Traveling for Int'l Adoption.....Help needed
Jan 28, 2016, 7:30 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 2
Traveling for Int'l Adoption.....Help needed
Hi Folks. Hoping you all could offer some insight.
We are adopting a child in Latvia and will begin travel within the next month. I am hoping to join a frequent flier program/credit card to earn something with this frequent travel. Here are my details.
1. My entire family will fly from US (ATL to Riga, Latvia). Will be 4 of us traveling roundtrip with a approx. 28 day stay in Latvia.
2. Two of us (wife and I) will fly back again in approx March for a 1 week stay.
3. Two of us (wife and I) will fly back again in approx May to complete adoption.
As you can see, I will be paying for about 8 RT tickets from Eastern USA to Latvia over the next 5 months.
I am trying to figure out if I should join some frequent flyer program (or credit card) and if so which one if the best. It looks like my cheapest flight options are on Delta, Aeroflot, or Turkish Air.
Also, I do own the Barclays World card that gets me 2X for any dollar spent. I currently have about $4,000 worth of travel on that card that I plan to use.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
We are adopting a child in Latvia and will begin travel within the next month. I am hoping to join a frequent flier program/credit card to earn something with this frequent travel. Here are my details.
1. My entire family will fly from US (ATL to Riga, Latvia). Will be 4 of us traveling roundtrip with a approx. 28 day stay in Latvia.
2. Two of us (wife and I) will fly back again in approx March for a 1 week stay.
3. Two of us (wife and I) will fly back again in approx May to complete adoption.
As you can see, I will be paying for about 8 RT tickets from Eastern USA to Latvia over the next 5 months.
I am trying to figure out if I should join some frequent flyer program (or credit card) and if so which one if the best. It looks like my cheapest flight options are on Delta, Aeroflot, or Turkish Air.
Also, I do own the Barclays World card that gets me 2X for any dollar spent. I currently have about $4,000 worth of travel on that card that I plan to use.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Jan 28, 2016, 8:36 am
#2
Join Date: Apr 2004
Programs: AA Plat/2MM, DL Silver, UA Silver (via Marr), Marr LTT, HH Gold (via cc), Hyatt Disc
Posts: 1,039
It would help to understand your travel patterns post the Latvia trips. If you anticipate mostly travel within the US, then probably best to sign up for Delta and fly them as you may not be putting much/any more mileage on Aeroflot or Turkish. On the other hand, if you anticipate continued TATL travel, those programs may make sense for you longer term.
Jan 28, 2016, 8:46 am
#4
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
"If you anticipate mostly travel within the US, then probably best to sign up for Delta and fly them as you may not be putting much/any more mileage on Aeroflot or Turkish."
Both Turkish and United are members of Star Alliance, so -- assuming that one books a fare that qualifies for mileage earning in a partner program -- flights on TK can be credited to UA, and vice versa.
"If you anticipate mostly travel within the US, then probably best to sign up for Delta and fly them as you may not be putting much/any more mileage on Aeroflot or Turkish."
Both Turkish and United are members of Star Alliance, so -- assuming that one books a fare that qualifies for mileage earning in a partner program -- flights on TK can be credited to UA, and vice versa.
Jan 28, 2016, 9:26 pm
#5
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,155
edburn3 Welcome to FT
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.
Note some low cost fares earn little of nil miles. More so if credited from a partner airline to your airlines ffp.
Each person must have there own ffp membership. So 2 of you will have 3 trips to put to a ffp.
Transferring miles between people or family memberships is very uncommon or so expensive not worth doing. No USA ffp has these features as far as I aware, other than expensive transfers.
Have a look here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html
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.
Note some low cost fares earn little of nil miles. More so if credited from a partner airline to your airlines ffp.
Each person must have there own ffp membership. So 2 of you will have 3 trips to put to a ffp.
Transferring miles between people or family memberships is very uncommon or so expensive not worth doing. No USA ffp has these features as far as I aware, other than expensive transfers.
Have a look here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html
Jan 29, 2016, 8:27 pm
#6
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Join Date: Sep 2009
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Posts: 100,462
Some foreign FF programs allow family members to pool miles: BA, KE, and IIRC TK are examples.
At least for the final return trip with the new child, you want the easiest itinerary.
BTW, I don't think DL serves Latvia. It's probably a KLM connection through AMS or AF through CDG. For SU, you would connect in SVO. TK would require a routing through IST. Be sure to look at these details carefully.
At least for the final return trip with the new child, you want the easiest itinerary.
BTW, I don't think DL serves Latvia. It's probably a KLM connection through AMS or AF through CDG. For SU, you would connect in SVO. TK would require a routing through IST. Be sure to look at these details carefully.