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My question is, assuming you do enough Oneworld flying to maintain Exec Gold with BA, Exec Platinum with AA, or Platinum with Qantas, which one would you choose? I'm currently Qantas FF Platinum (which I make easily each year). I'm also 1K with United but only because certain routes I flew frequently for a particular project last year are only serviced by Star Alliance airlines. I have a preference for Oneworld since I split my time between Sydney and London.
My current thinking is that since most of my travel with AA/BA is work related (so the flights are paid for by someone else and booked as flexible business/first class fares) and most of my non-work travel (e.g. travel that I have to pay for myself) is done with Qantas, it makes sense to use the Qantas points earned flying on expensed BA/AA fares for reward flights or upgrades from economy to premium cabins when I'm traveling for leisure. I have an Amex Platinum charge so I could funnel points earned through CC spend to my program of choice. Could I be doing it better? |
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Miles that are likely to have business-class award availability from the West Coast to Beijing (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors? 100,000+ miles flown, 100+ segments in Economy (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? I can chose my airline and I travel for both work and pleasure. (5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often Mexico City to Southwestern USA (6) What is your home airport? MEX (7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP? 75K Alaska Gold United 125,000 Alaska Miles 70,000 United Miles 50,000 AA Miles 100,000 Singapore Miles 125,000 AMEX 40,000 Chase UR (8) Preferred Airlines Alaska, United LAX-based flyer here who will be re-locating to Mexico City for a year starting in 2019. This came at an awful time for me airline wise since both United is (or is about it) pull their LAX-MEX route and Alaska airlines is dropping MEX as a destination completely. I don't care much for upgrades when I fly, and the only thing I use miles for are flights from LAX to Beijing for my family members and I generally try and book J for them since they are elderly. Should I switch to AA or Delta/AeroMexico is this situation? Would it make sense to stick with United if I'm having to commute through SFO or IAH each time I fly to LA? I haven't really considered Delta too much, but they seem to have more Chinese-based carries...... Thanks in advance for the input. |
Currently based in BOS, but will be moving to a new job based in SF with more travel. (SF proper, not SJC/OAK/further afield.) Should I switch to UA or Alaska? Or try and maintain and grow on Delta?
1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)? Upgrades, waived fees (SDC/ticketing/etc, not bags), award redemption fees, customer service. Most of my personal redemptions are either shorthaul east coast, domestic transcon, or east coast - Europe (all in Y). 2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors? Currently 40-50K miles, foreseen increase to ~90-100K per year. 3. What fare class do you usually buy? Personal travel: Y/Y+. Business: Y for shorthaul, J for longer haul. 4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? For business: yes, airlines. Policy says buy lowest cost Y with personal judgment for fewer layovers/time of day. Flights with one segment 8+ hours can be bought in J. 5. Which routes do you fly most often? SFO/OAK-IAD/DCA, SFO/OAK-SEA (business, 1-3x per month). Occasional SFO - LHR/BRU (business, maybe 1-2x per year). SFO/OAK - BOS, AUS, PIT (personal, 4x-8x per year). 6. What is your home airport? Soon to be SFO. BOS until early next year. 7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any? I'm currently a happy DL Gold and AA Plat (AA achieved through status challenge, probably not renewing). Minimal miles banked in FFPs, mostly in Amex/Chase/SPG. 8. What are your preferred airlines, if any? Delta, JetBlue |
With SFO being a UA hub with lots of elite flyers, it will be a challenge to get upgrades with them, and, if you do fly 100K the international upgrades require a higher priced fare snd no fare credit if you don't clear. Having said that, it's hard to beat their schedule and there will be trade offs if you fly someone else, particularly in terms of numbers of flights.
Alaska, particularly for SFO and SEA based flyers, may be a good fit for for most of your destinations. Let me go into more detail when I have more time later. They do offer free SDC and refunds to top tier elites. Possibly they may extend that to midtier 40K - need to check that Tom in Fremantle, Western Australia today |
Here is the Alaska page on elite benefits. You are entitled to SDC and refunds (service fee waivers) at the 40K level, though it has a note about no refunds/changes on X fare class (that may be the new basic economy fare - haven't run across those yet but they're supposed to be out there).
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/membership-benefits?lid=nav:mileage-elite&int=AS_NAV_MP_EliteStatus_-prodID:MileagePlan Alaska does not fly nonstop to Pittsburgh. You would have connecting options via ORD, or along the west coast. There's two BOS flights a day (morning and evening). They serve all of the DC area airports, though most of my trips there are on cheaper fares to BWI. There's morning flights to DCA and BWI which returns as the evening flights, and both morning and evening flights to IAD. There are other options with connections along the west coast with PDX and LAX probably being the closest connecting points. There are two afternoon flights to AUS, though returns seem to vary from either one evening flight to both a morning and evening flight based on day. Again, you do have connecting options with LAX being the easiest. BA can get you to Europe. Check the partner page for accrual rates. I credit my BA flights to AA to use my One World lifetime elite benefits. https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/how-to-earn-miles/airline-partners?lid=nav:mileage-partners&int=AS_NAV_MP_AirlinePartners_-prodID:MPPartners As to upgrades, most eastern routes from SFO are still flown on ex-Airbus aircraft with 8 seats. They are starting to be reassigned and you might start seeing some Boeing aircraft moved onto those routes (12-16 F seats) and ultimately all those Airbus planes will be reconfigured with more seats in F. Keep in mind Alaska accrues 100% flight miles based on distance for coach fares, plus an elite bonus (125% at the 75K top tier). At top tier, you'd bring in over 11,000 miles on a $300 fare back east. There are additional bonus miles in play for higher priced coach fares and first class fares. |
Originally Posted by tom911
(Post 30419041)
Here is the Alaska page on elite benefits. You are entitled to SDC and refunds (service fee waivers) at the 40K level, though it has a note about no refunds/changes on X fare class (that may be the new basic economy fare - haven't run across those yet but they're supposed to be out there).
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...ID:MileagePlan Alaska does not fly nonstop to Pittsburgh. You would have connecting options via ORD, or along the west coast. There's two BOS flights a day (morning and evening). They serve all of the DC area airports, though most of my trips there are on cheaper fares to BWI. There's morning flights to DCA and BWI which returns as the evening flights, and both morning and evening flights to IAD. There are other options with connections along the west coast with PDX and LAX probably being the closest connecting points. There are two afternoon flights to AUS, though returns seem to vary from either one evening flight to both a morning and evening flight based on day. Again, you do have connecting options with LAX being the easiest. BA can get you to Europe. Check the partner page for accrual rates. I credit my BA flights to AA to use my One World lifetime elite benefits. https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...dID:MPPartners As to upgrades, most eastern routes from SFO are still flown on ex-Airbus aircraft with 8 seats. They are starting to be reassigned and you might start seeing some Boeing aircraft moved onto those routes (12-16 F seats) and ultimately all those Airbus planes will be reconfigured with more seats in F. Keep in mind Alaska accrues 100% flight miles based on distance for coach fares, plus an elite bonus (125% at the 75K top tier). At top tier, you'd bring in over 11,000 miles on a $300 fare back east. There are additional bonus miles in play for higher priced coach fares and first class fares. |
It really comes down to schedule and if you can make it work. Alaska is not going to meet UA on frequency, but you might bring in a lot more miles if you can live with Alaska's limited schedule. Also, Alaska's award table, particularly for international travel, can be tens of thousands of miles less. I'm flying home next week in Qantas first class for 70K. An equivalent award on UA would be 90K, and on AA 110K. Sort out where you want to use your miles and that may impact your decision, too.
Tom in transit at SYD |
CVG based, looking to get into credit cards & FFP after long time away
Hello all,
Resurfacing after little ones kept me occupied the last many years. Getting the hang of synching work vacation with school breaks. Wished I travelled more off-season when I was single! I'm here on FT to learn about credit cards and frequent flier programs with a community. With a Delta hub in CVG, most of my past travel has been through them, but I understand booking awards travel through Delta is challenging. With the new time and energy, I want to figure out how to maximize spending and travel award opportunities. (1) What is most important to you in a FFP? International award travel for family of four during 3 school breaks - winter break, spring break, summer break (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors? <10,000. For personal, 1-2 trips/year in Economy. For work, 1-2 work trips/year (US, Europe) in Economy. Same for husband. (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy for personal travel. We don't have flexibility on dates but know them far in advanced and are almost completely open on location. (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? For personal travel, we typically find an inexpensive fare 6-9 months out and build a vacation around it. For work, Delta is the go-to given options out of home airport. (5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often Cincinnati to East and West Coast to visit family. We want to shoot for 2 family trips / year abroad (outside North America) during school breaks. (6) What is your home airport? Cincinnati (CVG) (7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP? Before kids, I travelled more frequently. Nowadays, I only have Silver status with Delta, 600,000 miles banked. Everything else has expired from other airlines. This is motivation to get more organized! (8) Preferred Airlines Delta has a hub in Cincinnati, but we're open to a new strategy. Thank you for any advice, look forward to learning a lot here. |
backer Welcome to FT
Originally Posted by backer
(Post 30440354)
Resurfacing after little ones kept me occupied the last many years. Getting the hang of synching work vacation with school breaks. Wished I travelled more off-season when I was single! I'm here on FT to learn about credit cards and frequent flier programs with a community. With a Delta hub in CVG, most of my past travel has been through them, but I understand booking awards travel through Delta is challenging. With the new time and energy, I want to figure out how to maximize spending and travel award opportunities.
<snip> <10,000. For personal, 1-2 trips/year in Economy. For work, 1-2 work trips/year (US, Europe) in Economy. Same for husband. <snip> For personal travel, we typically find an inexpensive fare 6-9 months out and build a vacation around it. For work, Delta is the go-to given options out of home airport. If your 600,000 DL miles have come from frequent spending keep doing the same. Or with another credit card ----> airline ffp. 1000's of people look for (multiple) awards to popular places in holiday times/school breaks. Be mindful of expiry Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire. Click to open the wiki. Too late now, but there are simple lost cost ways to keep ffp's miles alive in most USA ffp's. DL is unique in having no expiry (but that may change in the future). With the change of most USA based ffp's to revenue based for flights on own airline, flying the airline with best fares and best schedule that matches your requirements now has merit. And then treating any ff miles as a bonus, which may or may not, be able to be used. |
Mwenenzi, thanks for the welcome and perspective.
I went ahead and applied for a Chase Sapphire Preferred, as I think building up a stash with the flexibility of using at United, BA & Southwest and hotels will be helpful in our future. I also checked out the Miles/Points that Do & Don't Expire wiki you referenced - that was a helpful look ahead. Thank you! |
Can you buy Economy Comfort/C+ tickets for your travel? I ask because Delta's probably the most humane experience for non-elites/low level elites among the Legacy 3 carriers. And you can credit Delta flights to the air France-KLM Flying Blue FF program on a distance flown X fare class multiplier so economy comfort flights booked as such get 125% of distance, which will often get you more miles in a program where redemption rates are often slightly less than going with Delta metal.
Flying Blue has a lot of dance partners in the credit card realm- the right card from Citi, Chase or AmEx will let you transfer miles into there. Flying Blue also has its own US credit card now, which makes it somewhat easier (but not exactly easy) to get XPs for elite FB status (The XP earnings for US domestic routes on Delta are insultingly low) For non-C+ tickets, FB is less of a sweet spot though, and the cheap fare bucket multiplier is only 25% x miles flown https://www.flyingblue.us/en/partner...s/presentation Do note that for American, they try to push you off to BA and their heavy YQ/fuel surcharge on award tickets for transatlantic award flights and their low level domestic award availability is not great these days either. |
Hello
I need helo with choosing new program. 1) What is most important to you in a FFP? Priority line on airport and when boarding (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors? 100 flights, around 70k (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy, all class (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? I can chose my airline and I travel for work . But mainly LH, LX LOT and not so often SAS (5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often Moscow, Uk and Stockholm (6) What is your home airport? LJU (7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP? Silver on MM |
Hello,
I could use some input on figuring out which program will best suit me for next year. I've made my rounds between the big 3 (though it's been like early 2000s for DL). I'm currently with AA (came from LUS), but my biggest gripe has been the schedule. It's getting harder to get itineraries to/from the west coast that don't include a double connection. 1) What is most important to you in a FFP? Economy Plus type seating, upgrades into F, priority security/boarding. I hate middle seats :D (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors? This varies. Work travel has slowed down the last couple years, but is expected to pick up this coming year with international. Typical year is 25-50k. I've made 1K/Chairman's a few times in the past. Work requires economy, unless there's cheaper premium ticket or I'm willing to pay the difference. I try to buy up into C/F as much as possible. (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Refundable economy by default for work, with buy ups to flexible C/F depending on price. (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? I can choose my airline for work. Y is required unless a premium fare is cheaper. Mostly work travel, though I do some personal travel. Stepson recently moved to SLC, so there are flights there. (5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often Been flying AA exclusively, unless there have been IRROPS. Routes: SMF, MHT, ELP, DFW, SLC, ICN, LHR, PHX, TUS, FRA/MUC (6) What is your home airport? BWI. Would only do IAD/DCA in an emergency (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 Gold I don't really have any loyalty at this point. If I requalify for 25k, then I may status match out. Club membership expires in January, so I don't have that hanging over my head either. |
Originally Posted by gas2018
(Post 30448918)
Hello
I need helo with choosing new program. 1) What is most important to you in a FFP? Priority line on airport and when boarding (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors? 100 flights, around 70k (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy, all class (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? I can chose my airline and I travel for work . But mainly LH, LX LOT and not so often SAS (5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often Moscow, Uk and Stockholm (6) What is your home airport? LJU (7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP? Silver on MM |
Thanks.... unfortunately in Slovenia we don't have any credit card connected to MM.. just to Turkish...
Aegean is not present in LJU..... I'd need to go to ZAG..... I will stick with with MM most probably i will reach gold... thanks |
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