be a good thing.

MSPeconomist

The OP could primarily go with DL but also earn *A Gold through Aegean at 19,000 miles. This would get lounge access, free bags, and elite lines when flying *A, including the SEN lounges and some special lines in Greece.

yneris

Yes i've thought of that to be honest, but do you get status miles in Aegean Airlines, flying with LH or United?

mtkeller

Yes. Look up the earning chart for Miles & Bonus, A3's frequent flyer program. Cheap intra-European LH fares don't earn anything, but long-haul flights generally seem to.

yneris

Well yeah but i'm not so sure in investing with a Greek airline instead of a big airline (Lufthansa or Delta for example)

3Cforme

Think about where you'll be flying from Atlanta, and how those locations are served by Star Alliance carriers (checking today's schedules):

United serves six destinations from ATL

US Airways serves three destinations from ATL

Air Canada flies to Toronto

Lufthansa flies to FRA

Delta flies non-stop to more than 200 destinations from ATL. It's more than all airlines combined from London Heathrow. Delta's advantages in destination count and frequency are absolutely overwhelming. Want to fly Atlanta-Chicago? United has seven flights. Delta has 12 flights to Chicago-O'Hare and 7 more to Chicago-Midway.

yneris

Thanks!

What do you think, concerning their Delta Skymiles program? How easy is it to get status and what advantages do you have vs Miles and More?