Bangkok-Based UA Platinum - Advice on which program to switch to?
 

Hello.

I'm based in BKK, am a Platinum and am looking for the best program to switch to.

I generally fly 75-95k annually, mostly within SE Asia, to Japan and to the US.

UA no longer flies to BKK, and with the new mileage rules, I'm over them.

Also, *A is ALWAYS the most expensive alliance to everywhere from BKK - by a longshot.

Any advice on a better loyalty program within Sky Team or One World for an airline that's going on have a good network in and out of BKK?

Why not give sky team a shot? of course you have Delta's skymiles and there once daily flight to NRT. Delta has a quality BE product with all seats being a flatbed with direct aisle access. Then there's Vietnam Airlines. I've never flown them but they can get you around SE Asia. You didn't mention China but there are a bunch of Chinese carriers in sky team as well.

http://www.skyteam.com/

Good idea.

Any advice on Chinese carriers in Sky Team that offer reasonable mileage accrual on partners? Or what about Air France?

I was also wondering about switching to Cathay? How is their accrual?

Another option in *A that I'm sort of thinking about is Turkish. They do upgrades for elites on international flights, and they have a great product. Flying them BKK to the US via IST really isn't much further. You also attain their highest tier after 80k.........

Any thoughts?

did you consider BR?
 

You mentioned that Star Alliance carriers consistently have higher fares for your routes, but I wonder whether you considered BR? They usually have good fares ex-SE Asia. I also like their product. You might consider them as your primary carrier going to Japan and US.

I'm checking out BR now. Thanks for the tip.

Just thought of another question: If I switch to another *A program, and then fly them the first year to build status, would it not be possible to use lounges until elite status on the new airline is attained? Or would it be possible to get credit on the new *A program while using my *A status from United to get in the lounges?

If the second option isn't possible, then it's probably better to do a status match to an airline in another alliance.

Thanks.

Try Qatar
 

OneWorld is fabulous. Sign up for Qatar's Privilege Club

I have been looking into this also as I travel US to BKK 7 times a year.

I am probably sticking with UA, but will just use Hong Kong as my base.
Then Thai air to BKK less than 3 hours so still get mileage credit since Thai Star A.

But Eva air seems to have a decent program you might look into.

Bangkok-Based Platinum - Advice on which program to switch to?
 

United has not yet announced the mileage earning details for *A partner flights (not ticketed by UA) . Depending on what they do there, and what fareclass you usually buy, it might affect your decision.

Been researching all day. Just an update: It looks like the best accrual is with AA as they have 100% or more for nearly all classes flown on CX to the US.

It looks like TK is the best accrual for *A, and I've yet to find anything worthwhile on SkyTeam.

EVA only gives full credit for limited fare classes, and is next to nothing on partners. But their fares are great....

Yes. The only question is whether to join AA or CX. AA is the much more generous program and you will still get OW elite benefits on Cathay, including access to their fabulous lounges at HKIA.

The only negative here is that CX flights do not count towards the AA status challenge.

Be careful with AAdvantage earning on CX-coded, CX-operated flights. There are several CX coach fare buckets that earn zero. Maybe there are no published fares BKK-USA that book into those but one can't ignore the possibility, especially across other city pairs and locations of purchase.

AA-coded, CX-operated in AAdvantage uses the AA earnings chart but flyers complain that AA-coded can be much more expensive than CX-coded.

Yes, you have lounge access using your current UA Gold status, while crediting to another *A carrier. :)

You can fly 1 airline and credit the ff miles to another airlines ffp. However depending on the ffp status may be harder/impossible to get status flying a partner airline.
For awards UA is still OK. USA ffp's tend to more generous than non USA airline ffp's

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html
Star Alliance forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-...post-here.html
OneWorld Alliance forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...help-here.html
Skyteam Alliance forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/skyte...i-sign-up.html

Ergg! Many CX economy fares earn nil miles with AA ffp http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/ea...hayPacific.jsp