JetBlue was awarded London area airport slots this week and appears ready to start service this summer. It's been covered on several blogs including THIS ONE.

First Time Poster, Long Time Flyer, Loyalty In The Air
 

Stuck in an interesting predicament if I want to stick with Southwest Rapid Rewards (Current A-List Member), or switch my Loyalty to either AAdvantage or Delta SkyMiles Medallion. I'm within striking distance of going all in on one or the other, and likely need to make that decision at some point soon. With that being said, I have points all across most major programs, and in the Big 3 Banks as well. (Citi TY, Chase UR, Amex MR)
- what is your definition of best? - Best overall program in terms of flight flexibility, being treated well at the gate, upgraded boarding,
- do you value miles/points (or equivalent) for redemption over gaining status? - I would say it's 50/50. I prefer to use my points/credit for Vacations and larger redemptions, while paying cash for Biz trips as needed.
- do you fly enough to gain any meaningful status? - Enough to clinch at least Low/Mid-Level in a given year.
- what do you want to use the miles/points for (award, upgrade, hotels, what ever)? - Award Flights for myself and to surprise family/significant other from time to time.
- what sort of flight award is of interest (destination, class of travel)? - International and at the very least Premium or Business.
- are you interested in topping up by paying cash for miles? - If needed yes, but prefer to transfer over from UR/MR/TYP if available.
- which airline and where do you normally fly? - Mainly domestic, just varies on what's cheaper. Historically SW for point to point, but have family in areas where it's not available and Delta is the preferred carrier.
- are you primarily a leisure or business traveller? - 60/40 split between the two.
- where do you live? Columbia, MO. STL is less than 2 hours of a drive for me, MCI just over two, so flexible on flying out in whichever location. (Prefer STL of course.)
- do you have other ways of earning points in the various programs, e.g. credit cards, shopping, etc,? - Credit Cards across the board.
- If I decided today, Leaning towards Delta for their new promotion to Fast-Track to Status, but already have made some progress with SW and feel some sort of loyalty to them (13 Segments to go), and American is just a few flights for a international trip and work trip away for meeting Gold, in theory. While I do enjoy A-List, I am looking to go abroad next year and having some sort of status with an international alliance could help. Just trying to see my options is all!

There's a lot to like about Delta and they're my preferred carrier. But they've got a giant weak spot when it comes to long haul premium award ticket redemptions, where the miles required typically run the gauntlet between ridiculous and insulting. If that's your main redemption strategy, you're probably better off with American, though you have to be careful to avoid redemptions on partner BA flights that can come with big cash surcharges on long haul routes.

As I'm expected to travel much more post-'rona, it's time to settle on a program.

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.
>>> Reply: Redemption rates and lounge access; no hopes for decent upgrading, but hey

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.
>>> Reply: Less than 25000 miles; estimated 5-7 trips as an absolute floor, but I plan somewhere on the lower tens

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

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
>>> Reply: Yes and both

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply: Schengen area for pleasure trips; MUC for work (at least 1x/year); VCP/GRU and/or POA yearly for visiting family and friends

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: LIS

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: No status, only some ~3k parked on Flying Blue

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: None in particular

El Saico Welcome to FT
You will only lounge access with mid-top level status or fly business class. With a few intra EU (cheap?) flights and 1 long haul you little to nil chance of status.
A very general guide need 25,000+ flight miles and say 25-30 flights. But does vary a lot depending on the ffp.
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=LIS-VCP...G&MS=wls&DU=mi

You will better selecting all flights based on price & schedule. The savings will be more than ffp benefits. Then treat any ff miles/points as a bonus that may or may be able to be used before they expire. Some ffp's have no expiry
Link-->https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mile...-t-expire.html

With Flying Blue you may get ff miles with Skyteam airlines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTeam
If you fly an airline in another alliance may be worth joining another ffp.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oneworld
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Alliance
Some cheap flights can earn nil ff miles with any/some ffp
A guide--> https://www.wheretocredit.com/

Used to travel Domestic US quite frequently for work. New job, no work travel, so my priorities are shifting towards international perks as opposed to domestic. As a DL PM, wondering if grass is greener with UA Plat or 1K. Main reasons I’m considering UA are PlusPoints flexibility/ability to earn additional PP as 1K, less insane award redemption, and UA’s partners/Star Alliance, who have a stronger network for most of my international travel (JP, NZ, DE, CA).

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
>>> Reply: Upgrades (especially international) and award redemption

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
>>> Reply: 50,000+ miles, 15+ flights, 2-4 segments each

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
>>> Reply: Economy domestic, premium economy+ international

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

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
>>> Reply: Domestic USA, East Asia, Oceania, Western Europe

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: JFK/LGA/EWR

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: DL PM, 209,573 miles banked

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: DL, UA

Hi everyone,

I am new to miles and just getting round to it all. I though to make a thread of its own, but I'll try my luck first- don't want to spam.

I have 5 upcoming trips to TGD(Montenegro) in intervals of 2-3months.
Roundtrip ticket cost around 650$(economy).
Chase 100k bonus points redeemed for travel at 1.25 wil give me 1250$ so that will cover two tickets.
I also have 7500 miles with TK, with an upcoming trip that will earn another 2-3000. Roundtrip cost via TK miles is 60k miles.

However, I have few question:
Is there a better way to do it while potentially earning a third round trip ticket(or at least lowering its cost in half).
On Chase travel website, if i don't have enough points to cover the cost of a ticket, can i pay the rest with my credit card ?

LoKnier Welcome to FT

To TGD from where? Have you considered the Covid-19 restrictions?
What airline/airlines fly that route? (for $650 return)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podgorica_Airport
Are you trying to earn ff miles on these trips? Or use ff miles for award flights?
Theoretical award cost does not mean there is award availability.

Chase points are similar to cash
Chase UR Ultimate Rewards - Airline and Hotel Transfer Partners, Rules, Timeline, etc (2017)
Chase UR Ultimate Rewards - Which airline/hotel should I transfer points to?

Hi and thank you. This is the third time I'm replying lol. It won't let me reply if i quote you due to links etc.

Covid shouldn't be a problem.
EWR / JFK/ LAG to TGD/TIVAT.
Austrian Airlines via Vienna seems to have tickets at 650$. Turkish Airlines via IST has for 750-850$.
I'm really trying to earn miles if i can to at least cover another roundtrip ticket or one way ticket- if it's possible.
Thank you, i wasn't aware of that.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks to covid, I lost all status with my former FFP.

1. Decent redemption rates, lounge access, priority services, something a bit easy to get mid-top status

2. At least four flights- two short/medium haul and two long international, 22000 mi+

3. Usually business on flights 6+ hours, if not economy/premium economy.

4. A little bit if prices are cheaper; work

5. A Montreal, East Coast, Helsinki, Doha, East Asia (Korea, Japan, etc), or a combination (i.e NYC - Helsinki or Philly-Doha stopover for two days -Icn, etc)

6. Small airport that connects to AA, DL, and UA hubs

7. None

8. Something Oneworld and not based on a calendar-year for earning status requirements.

I think you are being far too hopeful-unrealistic. If a ffp was "bit easy to get mid-top status" we would all be doing that.
With only ~4 flights/22,000 miles (bus-PE class) per year you may struggle to get low status, yet alone mid tier status [like OW Sapphire=lounge access] even in a distance based ffp. Less hope with revenue based ffp.
Most ffp's are annual for status. Calendar year ,like common in USA, or the month you join (like BA, QF and others)
Consider AS or BA. Are not revenue based, but have X own flights requirement for status. Check the detailed rules for what is considered "own airline" flights

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...help-here.html

Also, especially seeing Helsinki and Asian cities is on your list of destinations: Finnair. Mostly distance-based with no spend requirement, although they have changed to fixed points accrual on their own flights, points don't expire as long as there's account activity once every 18 months, getting to OW Sapphire isn't too hard with them especially when you use them to fly to Asia from North America in a premium cabin
And they're a nice airline to fly on. No premium economy, though. Downside: Heavily discounted business class fares (what I buy...) have been devalued and aren't earning as well as they used to on their own flights. Those cheap QR business fares still earn well, though. And their award charts are not that attractive with the exception of OW RTW awards.
Status tier accrual is annual but starts and resets on the join date, not Jan. 1. They partner with Capital One (you can transfer points to Finnair)

Thanks for this. I did not know that points don't expire for their program as long as there's activity.

Did some homework and tried to read up more on AY and QR's ffps and based on what I've read they compare to be neck-and-neck for me. Is there one program that has the edge over the other for award charts/redemption rates?

I miscalculated the number of miles in hindsight- my international business trips would first stop in Helsinki, Doha, or even both for a few days and then head to East Asia and then coming back the way I came which is at least 40000 miles my minimum of two trips.

I meant "calendar year" as in what US carriers do, i.e you have the calendar year of 2021 to fulfill the requirements for status.

Anyways, I'll look into AS and BA.