I am a newbie to miles. I'm also a newbie to FlyerTalk and I know there's not much worse on a forum than a complete newbie starting a new thread. Still, I hope you'll go easy on me.

I am interested in programs with lifetime status. I don't really care about things like award flights as I'm not going to be using them. What I'm after is status including things like lounge access, speedier things etc. I'm a little too old to be starting on the miles journey but my children are not. They're about to earn over 10000 Emirates miles on a one-way flight if I sign them up. I'm quite keen to start putting their miles into something long-term where they can earn lifetime status one day. They're not going to be frequent business flyers for a while but like the savings accounts I've opened for them I imagine one day if miles still exist they'll be able to benefit from a bit of status.

I wonder what my best bet is to try and put their miles into a lifetime program? Noting Emirates partners it looks like Qantas is a possibility. They'll be based in Asia for a couple of years at least so it isn't a bad option.

If I was planning for the long-term rather than looking to maximise my immediate awards, where should this newbie be looking?


Thanks

Are you looking for awards or for status?

For awards, you can start banking miles now, but it's always risky due to devaluations.

If you want lifetime status the only way to get it is by flying a lot of miles every year. And I mean a lot - as in 100k per year.

Status qualifications reset yearly, except for the "lifetime miles" counter. Several programs offer lifetime status with a "million miler" program, but that's obviously a long, long way off for your children. You won't be able to achieve them any kind of status unless they're flying a LOT every year, since it resets yearly. In my opinion, your best bet is simply that--a bet. Pick an airline they're likely to fly with the most--preferably one that codeshares with multiple prominent partners. This gives the best positioning down the road, but a ton will depend on what happens to loyalty programs over the next couple decades, where they live, where they work, etc.

Prevailing guidance would be to pick the one airline/alliance that works best for your travel needs and funnel as much of your flying on that as you can. Newer thinking is that since airlines seem to be devaluing FF programs annually, the value of status is continually being diluted. Since the time horizon for your children to hit LT status is multiple decades out, you may want to reconsider this goal and instead of being loyal to one airline/alliance just book whatever flights are cheapest/most convenient.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, Malarchy.

Lounge access (on days you're flying internationally only) is typically only available in the second-tier-up elite status, and thus in liftetime status turns only after flying 2 million miles with a particular airline (it may or may not count certain partner airlines). That's 20 years of 100k paid flying (not 100k earning) a year, or 40 years of 50k paid flying, or 80 years of paid 25k flying a year.

Meanwhile, you can buy lounge access (for one airline) for a few hundred dollars a year. You can get speedier things just by holding the credit card for that airline.

So unless you're "naturally" flying 100+ (paid, not award) miles per year, and doing it for a long time, it doesn't seem practical to "pursue" lifetime status with an airline (any more). (Lifetime status at some airlines worked differently in the past, but that's the way it works going forward.)

Meanwhile:

You seem to have to gotten things backwards. Many of the benefits of status (international lounge access, speedier things, etc) are also available when flying business class or above. Fly your longhaul flights on business (or first) class awards instead of paid coach and you don't really need status that much. And it's far easier to fly several longhaul flights a year as business class awards than it is to get lifetime status at an airline these days.

You need to think about which airlines offer 'lifetime' status. I don't think Emirates does (but I could be wrong).

Lifetime status typically takes a long time to rack up, and very often the status that 'lifetime' is not the top one that airline offers (for example AA offers only lifetime Platinum, rather than Executive Platinum). By long time, assume that you (or your children) need to fly upwards of one million miles. A frequent traveller (outside of the real road warriors here) will do well to book 100,000 per year. To put that into a broad context, that's a monthly transatlantic in a premium cabin. For ten years+.

BA, for example, offers a lifetime Gold (close enough to their top status) at 35,000 tier points. This status requires 1,500 tier points per annum to retain, so if you achieve say 2,000 tier points per year, you'll be doing so for 18 years before you have lifetime status. A cheap shortfall flight on BA earns 10 tier points, a transatlantic in business class, with a couple of connecting flights, will get you a little short of 400. It takes time.

I'm not saying you shouldn't try for it (most people here have a mild obsession for just that!) but don't forget to smell the roses along the way. Annual status is very useful, and a bucket full of miles might get you some cheap(er) premium flights.

Welcome to FT!

I think of all the major airlines in Asia Pacific, only QF and NH have a lifetime programme.

Whose lifetime? The children or the airline or the freq flyer program?

If they were flying a lot in business or first class in say 2 years, then aiming for lifetime status may be viable. (I think Kiwiflyer has done this) Otherwise not worth considering

10,000 flight miles is not necessarily 10,000 freq flyer miles/points. Economy fares often only earn 50% or 25% or even nil ff miles, depending on the airline, booking class & ffp.

Not all flights on a airline earn status if credited to a partner ffps. EK flights do not earn QF status with the QF ffp, but do earn some(reduced) QF ff points.

As for crediting the flights look at the airlines who are ff partners with EK. Freq flyer partners are usually reciprocal. Look at those to see if joining one makes sense and if you could credit the EK 10,000 mile flights to it as a partner. QF, AS and others are EK ff partners.

Joining QF in the hope of getting lifetime status in a few decades would mean forgoing far better benefits on another ffp for next few decades. QF has high award costs and very high award surcharges

True, but if there's a universal truth, it's that FFPs only get worse!

Yes very true. But QF is starting from a low base line.

FF miles/points are for the short time: not a long term investment. Generally you never get more for them in 1-3-5-10 years compared to now

I think it's a reasonable goal to plan for every flight (except on very cheap fares that don't accrue FF miles) to credit miles to some program. You basically need to belong to one program in each alliance and use an appropriate FF account number on all bookings. However, within that, you can plan to pick a FF program in each alliance such that your miles won't expire (or can be kept active easily and cheaply) and will count toward lifetime status. Note, however, that some programs only count status miles earned on that particular carries (and sometimes especially close partners, such as JV partners or codeshare flights) for lifetime status. From here, you can still choose to fly convenient airlines/schedules that offer good fares for your trips.

For the OP's case, note that some airlines do not allow children to have FF accounts while others encourage it (although lap child fares won't earn miles).

Thanks for the replies, appreciate it. In this case, Emirates doesn't seem to have a lifetime status to aspire to so I'll have to look elsewhere. My children have an international life ahead of them following me around so there's a good chance they'll be picking up miles/points over time. I'll take a flyer on a carrier with lifetime potential just in case it works out. QF might be the best place to put those points. We're flying business this time so accruing quite a few points as well as getting the good things in air life. Enjoying the good things in life is the easy part, trying to become more savvy with potential fringe benefits is the challenge in front of me.

First of all, unlike many newbs, your thread shows consideration, careful forethought, and actual logic, so great first posts here. One thing you need to keep in mind is that mileage and point travel programs are another form of currency with the same drawbacks. Would you put all of your kids' savings in cash to devalue 3-4% (and i'd argue more) every year? Points (and therefore status) devalue in much the same way.

Depending on your time horizon, it might make more sense to put the extra $ you'd spend being loyal to one program and chasing status, lifetime or otherwise, and put that $ in equities, gold, or hard assets like guns or real estate. I would bet on any of those rather than on status at an airline or hotel chain that are guaranteed to devalue, and the company may not even exist 20 years from now.

Just make sure you learn how to keep your QF points from expiring. They'll expire upon 18 months of no "activity", and if you're not based in Australia, you need to make sure you know what your options for generating "activity" based on where you live are, and make absolutely sure that you generate "activity" well before each 18 months is through on each QF account.

Otherwise all those precious points you earn on this high-priced business class trip will evaporate!

Some FFP allow household accounts.
Maybe it's the best way to make the best of miles while kids are growing up.
Executive has a lifetime elite program and accept families but you need to do lots of of C/J flights