For RTW travel - 1 FF program or several?
 

First, this is my first post, so please be kind if I'm in the wrong place. This question bridges several topics.

I'm getting a RTW ticket on United/*A using my FF miles and plan on taking the full year, using all 16 legs (and probably more trips by other airlines/trains/etc.). I'm trying to figure out if I should just keep racking up points with United or work on points with OneWorld (or Delta's alliance). I'm thinking of this to, perhaps, get better connections as I travel (more alliance airlines to chose from), as I think I'll be traveling quite a bit during each stop over. For instance, I'll be staying in Portugal as my home base for several weeks and will be traveling all over Europe, during that time.

Another reason I thought of miles on OneWorld: AA offers better lounges, based on all reports I've heard.

Important: I've accrued most of my miles through CC bonuses and other travel hacking approaches. I am considering AMEX platinum for both the AA miles and the lounge access. Also considering 2 other cards for AA miles (British Airways and Citi), both of which are offering large bonus miles right now.

Though I've traveled quite a bit, I've never done anything even approaching this magnitude, so it's all a bit overwhelming.

I hope this question makes sense. Thanks in advance for your help.

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More info, in case this helps:

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.
My priority is miles/good award redemption rates, though I'm starting to think about using points for hotels as well.

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.
somewhere between 25,000 and 50,000

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?
It's up to me (I'm self-employed)

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

6. What is your home airport?
Chicago - O'Hare and Midway both work for me

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
UA: 410,000 miles, premiere status. A few thousand miles on AA & SW

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
Lufthansa, SAS & KLM

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"I am considering AMEX platinum for both the AA miles and the lounge access. Also considering 2 other cards for AA miles (British Airways and Citi)"

Neither the Amex Platinum card nor the Chase/BA card earns AA miles. You can redeem BA Avios for award travel at AA flights -- at BA's redemption rates, not AA's. You cannot convert BA Avios to AAdvantage miles. For U.S. residents, the only cards that can be used to accrue AA miles are the several different Citi/AA cards, and the Starwood Amex card. (Starpoints can be converted to AA miles.)

Welcome to FT!

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

I should add that it is possible to convert Amex MR points to AA miles by first transferring to a different program -- like Starwood points. But except when there are significant transfer bonuses offered, this will typically result in a significant devaluation of your MR points (i.e., you won't get a 1:1 transfer ratio from Amex MR to AA).

RebelWithACoz Welcome to FT

Having multiple fpp's with small balances is never a good idea. You never get enough miles to use before they expire
Stay with UA [Star alliance] (primary) and AA [OneWorld alliance] (secondary) as your ffp's. Guessing you UA miles will be burned on the RTW

In Eu there are low cost carriers and trains. Eu is small. You will not get many miles in any ffp. Low cost fares earn nil or little miles
You will not fly enough on Eu side trips to get AA or any other ffp status (can have lounge access)

USA based airline ffp's tend to be more generous (status benefits/earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry) compared to non USA based airline ffp’s. (even after the recently announced changes to some USA ffp’s)

The airline you fly most or an airline of the country you live is the best ffp for many people.
The airline you fly and the airline ffp you credit those flights to does not need to be the same.
Freq flyer miles are not equal to earn or burn.
There is a difference between a frequent flyer and a frequent spender getting ff miles

Thanks so much for the fast feedback! I'm really glad that I asked before applying for a couple of new credit cards unnecessarily. Great first experience with flyertalk!

Good luck!
 

Best of luck with your forthcoming trip!

Perhaps I'm missing something, but if your RTW ticket is being obtained with miles, you do realize, I hope, that you won't earn any miles in the course of flying on that trip?

So can I assume you're talking about revenue-based (i.e. paid with money) flying before or during the trip? In that case it's all about scale. It's no good to spread a few "orphan" miles around numerous programs; you'll never get to a scale where they're useful. As for Oneworld v. Star Alliance programs, lounges, etc., it's VERY dependent on your travel patterns and plans going forward, and merits considerable research on your part. But you've come to the right place. Welcome to FT and happy planning!