Hello. I've been looking everywhere for this thread! Your help and advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

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?
upgrades on travel
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
25,000-50,000 miles
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Economy and premium economy mostly. Rarely business class.
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Korean Air, Singapore Air, United and AA. I travel for pleasure.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
Mostly international from NYC to Asia: Seoul, Tokyo, etc.
(6) What is your home airport?
EWR, LGA, JFK
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
I have 20K+ miles on Singapore Airlines and Korean Air. And a few thousand miles on AA and United.
(8) Preferred Airlines
Korean Air. But I'll prefer any airlines that upgrades me to business class.

The problem is that I am not really satisfied with Lufthansa nor Emirates anymore. They used to be my prefered airlines but I find they start lacking in service. So I am looking for a better alternative with a good network. Any suggestions?

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: Upgrades, reward redemption rates

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?

>>> Reply: it was zero (covid) now back in business +-30 flights

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

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

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply: I am based in Europe. Routes are Brazil, Canada, US, India, China.

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: FRA, BRU, DUS, AMS, basically anywhere in that region.

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply:Miles and More 75000 but they are not that strong on the Asian market at least difficulties to find flights. Emirates 20000.

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: Used to be Emirates but just flew them and I am really disappointed how down hill they went with providing services. I am wiling to try Qatar, Ethiyad etc. Lufthansa went also downhill maybe it something with all airlines after Covid?

I think I've already talked myself into going for AS status but happy to listen to other suggestions. My only hesitance with AS is they don't have direct flights to some of the cities I fly to for work. (My typical destinations are LAS, IAH, MCO, MCI, LGB (LAX is acceptable, just a longer uber ride), CLT, DEN)
I'm willing to mileage run as well if it makes sense to hit status.

I value good reward redemptions for long haul flights to asia in J/F.

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: Upgrades, good award 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.
>>> Reply: ~20,000 miles, 10 flights minimum

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: Freedom of choice, mostly for work

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply: Domestic USA

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

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. 15k AS, 11k Southwest, 16k UA, 6k AA.

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: No real preference

Be aware that many activities other than flying can help you achieve status with AA, and status on AA can get you good benefits when flying on AS.

Hello I'm new to this field. I flied IND-MCO, NYC, and SFO this year and will be flying to these places next year. Thanks for your advice~

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: good award 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.
>>> Reply: less than 25000 miles, 10 flights

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, I travel for leisure & work

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply: domestic USA, sometimes USA to ASIA

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: IND and MCO

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 at the moment

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: UA, Delta, Southwest, Spirit, Fronitier

Help to chose FFP
 

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: lounge access and upgrades

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: 100000+ miles and 30 flights


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

>>> Reply: business (long haul), premium economy, economy

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

>>> Reply: Mainly for work and I have option to choose airline

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

>>> Reply: Domestic Malaysia and Singapore, Jakarta, Shanghai, Northern Europe

6. What is your home airport?

>>> Reply: KUL

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 at any airline today

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?

>>> Reply: No one special

Home airport SFO, been on United for several years. I used to travel a ton for work and was Global Services until recently. After changing jobs to one without the work travel, they gave me a gradual off-ramp via a year of 1K, but next year I'll be Silver.

I'm thinking of taking this opportunity to switch to Alaska Airlines because I like them better. United has just always had middling service, old planes, no charm, etc.

These days it'll be mostly one 1-2 international vacations per year, in business class, and maybe half a dozen domestic flights per year for holidays/work/etc. One thing I'm unclear on is, if I made the change, would I book the international flights via American Airlines? If so, should I sign up for American's AAdvantage and bank points there from Alaska flights? Appreciate the help.

Here's the questionnaire:

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: upgrades, priority service

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: 1-2 international vacations per year in business. half a dozen domestic roundtrips per year in premium economy

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

>>> Reply: international business, premium economy domestic

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

>>> Reply: Yes. Both.

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

>>> Reply: International will be different every time. Domestic: SFO-PDX, SFO-LAS, SFO-Austin, SFO-NYC, others

6. What is your home airport?

>>> Reply: SFO

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?

>>> Reply: United MileagePlus: Silver, 9k miles. Alaska MileagePlan: No status, 35k miles

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?

>>> Reply: Would prefer to fly Alaska domestically.

I would try to estimate whether your intended paid flights -- both domestic and international -- would be sufficient to earn you status on either AA or AS. Note that AA and AS have a special relationship: status on either carrier gets you benefits on the other which go beyond what oneworld elite status confers.

AS does not have a "Premium Economy" fare class; it has premium (extra-leg-room) seats available for an additional charge (or a free upgrade for elites) on an Economy fare ticket. This is not just a question of semantics: different frequent-flyer programs may offer higher earnings on a Premium Economy fare than on an Economy fare.

Note that with AA's AAdvantage program, you can earn status through credit-card spend, hotel stays, rental cars, AAdvantage Dining, AAdvantage e-shopping, etc., etc. No minimum number of flights is required.

Help would be much appreciated!
 

Hi, and thank you for providing such a comprehensive thread. I've done a lot of reading but can't work out the best FF program for my family's circumstances. Here are my responses:

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
>>> Reply: flight class upgrades, lounge access

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: 30,000 miles per person. We are a family of five, so points/status credit pooling would be valuable. Around 3-5 flights per year across Australia, Middle East and Europe

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
first, business, premium economy, economy
>>> Reply: Economy and then try to upgrade. The next two years will be buying Business for the long haul, economy between Jordan and Europe

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
>>> Reply: Varied. Flights between Australia and Amman and around the Middle East cannot be chosen. The rest is travel for pleasure and so airline/class can be chosen

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply: Over the next two years we will be living in Jordan and we will fly to and from Australia 4 times. We will also fly Amman-London, and Amman-Rome. My husband will fly from Amman to other Middle Eastern countries 3-4 times a year

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: Over the next two years it will be Queen Alia Airport (Amman, Jordan). After that, Canberra airport, Australia

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: Mainly points in Virgin Australia (400,000), and Qantas (140,000) whcih option to transfer 500,000 Qantas points from family member. Previous status in both which has expired.

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
Hoping to find that here :)

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

At this site, you can see a list of all airlines serving AMM, and their destinations. Since Royal Jordanian -- a oneworld member -- flies to most major European cities (including London and Rome), you would probably want to seek status in a oneworld airline's frequent-flyer program. You would need at least mid-tier elite status (oneworld Sapphire) to get lounge access when flying in Economy Class on a oneworld carrier.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quee...tional_Airport

I don't know which oneworld program would be easiest to get oneworld Sapphire status for the flying pattern you've described. Some programs are based on spend, these days; others are based on a combination of miles flown and fare class.

If there would be at least two Business Class roundtrips between AMM and SYD between April 1 and March 31 of any given year, crediting those oneworld flights to the Iberia Plus program would get oneworld Sapphire status. That status would get you lounge access, but not free upgrades (except, perhaps, on Iberia, which I doubt you would be flying). Iberia's frequent-flyer currency is Avios, which can be freely transferred to BA and QR.

Here's an article from a few years ago about the benefit of crediting long-haul Business Class flights on oneworld carriers to the Iberia Plus program:

https://insideflyer.co.uk/2019/03/qa...f-iberia-plus/

("WHY QATAR AIRWAYS BUSINESS CLASS REGULARS MIGHT BE BETTER OFF WITH IBERIA PLUS")

But I would also investigate how to attain status in RJ's program, and in QF's, too.
​​​​​​

jlfor4 Welcome to FT (or is that il for 5)
Q1. Upgrades
Upgrades are generally only available on the airline of your ffp, using ff miles/points/avios and at time a cash co payment (varies with ffp).
Star Alliance has a cross airline upgrade scheme, but requires a very high base fare and not guaranteed. Useless for most people.
Oneworld Alliance (QF, BA, RJ, QR and others) does not have a cross airline upgrade scheme.
Some airlines have out of alliance cross airline upgrade schemes. Example AA-BA, AA-AS. But have onerous t&c’s.

The chances of all 5 of you getting an upgrade on the same flight are zero. Not a hope.
Nor will 1 or 2 on the same PNR upgraded: it’s all or nothing.
Long haul upgrades, for a family of 5, and on varied airlines is not a realistic objective.

Lounge access is from mid-top tier status and business-first class flights. However some airlines are now restricting lounge access on cheaper cash paid business fares. Notability Qatar QR (Oneworld).
Lounge guest rules varies a lot. Qantas QF is more generous than many in allowing children to enter QF lounges with QF status holders (i.e. not counted).

Q2. Flights
For a long time 30,000 miles was considered about the amount needed for low to mid tier status. But varies a lot depending on ffp’s. More ffp’s are going to revenue based miles/points/avios accrual with different rules for status earning. Is far more complicated than even 5 years ago.

Status pooling is *very* unusual. A good feature of VA Velocity ffp.
Pooling of redeemable miles is unusual.

BAEC have a family account. QR Qatar have a family account, but is poor. Onerous t&c’s with QR

QF does not have pooling, but QF allow points to be moved to eligible family member as no cost. One of the better features of QF ffp. Some other ffp’s allow transfers. but with a cash payment. So poor value tending to useless.

Q3.
You are not going to get upgrades for 5 passengers

Q4 Airlines
In what alliance will the airline you cannot chose be?
Flying QF back to AU? Or QF codeshares on EK operated flights?

Q5 routes
As for Q4

Q6
Assume home is Australia

Q7
Better to have status (and ff miles/points/avios) in the airline you fly most. Then fly airlines of alliance in which your main ffp is a member.
For only 2 years may not be worth the effort to get status and ff miles/points/avios in a new ffp. Can take the best part of a year to earn status. May end up with orphan frequent program.

For the 2 years you are living out of Australia important you keep the VA and QF points alive. Check the expiry rules carefully.

With QF transferring QF points between family members is *not* and eligible activity to keep points alive. Need eligible activity a least every 18 months. If your trips back to AU have a Oneworld flight , credited to QF ffp, that will be enough. Or buy fuel at an AU BP linked to your QF ff account. Some banks have accounts that award QF points every month.

For VA check the rules. Etihiad EY is a VA ff partner

Avios for Australia is interesting.
Avios is used as the ff currency for BA, IE, IB, VY Vueling and QR Qatar. All linked by IAG Later in year Finnair AY will use avios. Subject to t&c’s avios, but not status earning, can be moved from 1 frequent flyer program to another.
Can get Qatar QR avios on VA Virgin Australia flights.
Can get British Airways BA avios on QF Qantas flights. QR is a ff partner of QF Qantas, but earning to QR is low or even nil, depending on fare booking class.
So flights by the 2 largest AU airlines can earn avios. But check the details

QR, BA & QF ffp’s have “own airline flights” rules for status. Check the rules.

An avios ffp may be a possibility, but consider what happens when back in AU.
QF codeshares on EK operated flight can credit* to BAEC (but not status earning). [*needs to be checked]

IMHO for 2 years will not be worth starting new frequent flyer programs [redeemable ff miles/points/avios and status]. After the 2 years may have an orphan ffp that cannot be used or added to effectively.
Some ffp's have age limits (~no young children).

I have a question which people here may be able to answer more easily in other places.

I have cousin who flew BA about 10 months ago, and has only now decided that he wants to claim the air miles.

I know most FFP require flights to have been in the last six months. So far I've managed to cross off BA, Qatar, Finnair, American (as you needed an account before flying). Struggling to find information on the others in OW, but thought some people might have some suggestions. Many thanks.

You can cross QF off the list (30 days before enrolment)
For a flight 10 months ago IMHO it is a lost cause.

Edit
Can cross AS off the list

Thanks for your help on this. Saved me a lot of bother.

What frequent flyer program is the best for China travelers?
 

Hello everyone, I am very new here. If I posted in the wrong place feel free to move or delete this.

I will often bw traveling to Asia, specifically China, to airports in Nanjing and Shanghai from California. (I mainly go to Suzhou a lot, but they don't have an airport).

To all China travelers, what frequent flyer program do you use? Also, what has the best benefits for being a higher tier in the program?