Oh ok I was hoping otherwise, thanks.

Hi all,

I recently moved to Germany and need some help with figuring out the best programme for me now. Details below and thanks in advance!!

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 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: Weekly return flights between Hamburg and other German capital cities (Frankfurt mostly), at least another return flight within Europe per month and one or two longer flights (USA, Australia or Asia) per year.

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: My weekly travel is for work but all other is for pleasure. We are mostly restricted to the cheapest available flight and this usually means Lufthansa between HAM-FRA

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

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

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: QFF Silver; AA Exec Platinum (matched as part of a challenge, only for 3 months as I won't requalify but could leverage as part of a match to a *A)

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: Lufthansa by way of work requirements

Chicago based, LAX, BOS, FLL, CUN & LHR frequent
 

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
>>> Reply: Award Redemptions for Wife and I, Mostly Economy but prefer upper cabin on Transatlantic.

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 25k Miles, around 10 sectors

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

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
>>> Reply: All Pleasure, any airline that flies the route!

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

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: ORD, or MDW if SW is having a sale.

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, about 80k in BA Avios, 20k in Delta, and a few thousand in the others. Currently Hold a AA Aviator Red, cancelled my other Airline Cards. Eligible for United, Citi AA, and SW Card Bonuses

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: AA/BA, Virgin, Delta, SouthWest

I have been crediting this year to BA, as we visited my wife's family in London and it seemed like the best idea. We also flew AA domestically, and CX to Asia, but I have only managed to accumulate 120 Tier Points this year, well off the 300 needed for Bronze, so I think I will jump ship for next year. Might try to get the Companion Pass from SW for domestic travel as soon as 2016 gets here, as I am eligible for both card bonuses again.

THANK YOU!

Should I switch? DL to AA, due to recent devaluations in DL. ATL Home base
 

Hi All,

I am pretty new to these forums, but I could not find a post quite like my situation.

I am searching for the right FFP, and have been flying Delta mostly for the past year. I live in Atlanta, but I have been reading a lot about Delta's recent devaluations, and like the transfer partners on Oneworld (Cathay, Qantas, BA).

To provide some more information I answered some typical questions.

Priorities for me in a FFP are listed from most to least important: Good award redemption value, Good Redemptions for international flights, First Class upgrades. - I mostly care about getting value, convenience (less connections) and upgrades.

I typically fly 60,000 to 75,000 miles a year, and around 70 segments. I also fly mostly for work, but for personal vacation it would be international travel. Primarily I fly economy, as my business only lets us fly the base level. For work I mostly fly domestic, but for personal it is international. I usually take vacations abroad.

My home Airport is ATL, and I travel to DEN to visit family. Since I am in ATL, Delta is an obvious first choice, as I have gold status with Delta. But due to the devaluations and reading about AA, I feel like a switch may give me better value.

Does a switch of airlines make sense for me?

Thanks!

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 (domestic) and priority services--I fly a lot of redeyes so getting upgraded is a MAJOR bonus :) Lounge access if possible.

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.
>>> Previously I've flown about 25k a year (been UA silver for a few years) but just started a new job where I'll be flying twice a week (domestic US only) for the majority of the year. So conservatively maybe 80k next year?

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

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
>>> Lots of work travel, a decent amount of pleasure. Work has some flexibility with airline but has to be something resembling the cheapest fare. We have preferred arrangements with Delta and American (although no status match/challenges, boo).

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Mostly domestic USA, Europe once or twice a year. For work, I will frequently be flying to MSP (obviously points to Delta), maybe PHX as well. Good availability of transcontinental nonstops is important too.

6. What is your home airport?
>>> LAX, though flexible to BUR or others

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> United silver, mileage bank mostly depleted after this summer :)

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> I was a United flyer while based in Chicago the last few years, but now that I've relocated to California I'm wondering if something else would be a better choice. I like the *A partners better, but it seems like United is the most expensive option out of LAX which would make it hard to book for work. Besides LAX-MSP a lot of my travel will be on the west coast (SAC, SFO, SEA, PDX) and I don't have a good grasp on what the best choice for that is--maybe Alaska, but I'm hesitant about sacrificing upgrades on American (although it looks like you retain them on Delta?).

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
>>> Reply: good award redemption rates, better award 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: less than 25000 miles

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, pleasure

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

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: LGA but open to also JFK/EWR

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: less than 5k in Delta and American, 16k or so in United

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: Whichever is cheapest!

Just keep buying the cheapest flight that suits your budget & schedule. You are in the main ffp's. So treat ff miles (if any) as a bonus that may or may not be able to be used in the future (whatch expiry). Having many ff with low balance is not a good idea, but they have low real value. If you have 10's of thousands of ff miles is a different situation.

Best FFP for Tianjin, China Teacher
 

Hello Everyone,

I'm a teacher based in Tianjin, China and, based on my answers to the following questions, was hoping to get some advice on which FFP to look into:

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
-upgrades on travel, good award redemption rates, better award access, free /discounted lounge access (in that order)

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(10,0000-12000 miles - roughly 4-6 flights per year)


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

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service?
Yes
Airline most flown? Hainan, Alaska Air
Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? work


(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
US Domestic & Transpacific

(6) What is your home airport?
PEK, 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?
I have a few thousand in Alaska Air

(8) Preferred Airlines
Alaska Air, Hainan, Delta

Best FFP for New York - SF Bay Area - France
 

Hi everyone, I started travelling a non-negligible amount recently, so I've been pondering which FFP would be the best for my patterns. I'm completely lost with everything that's out there, so if an experienced traveller could help me out I would be extremely grateful. :)

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: Priority services, good award redemption rates, possibly 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: I fly 6 to 10 round-trips a year from New York to San Fransisco, which is between 30000 and 50000 miles on domestic flights.
I also fly round-trip to France once, maybe twice a year, so that's an addition 7000 to 14000 miles on international flights.
Finally, in addition to this, there will be unusual travels here and there, of course, but nothing following a precise pattern. Mainly United States and Europe, I would say.

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: New York - San Fransisco flights are for work, flights to France are pleasure. I can choose whichever airline I want, but I need to stick to Economy for work flights.

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply: See question 1: New York - San Fransisco (domestic) and New York - France (transatlantic).

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: New York, all airports.

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: I have less than 30000 miles on Flying Blue, and I am completely fine with just using them and starting new on a different FFP. Especially since I don't have any status.

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: I have a strong preference for Delta, these days. I want to avoid United and American Airlines if possible, I had bad experiences with them in the past.


Some additional background: I live in New York but most of my family is in France. Since coverage in France outside of Paris is essentially limited to Air France and European low-cost companies, I think I need to choose a FFP that has a partnership with Air France.

I've been looking at Flying Blue, Delta SkyMiles, and even Alaska Airlines' FFP (since it has the right partnerships), but I am really lost and can't figure out which one would be the best for me. Once again, I'd be very grateful if you could point me in the right direction.

Thanks :)

recently moved from uk to sfo
 

i recently moved from the uk to san francisco (sfo, not sjc), and after being totally spoiled by british airways which gives you priority and lounge no matter how far you go, i don't know what airline to choose! please help.

my answers to 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: lounge accesses and priority services, then 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: less than 25000

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
first, business, premium economy, economy
>>> Reply: first for most domestic flights, premium economy or business for 1~2 international flights/year.

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

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply: mostly transatlantic. 1 trip to london and 1 trip to seoul per year.

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: british airways silver (~250k), virgin atlantic gold (~150k)

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: virgin america, british airways

Is living in USA for a short time or for ever?

In USA generally freq flyer status does not get you lounge access for USA domestic flights.
But the mid status (BA Silver OW Sapphire) and high status (BA Gold OW Emerald) with BA will get USA domestic lounge access for AA flights.
https://www.oneworld.com/ffp/lounge-access
https://www.oneworld.com/ffp/sapphire-privileges

I would tend to stay with BA until you drop status / tier level.
To keep BA status you need 4 BA marketed flights per year.

With few flights paying yourself price & schedule may be more important than ff miles

Hi everyone,

First, just like to say 'Hi' as I am new to this forum. Hope you go easy on this newbie

Next, is my question. I am trying to find an airline program to sign up so that I can start earning points to help with flight costs to Hawaii for our family.

So, what's the best frequent flyer or airline program to join?

I am hoping to find something along these lines:

- Excellent bonus points for signing up (credit card, promotions, etc)
- Allows us to quickly earn points (online shopping, etc)
- Allows us to earn lots of points (we have a family so we'll probably need lots of points to redeem for flights)
- Doesn't have a lot of restrictions or black out dates when trying to redeem for flights

Thanks very much for any suggestions or recommendations you can offer.

One thing you've left out is what airport you fly from. If you're looking for a pooled family account, none of the U.S. carriers offer something like that - you each need to earn and credit to your own individual accounts. BA has family accounts but that doesn't mean it's the best place to credit miles.

Are you planning on buying airline tickets? Don't see anything in your post other than discussion of shopping and credit cards. Are you just looking for an airline with the best credit card and shopping bonuses and not one you're actually going to pay to fly?

thehaviet looks to a moderate frequent spender and not a frequent flyer
Its not as easy to get miles & awards as many newbies think. Life is not a free ride (flight)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/25564295-post3.html

thanks for the reply, and sorry if my post was not clear.

our base is hartford, ct.

i am looking to open an account with one of the carriers (detlta, AA, etc) and looking for promotional sign up such as (sign up for a citi AA card and get extra 30k bonus points)

and i am looking for ways to earn points quickly, besides just flying with the carrier. such as online shopping via their portal, signing up for services, etc.

hope that makes sense.