Hello, I'm new to Emirates but would start flying with them starting end of this year.

So far, I looked at the skywards' program and I like that 50,000 miles already gives me the highest status. I probably make it from CY 2006.

But I'm wondering if it is better to join CO's OnePass or other program instead of Skywards. I am currently NW platinum/UA Premier and have chances to fly with SkyTeam or Star Alliance.

It would be great if you can provide your insights the advantages and disadvantages to join skywards or partner's program.

Thank you very much for your help in advance!

I think it is not clever to join too many programs, but to focus on one or two and to reach the highest level there.
I started with Air Canada, Lufthansa, United Airlines and now Emirates.
I dropped the first two and now I am UA Mileage Plus Gold (Premier Executive) and Skywards Gold.

The differences between the two programs are many.

It is much easier to earn miles with Mileage Plus (Star Alliance and more partner airlines; 100% bonus miles for Premier Executives versus 50% for Skywards gold members).

The redemption levels for economy flights are similar, but for business and first class tickets the Skywards levels are much too high!
With Mileage Plus you can use awards on the whole Star Alliance network, with Skywards there is not much more than Emirates and Sri Lankan...

What do I like better in the Skywards program:

Even as a silver you have lounge access in Dubai (many flight connections in Dubai need 2 - 4 hours waiting time, so this helps really). As a gold member you will have lounge access everywhere Emirates flys to.

Once you are Skywards Gold, you need only 40 000 miles the next year to get the gold level again. This can be helpful.

As a gold member your chances for operational upgrades are high.
Economy class is often overbooked with Emirates (of course it depends which routes you are flying) and Skywards Gold members are first on the upgrade list.
At United Airlines I got 3 free international upgrades in 7 years as Premier Executive, with Emirates I got more than 10 international upgrades in the last 3 years (of course UA has another level above Premier Executive, so the upgrades go there, but at EK Gold is the highest level for now).

I hope this helps you a little.

A related question. I know you can no-longer earn BA or Sq miles on EK - is it only CO and UA that are left? Or are there any other earning options? Our corporate deal for the Middle East has moved from BA to EK ( ) hence my interest.

List of Airline Partners below. You will find specifications for each airline under http://www.skywards.com/miles_airlines.asp

Continental Airlines
Delta Air Lines
Japan Airlines
South African Airways
United Airlines

Other partners include hotels, financial institutions, leisure etc. see links on same page.

GlobalExpress , many thanks.

I mostly agree with dusordua on the differences between UA and EK. Although if you are going to fly the airline enough to earn status then I believe it is nice to have it when flying them as your partner status will not get you anything. I am a UA 1K and will be flying EK a lot more in the future and I noticed that the bonues for C/J and F where better if I deposited to a Skywards account than if I deposited to my UA account. I could also use those for upgrades later so once I got enough miles I could just purchase C/J instead of F and upgrade. I could not do that if I put the miles in my UA account.

I do think it is good to concentrate on a few flyer accounts instead of distributing miles in many accounts but generally you will get more out of crediting the miles to that airlines account especially if you add in bonuses and not just premium class bonuses but promotions they sometime run. If it was a small amount of miles you are going to fly with an airline I would suggest you just stick the miles in the partner account but as many miles as you mentioned I would consider leaving them in your skywards account and using them for upgrades.

One more important point that has not been talked about UA and EK is the stability factor. Most of the US based airlines (specially UA and US) are in deep financial crisis and struggling to keep their heads above water. Not the case with EK. Your miles and status will be quite safe atleast in the near foreseable future.

Dear dusordua, mcgahat and maulah,

Thanks for your valuable inputs. I agree with you that better to concentrate rather than distributing the miles. Also Mileage Upgrade is another factor... Of course, who knows what would happen US-based carriers....

Since I'm in the burning miles phase with UA, I think I will not accrue EK miles there. For NW, I am almost re-qualified to be Plat for Yr 2006, just keep it. Probably, I will open the account in EK Skywards and enjoy the Highest-Gold status starting sometime in Yr 2006.

If anyone (esp. who are CO OnePass member or DL SkyMiles member) has other inputs. I greatly appreciate.

Thanks again - dusordua, mcgahat and maulah
Gox