FFP Recommendation
 

Not sure if this is the right forum to post, but figured the folks here might have the best info on this. Have some relatives who commute about twice a year between Vancouver (YYR) & MAA/ BLR. Figured it would help if they stuck to one carrier and thereby consolidated their miles.

Primarily, they’d probably look at the increased baggage allowance as a result. They travel Economy for the most part and look out for the cheapest tickets. Any suggestions on which would be the best program for them to join.

Cathay Pacific & Lufthansa are the carriers they currently use (not enrolled into their programs as yet).

Any suggestions folks?

They need to figure out which airline/alliance they prefer in terms of price and convenience. Then I'd book Cathay flights in the AAdvantage program or Lufthansa flights in the UA FF program, since AA and UA miles are easier to redeem and have overall better charts. Even if they are very price sensitive, I'd open these 2 accounts and credit to them.

If they fly only twice a year, I'd suggest that they sign up for Aegean Airlines Miles and Bonus. The 2 trips should be enough to get them *G, and that extra baggage allowance and lounge access truly does make these trips more bearable.

So do they book an Aegean Air ticket then..?? (Sorry, am always confused with the whole idea of travelling on one carrier and crediting them to another)

First they sign up for Aegean Airlines' FFP. Then, they book with any Star Alliance member (Lufthansa presumably in this case). They give Lufthansa their Aegean Airlines mileage number.

Then, after earning 20,000 miles within a year (1 round trip if they buy a 100% mileage earning fare, or 2 round trips if they buy 50% earning fares), they get *G status, which gives them 3 free bags, lounge access, first class checkin, etc.

They just have to make sure that the fare they book is mileage earning before confirming their reservation... Most of the cheap fares will earn 50% miles, but that's still enough to get *G with 2 trips.

If they are primarily interested in the extra baggage allowance, they might consider joining CX/MarcoPolo Club, but that would require 60K miles (Gold) before they get any benefit on the YVR-India trips. If they do any other travel on oneworld partners other than YVR-India, it might be worth considering.
Otherwise, joining UA MP or Aeroplan might be better for them. Aeroplan if they do any Intra-Canada travel would probably be better, despite their YQ charges on awards.

Aegean would be good for getting *G status but redeeming their miles might be a pain. If they travel enough to get 50K, I would consider another program.

Redeeming hasn't been an issue for me so far...

Also, with 2 roundtrips YVR-FRA-MAA-FRA-YVR in a 50% earning bucket (the cheapest one), they'd barely be hitting 20k miles, forget 50k

Don't you need to have atleast Aegean flight credited before they let you access *G, redemption benefits?

unless they are connecting via yyz, no indian carrier would be beneficial for them on this route....

+1..
To the OP-- Do check with fare classes of LH or any *A airline you plan to buy, are eligible for Aegean miles..I was also planning to do this but found out that most cheap fare classes are not eligible for Aegean miles, so do this check if you plan to go for this option..@:-)

Yes, this is true of any program...

From / To India, LH gives one free bag for Economy pax, and one additional free bag for Star Gold. So, two bags total if Star Gold.


I didnt quite understand what was being asked by indialogue:
Are they saying that we need to wait for flights to credit to Aegean before getting Star Gold (which is true);
Or are they asking if we need to fly at least one Aegean segment in order to get Star Gold?

Oh. If the question is the latter, then the answer is no. You do not need to ever fly A3. Although, it is a nice airline, and if you have the chance it's worth giving them a shot.

They do atleast 6 return trips to YQR in a year.

They're open to the idea of connecting thru YYZ and have flown 9W on a few occasions in the past & have quite like it

If they fly AC to YQR, and *A to India, they can maintain their A3 status very easily. I think that *G through A3 is probably their best option...