I have at least 3 return flights on DEL-SIN sector coming up; wondering if it makes sense to credit the miles to 9W. Past experience with earning on partners tells me I'm not gonna get much (Got chindi miles for Cathay and Malaysian, I think - although that was in Y; this time it's J). Plus JP Miles are useless anyways

Kingfisher is clearly not an option; that leaves me with the option of either doing the above - OR - signing up for Krisflyer to try for *A status - OR - crediting this to M&M where I have very few miles (basically 1 DEL-MUN-DEL in Y). Does the fact that I'm gonna be in UK for a year make any difference to this decision (I could be flying BA or LH for intra-Europe travel)?

Have absolutely no clue how stuff works outside of AoI; firangi travel veterans - pls help. Should I go with 9W only?

when did sq become a partner of 9w????

There you go. Like I said, I have absolutely no clue. So, do I have any options in India at all?

Yes - AI is an SQ partner.

which booking class are you going with? if you are after status, the easiest way to get *Gold is to go and sign up for aegean airlines mileage program which offers *aG at 20k elite miles, out of which they credit 1k on signup themselves.
other *a partners include thai, turkish which have relatively easy requirements.

if you're going after miles, then air india is your other option.

9W is a Krisflyer partner so I assume the otherway round it is the same.

I credited miles earned on AI to SQ (which is the other Krisflyer partner), but I didnt recieve the Tier Bonus nor were the miles recognised to reach the next tier level. I assume it would be the same situation if you credit miles earned on SQ-metal to 9W.
Based on that experience I would use rather Krisflyer or any other *Alliance FF programme to credit.

when did 9w become a krisflyer partner????

9w and SQ don't see eye to eye. they don't even have an interlining agreement IIRC. I've had to buy SQ ticks separately when 9w issued my tickets for the rest of SE asia trip.

anyways, to the best of my knowledge, no 9w partner gives tier credit (elite/status miles) on crediting 9w flights to their programs.

SQ is not a 9w partner, however, from *A, United/Continental is a *A partner which works with 9W

Sorry, I must apologize. I checked Krisflyer and you are right they arent.

I was under the impression I had seen they are a partner when checking the Krisflyer website in march while trying to establish which Indian carrier i could possibly earn miles.

Thanks a ton for the great advice, A2A. ^

This is an insane arbitrage opportunity: *S after 1 flight; (will be) *G after 6!

I've had a great experience with A3 so far... You won't regret

not with the redemptions bit IIRC

Redemptions certainly aren't the most generous, but they aren't horrible either. Redemption levels are very ok, and YQ charging is extremely unpredictable - For a single itinerary, I called 3 times, and I got 3 different quotes for taxes/fees. In the end, I was charged the lowest one ^

Customer service has been fantastic, the status levels are incredibly generous, and the website is bug-free mostly.

Crediting 9w flights to US used to receive EQM/PQM on US Airways some time ago - not sure about the current situation...but you definitely get RDM.

But if your booking classes earn miles, and you are not concerned about achieving status on 9w, I would bank them to LH or to UA/US.

Now back to the topic of SQ flights - same as above - again, KrisFlyer's redemptions really suck, so unless you want to achieve status with them, look for a different airline's program, such as the Aegean option...