Nvgfocus

Hello all!

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
Lounge access, upgrades, being able to accumulate miles without hard ending of validity.

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
approx 20 intercontinental (Europe, Latin America) and 6 European

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
Economy comfort, eco in Europe

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes if price difference is not too big. Travel 90% for work

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
AMS-Latin America, flights within Latin America + European


6. What is your home airport?
AMS

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
Skyteam: FB Silver, 60K
Oneworld: BAEC Blue, 19K

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
I tend to use Skyteam for the status. I truly hate United
Looking for a good Staralliance company, because I will have several Avianca domesti flights coming up

BAEC: don't care to let go. Never fly with them anymore

Meowme

Thank you for your help!

Questions
For members asking for information, to help people to assist you, can you please provide:

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
extra baggage allowance, and discounted lounge access

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
1 to 2 flights per year to Hong Kong from Stockholm
1 flight per year to Boston from Stockholm
2-4 flights to Madrid from Stockholm

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
cheapest

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Pleasure,
Always economy,

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Finnair, Iberia, Norwegian, Cathay, BA, KLM

(6) What is your home airport?
Arlanda, Stockholm

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
None

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Virgin, Cathay, Finnair

Voldoo

Thanks in advance everyone!

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
Mileage redemption value for premium class international travel.
For my actual flying experience, I value priority boarding and free seat assignments.

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
60 segments per year, generally less than 1,000 flown miles.

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
Economy

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
I have my choice of airline, but typically am restricted to economy fares. I travel for work and use miles to travel for pleasure.


5. Which routes do you fly most often?
A variety of routes within the southwestern USA.

6. What is your home airport?
SNA (and the less preferred LAX)

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
AS 75K but only achieved last year through their now expired partnerships with AA and DL
UA Gold ($3,000 PQD and 26,000 PQM so far this year)

460,000 AS miles
350,000 UA miles
95,000 AMEX MP
50,000 Chase UR

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
None

My work has re-assigned me to the Southwest territory of the US and now would be a good time as ever for me to status match to another airline. I've been a UA member since infancy, and they've typically served my prior work and personal schedule quite well flying out of SNA. With my new assignment (and airport preference), I'm wondering if switching over to DL or AA would make more sense. UA would only connect me through SFO or DEN which means constant backtracking and possible added segments. AA connects to PHX and DL to SLC which I imagine might be better for me. AS won't work unless I fly out of LAX and I think their distance-based program would actually punish me for these short flights. Ultimately, I'm just looking for the program that will give me the most bang for my buck when it comes to earning miles for the possibility for premium travel abroad. Also, because I don't care about domestic upgrades, I'm also open to international carriers/programs as long as their benefits would grant me priority boarding/free seat assignment on their domestic partner.

slappychasez

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
International Award Travel to Europe / Asia, Economy Plus / Extra Legroom Domestically, Free Baggage, Lounge Access

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
Around 35-50 segments, around 35-50K miles

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
Economy Domestic, E+ Internationally if Revenue Fair, Points for Business Class if 8+ hours

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes - I travel roughly one a month per work and fly only economy. I do have choice of airline. For pleasure, I travel 2-3X per year domestically and 2x a year internationally.

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
Mostly east coast routes for work to MCO, ATL, DAY, and LAS. For personal, generally HHH, SAV, SFO, MSP

6. What is your home airport?
BDL for Domestic, can route through JFK / BOS for international.

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
Currently have AA gold and wondering if I should switch to another airline. I've had luck with AA credit cards and flying CX / IB to Asia / Europe, but wondering if Star Alliance / Skyteam might be best for longer term. I have family in France / Germany which don't cater well to OneWorld. As a side note, for domestic travel I try to avoid ATL and EWR whenever possible.

270K AA miles
15K UA miles
80K DL miles
240K Chase UR
110K Amex MR
63K Avianca Miles

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
AA at present due to status and lots of nearby hubs and convenient schedules. Is there a reason to switch?

brewster71

Any info would be helpful and much appreciated!

-Brewster

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
upgrades, priority services, baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, lounge access, etc.
Upgrades, good redemption rates

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
less than 25000 miles, 50000+ miles and 20-25 flights, etc.
20-25,000, Premium Economy, Will be doing 6-7 flights to Europe a year, and hopefully some to Asia.

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
first, business, premium economy, economy
Premium Economy

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes, I choose. I travel for pleasure.

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
Transatlantic and domestic

6. What is your home airport?
JFK or LOG

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
I’m halfway to gold with AA. Husband has lifetime gold. I have about 160K Amex MR and 60K UR with Chase and will probably get the American Airlines card that has the 60K bonus.

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
American, JetBlue, BritishAir

gregorio1

Anyone know if it's possible to un-credit miles and then re-credit to another FF program? Specifically, I am going to be 2 Qpoints short of QR Privilege Club Gold. (I know, I know, don't get me started.). I have a flight that I accidentally credited to AA a few months back, and if I could un-credit those miles from AAdvantage and then re-credit to QRPC, my status problem would be solved -- for the next 12 months at least. (Then I just need to get out of QRPC and into another OW program.)

Anyone had any luck with AA doing this? Thanks for any help.

garymon

I am very new to all of this and am working my way through the stickies. But I thought before I go too deep I should get feedback as to what is reasonable for me to delve into and what isn't. Details below but my main concern is that I fly internationally a couple times a year to the Philippines, but that's it. Expensive but not frequent.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: I think upgrades to make the long flights more comfortable would be first priority. Lounge would be nice for long layovers.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: <25000 miles (If I calculated right, 14k), 2 round trips

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply:Up until yesterday, the cheapest economy I could find. The tickets I bought yesterday, I bought a higher level economy that earned 80% of the miles.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: I don't travel for work. I'm traveling for personal reasons so I can pick any airline. Most frequent has been EVA air due to best price / low fly time ratio. I liked ANA better but have only found tickets I could afford once. Korean air was a bit nicer than EVA but I'm not happy with the long layover on the return trip.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: International to Asia.

(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: Seattle (SEA)

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: I opened FFP recently with EVA, ANA and KA. EVA has 8k earned and I just bought new tickets but those miles are not earned yet.
I also have the Alaska Miles Plan CC with 80k earned (never actually used any points from this card).

(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: I would prefer to fly on ANA but so far due to circumstances EVA has been used most frequently. Just to be clear EVA has been very nice. I just found ANA to be even slightly better.

Extra Question:
I was considering getting a new credit card to help with earning miles since I am not that frequent of a flyer. I only have the Alaska CC wish I don't think is useful for international airlines. The Chase Sapphire ($95) seems to get the most positive words online but doesn't seem to transfer to EVA. Citi Bank ($95) seems to be better for EVA transferring points but doesn't get the praise that Chase does. Thoughts.

Thank you. I realize that since I am not flying constantly some options may not be attainable. I'm just trying to learn what is reasonable to work towards and what is beyond my current level of flying.

Mwenenzi

garymon Welcome to FT

Eva (BR) and Air Nippon Airways (NH) are both star alliance and partners. So if an eligible fare, you can fly on one airline and earn ff miles to the other airlines ffp.

KA = Korean Air (KE)?
https://www.wheretocredit.com/korean-air/y
KA is the airline code for Cathay Dragon

Alaska (AS) is a good ffp and has a lot of partners. But sadly over the last few years some good airlines are no longer partners (DL KLM/AF and AA for USA domestic flights).
https://www.wheretocredit.com/alaska-airlines/y
Korean (KE) is an AS partner.

Having multiple ffp’s with low balances is never a good idea. You may never get enough ff miles/points to be of use before they expire. Adding frequent miles in a ff program that you can use, are worth more than ff miles in an orphan ffp that you will never use even, if the earning rate is nominally better. FFP’s are for the medium to long term. However at times it makes sense to have a ff membership with an airline in another alliance. (e.g. Oneworld & Star)

Be mindful of expiry Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire. Click to open the wiki.

garymon

Mwenenzi

Yes & no. Star Alliance does have a cross upgrade system, but requires an expensive base fare. So useless for most people.
UA thread on this topic (same principle for other airlines):- How to upgrade with UA miles on Star Alliance carriers

No. My understanding is AS does not do cross airline upgrades.

Upgrades are never guaranteed. And far less common on non USA airlines compared to USA airlines.
Now days is common that low priced fares are not able to be upgraded. But does depend on the airline.

Worth keeping the AS miles alive. AS is one of the better ffp's, but has a restrictive award chart.

garymon

Ok, thank you for helping to fill in my mental model on how all of this works. I have a long way to go before I reach enlightenment ;-) But today was a good start. :-)

FlyingRandom

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: good award redemption rates, upgrades on travel, free- discounted lounge access
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: <25,000 - <25 flights. economy or cheapest (on long trips an upgraded economy).
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: Premium economy, economy, cheapest
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: United, American, Delta. I travel for mostly pleasure but occasionally work.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: US Domestic. Although Sometimes I go to Canada/Philippines.
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: JAX
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: no
(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: Anything that gets me where I need to be. American.

quakes15

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: Upgrades on travel, free lounge access
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: 25000-5000
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: economy/cheapest
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: I travel to go home after school year. I can choose the airlines I fly. I fly cathay pacific the most right now.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: transpacific, US Domestic
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: Beijing PEK/Boston BOS
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: Marco polo club silver
(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: Oneworld airlines, not Chinese airlines

Currently I fly two round trips from Boston to Beijing each year, maybe 2 round trips from Boston to LA and one round trip from Beijing to Manila. Right now I fly through HK for Boston to Beijing and Beijing to Manila but I'm open to flying through another airport like Tokyo

ffsam

I have a very specific travel scenario I am trying to figure out.
I will strart travel from SEA to OAK,SFO,SJC or SMF Mon and return Thu/Fri weekly.
All costs are on own dime - no reimburesements.

Which FFP and airline would give me best value?


(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply: Change/Cancellation fee waiver or unused funds similar to what Southwest Wanna Get Away has.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: estimated ~40k/year, 25-50 flights
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Reply:Cheapest
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Cheapest fare
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
Reply: US domestic
(6) What is your home airport?
Reply: SEA
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
Reply: none
(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: Alaska (SEA hub), Southwest (reuseable funds)

saywhatagain

Hello, thank you for your assistance.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP? - Seat upgrades, lounge access, boarding priority,

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors? - Over 150k miles, purchased in economy, and usually international travel (MCO to ARN, ARN to FUK).

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy? - Company travel coordinator buys economy.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? - Usually, but low price will dictate in the end. 80% work, 20% personal.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often? - Haven’t worked out the best routes and airlines yet, but Norwegian, SAS and China Eastern are showing typical best fare routes for the ones shown above.

(6) What is your home airport? - ARN, with MCO running close behind due to relocation from Florida to Stockholm.

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP? - Delta Diamond, with current 2018 values of 100k miles and $6600 spent.

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on? - Delta up until very recently. Did the status match with UA but they wouldn’t count the SAS flights on the international legs, so that was a bust trying to get 1K with them. Most recent airlines were SAS/UA and upcoming Norwegian from MCO to ARN. There appears to be some decent flights from China Eastern on ARN to FUK route, which could benefit me on the Sky Team front but it doesn't appear that I will be able to use my global upgrade passes with them (dammit).