A query -- Skywards Vs M&M redemption levels
 

Hi Folks,

I normally had the impression that Skywards is still much better than M&M because of ease of earning, recognition and redemption options.. Now, EK has the best intl timetable from my base location and I was exploring whether its worth to make a move to EK from * Alliance..

I did a cursory check for mileage earning and redemption levels for a round trip from India to Europe and this is wht i find..
Earnings
In EK
In Saver Fare -- 5000 skyward miles + 5k tier miles
In Flex -- 10000 skyward + 10k tier

In LH
Semi Restricted - approx 10k miles depending on location
Flexible - approx 15k miles depending on location..

Redemption

EK -- Saver reward is 70k miles and flex reward is 122.5k miles..
LH -- standard is 60k miles and there can be promotions giving tickets @ 30-40K miles..

Not taking into account status bonus from the above it seems that for EK we need atleast 7 - 10 round trips in saver fare to get a saver reward whereas for LH we need from 5-7 round trips for a reward at the max ??
Am I missing something above since it confuses me as I always thot tht Skywards was much better than M&M..

P.s -- I did not check the seat buckets they hv put into the different ile earning categories and maybe that makes a big difference ??

Appreciate ur views..

thanks
Abhi

Firstly, Saver fares are for infrequent flyers/ deal seekers. For a little more you can get a flex, so don't even look at saver tickets (though on some routes its hard to find flex tickets).

Secondly, the thing you're missing here is that LH charges you buckets of money as taxes in addition to the mileage required. With EK, it's only airport taxes, so significantly lower.

The other thing you want to compare is ticket cost on LH vs EK. It's all well if LH is giving you more miles, but at what cost?

With EK, it's getting increasingly difficult to bag Biz redemptions/ upgrades. If you're flying to certain places in Europe they have pretty sad J seats.

Thanks for ur detail replies..

My company policy is the lowest ticket for a route .. so if they get saver tickets they will take it unfortunately , so I should also look at this possibilty also..Is there anz way to find which eco classes fall in saver tickets ??

So u saying that for award redemptions, EK does not charge fuel surchage which is a real big component ?? ^ This is wht I missed ..

Any other points which differentiates EK from M&M..

I am new to EK and hence need advise :o

Thanks
Abhi

If you are looking to earns miles purely for Y redemption, then M&M is the best program than EKs. M&M has loads of redemption option from India through its *A partners in Asia, and domestically within India (through AI/IC).

Just for an illustration, M&M requires only 30K miles (*A partner redemptions) from India to Africa (Ex: BOM-NBO-DAR-NBO-BOM on AI). Whereas EK requires 50K miles that too for saver awards which are harder and harder to find. These days miles are hard to earn in any program. Just because its EK, it doesn't make sense to shell out 20K more miles. But thats me. Decide based on your earnings likelyhood.

IIRC, EK requires only 15k points for a round trip within India on Jet ..

From wht info I have till now, the advantages / disadvantages are as follows :

Advantages
EK
No fuel surchage on award tickets..

LH
More rdemption options from India to SE asia, Africa and less miles required for redemption.
Status holds good for 2 yrs

My main target is to earn miles while mostly flying Y and then redeem these for award tickets for personal travel..

Any advise for additions to the above will be appreciated :)

Thanks
Abhi