Need help please
Aug 2, 2018, 1:38 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 7
Need help please
Hi,
I am new to the forum if someone can help me out. I will start traveling for my new company. I can use any airlines in the US, rental car company and hotel chain. I want to have all my points/miles with one airline / 3rd party site or hotel brand. Which one would be best for me? I currently have 2K AA miles, but you can't book Hilton hotels with them. I will be renting 15 nights a month with 15 rental days average.
Any suggestions will help!
I am new to the forum if someone can help me out. I will start traveling for my new company. I can use any airlines in the US, rental car company and hotel chain. I want to have all my points/miles with one airline / 3rd party site or hotel brand. Which one would be best for me? I currently have 2K AA miles, but you can't book Hilton hotels with them. I will be renting 15 nights a month with 15 rental days average.
Any suggestions will help!
Aug 2, 2018, 11:22 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,022
I will start traveling for my new company. I can use any airlines in the US, rental car company and hotel chain. I want to have all my points/miles with one airline / 3rd party site or hotel brand. Which one would be best for me? I currently have 2K AA miles, but you can't book Hilton hotels with them. I will be renting 15 nights a month with 15 rental days average.
Keep airline & hotel loyalty separate
Many people get bonus & benefits from credit cards
What airlines fly to your possible destinations?
General- Which Frequent Flyer Program to Join? Help Is Here!
Aug 3, 2018, 11:30 am
#3
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: AA Gold. UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt (Lifetime Diamond downgraded to Explorist)
Posts: 6,776
Do you currently have or are you interested in getting any credit cards? Some of the premium cards come with some status in programs for airlines, hotels & car rental agencies.
You need to look at where you'll most likely be going or if you'll be flying out of a somewhat remote area you may only have one or two airline options and you'l; want to evaluate what the schedules would look like and what equipment you'll be on. Avoid the Devils Chariot CRJ-200. Luckily there are fewer and fewer of these operating but they are often found on routes that can't justify mainline or premium seating.
You don't want a bunch of orphan mile/points so you'll want to streamline which programs and cards you use but this may not be something you can figure out until in the job for a little bit. Ask some people in similar positions at your work what they do. They may not play the miles/points game but they may be able to give some pointers.
You need to look at where you'll most likely be going or if you'll be flying out of a somewhat remote area you may only have one or two airline options and you'l; want to evaluate what the schedules would look like and what equipment you'll be on. Avoid the Devils Chariot CRJ-200. Luckily there are fewer and fewer of these operating but they are often found on routes that can't justify mainline or premium seating.
You don't want a bunch of orphan mile/points so you'll want to streamline which programs and cards you use but this may not be something you can figure out until in the job for a little bit. Ask some people in similar positions at your work what they do. They may not play the miles/points game but they may be able to give some pointers.
Aug 3, 2018, 11:57 pm
#4
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Hi,
I am new to the forum if someone can help me out. I will start traveling for my new company. I can use any airlines in the US, rental car company and hotel chain. I want to have all my points/miles with one airline / 3rd party site or hotel brand. Which one would be best for me? I currently have 2K AA miles, but you can't book Hilton hotels with them. I will be renting 15 nights a month with 15 rental days average.
Any suggestions will help!
I am new to the forum if someone can help me out. I will start traveling for my new company. I can use any airlines in the US, rental car company and hotel chain. I want to have all my points/miles with one airline / 3rd party site or hotel brand. Which one would be best for me? I currently have 2K AA miles, but you can't book Hilton hotels with them. I will be renting 15 nights a month with 15 rental days average.
Any suggestions will help!
From where? It’d be folly for us to recommend Alaska if you’re out of Denver, for example. And where will you be traveling? Domestic, and if so where? International, same question. I retired after 30 years as a traveling O. D. and training consultant, earning over 5 million miles and lifetime status with one airline and probably over 5 million points and lifetime top status with a hotel chain, but couldn’t begin to advise you until I have some of that information.
Aug 4, 2018, 2:49 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 7
Do you currently have or are you interested in getting any credit cards? Some of the premium cards come with some status in programs for airlines, hotels & car rental agencies.
You need to look at where you'll most likely be going or if you'll be flying out of a somewhat remote area you may only have one or two airline options and you'l; want to evaluate what the schedules would look like and what equipment you'll be on. Avoid the Devils Chariot CRJ-200. Luckily there are fewer and fewer of these operating but they are often found on routes that can't justify mainline or premium seating.
You don't want a bunch of orphan mile/points so you'll want to streamline which programs and cards you use but this may not be something you can figure out until in the job for a little bit. Ask some people in similar positions at your work what they do. They may not play the miles/points game but they may be able to give some pointers.
You need to look at where you'll most likely be going or if you'll be flying out of a somewhat remote area you may only have one or two airline options and you'l; want to evaluate what the schedules would look like and what equipment you'll be on. Avoid the Devils Chariot CRJ-200. Luckily there are fewer and fewer of these operating but they are often found on routes that can't justify mainline or premium seating.
You don't want a bunch of orphan mile/points so you'll want to streamline which programs and cards you use but this may not be something you can figure out until in the job for a little bit. Ask some people in similar positions at your work what they do. They may not play the miles/points game but they may be able to give some pointers.
Aug 4, 2018, 2:51 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 7
Welcome to FlyerTalk.
From where? It’d be folly for us to recommend Alaska if you’re out of Denver, for example. And where will you be traveling? Domestic, and if so where? International, same question. I retired after 30 years as a traveling O. D. and training consultant, earning over 5 million miles and lifetime status with one airline and probably over 5 million points and lifetime top status with a hotel chain, but couldn’t begin to advise you until I have some of that information.
From where? It’d be folly for us to recommend Alaska if you’re out of Denver, for example. And where will you be traveling? Domestic, and if so where? International, same question. I retired after 30 years as a traveling O. D. and training consultant, earning over 5 million miles and lifetime status with one airline and probably over 5 million points and lifetime top status with a hotel chain, but couldn’t begin to advise you until I have some of that information.
From Austin to Chicago mostly. But twice a month. My length of stay in hotels will be around 15-18 nights a month so I need to so how maximize my points and maybe transfer to AA miles?
Aug 4, 2018, 2:53 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 7
Welcome to FlyerTalk.
From where? It’d be folly for us to recommend Alaska if you’re out of Denver, for example. And where will you be traveling? Domestic, and if so where? International, same question. I retired after 30 years as a traveling O. D. and training consultant, earning over 5 million miles and lifetime status with one airline and probably over 5 million points and lifetime top status with a hotel chain, but couldn’t begin to advise you until I have some of that information.
From where? It’d be folly for us to recommend Alaska if you’re out of Denver, for example. And where will you be traveling? Domestic, and if so where? International, same question. I retired after 30 years as a traveling O. D. and training consultant, earning over 5 million miles and lifetime status with one airline and probably over 5 million points and lifetime top status with a hotel chain, but couldn’t begin to advise you until I have some of that information.
From Austin to Chicago mostly. But twice a month. My length of stay in hotels will be around 15-18 nights a month so I need to so how maximize my points and maybe transfer to AA miles?
Aug 4, 2018, 5:20 pm
#9
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: AA Gold. UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt (Lifetime Diamond downgraded to Explorist)
Posts: 6,776
With the Austin to Chicago route You have AA, UA & WN (SouthWest). I'd remove WN because they're the most limited of the operators which reduces flexibility is scheduling and irrops. I'd probably go with AA since they have a good schedule and pairing with SPG is a good combination at least to start with. SPG points transfer to many valuable programs ranking it as a high value point.
For cards I'd look at one or both of the AA cards. One is from Citi & the other from Barclays. Citi usually has 1 year free before the annual fee is due but can come with a nice signup bonus and free first bag which can save you a lot of money and time even if your company pays for it.
The more premium cards can earn you big in points with 3x or 5x points for airline purchases but at this time it's best to focus and learn so you don't end up with orphan miles/points.
For hotels sticking with SPG/Marriott might be good to start with for reasons above but many people start with 1 chain to stick with and then for travel outside of that chain use hotels.com to at least get some form of award (1 free night every 10 nights) to again avoid orphan points.
FlyingTalk has a multi quote option where you can respond to multiple other posts in one organized response. It helps makes threads more organized and information concise. To do so you click the multi-quote option for any posts you want to respond to and then quote on the last one you want to quote.
For cards I'd look at one or both of the AA cards. One is from Citi & the other from Barclays. Citi usually has 1 year free before the annual fee is due but can come with a nice signup bonus and free first bag which can save you a lot of money and time even if your company pays for it.
The more premium cards can earn you big in points with 3x or 5x points for airline purchases but at this time it's best to focus and learn so you don't end up with orphan miles/points.
For hotels sticking with SPG/Marriott might be good to start with for reasons above but many people start with 1 chain to stick with and then for travel outside of that chain use hotels.com to at least get some form of award (1 free night every 10 nights) to again avoid orphan points.
FlyingTalk has a multi quote option where you can respond to multiple other posts in one organized response. It helps makes threads more organized and information concise. To do so you click the multi-quote option for any posts you want to respond to and then quote on the last one you want to quote.
Aug 4, 2018, 5:50 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,022
Far better value to spend ff miles with the airline & ff partners and hotel points at the hotel chain
At times transferring can be OK is you have a gazillion ff miles/points and/or little cash. Or want an award flight at an airline you do not not use or a hotel stay at a hotel chain you do not use much.
For hotels check what earns points. It can be advantageous to change hotels (in the same chain) after a few days to maximise earnings.
Aug 4, 2018, 10:20 pm
#11
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
SPG was the card for that, with transfers to AA. I’m thinking SPG is being integrated to Marriott’s Program, so that may not be an option going forward.
Aug 5, 2018, 10:38 am
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,586
Hi,
I am new to the forum if someone can help me out. I will start traveling for my new company. I can use any airlines in the US, rental car company and hotel chain. I want to have all my points/miles with one airline / 3rd party site or hotel brand. Which one would be best for me? I currently have 2K AA miles, but you can't book Hilton hotels with them. I will be renting 15 nights a month with 15 rental days average.
Any suggestions will help!
I am new to the forum if someone can help me out. I will start traveling for my new company. I can use any airlines in the US, rental car company and hotel chain. I want to have all my points/miles with one airline / 3rd party site or hotel brand. Which one would be best for me? I currently have 2K AA miles, but you can't book Hilton hotels with them. I will be renting 15 nights a month with 15 rental days average.
Any suggestions will help!
Whether you should collect frequent-renter points, hotel points, or airline miles from your car rentals (many programs give you a choice) will depend, in part, on how long each rental lasts. The calculation will vary depending on whether you'll be booking two seven-day rentals, vs. seven two-day rentals.
Give us a little more information re: your likely frequent-flyer redemptions (routes, class of service, season) and we can probably provide better recommendations.
Aug 6, 2018, 10:44 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 7
It's great to concentrate on a single airline if you will fly enough to earn elite status on that carrier. If not, it's probably unwise to collect all your miles in one FFP. Sometimes AA will have low-tier (cheap) award seats available when you want to redeem your miles, and UA will not. But sometimes, it's the other way around. And if you won't fly enough in one year to earn status, then, depending on your likely award redemptions, you might be better off collecting miles in a completely different program! For example, you can credit an AA flight to British Airways, Iberia, Japan Air Lines, or any oneworld carrier. And UA flights can be credited to any Star Alliance carrier. What's the benefit of crediting your miles to a carrier other than the one you are actually flying? Each carrier has different redemption rates, rules, fees, etc. For example, later this month, I am flying a four-segment roundtrip on AA where the total flight distance is between 600 and 1,000 miles. The normal redemption rate for that trip would be 25,000 AA miles, 30,000 BA Avios, or just 12,000 Iberia Avios. I booked this award ticket with Iberia Avios.
Whether you should collect frequent-renter points, hotel points, or airline miles from your car rentals (many programs give you a choice) will depend, in part, on how long each rental lasts. The calculation will vary depending on whether you'll be booking two seven-day rentals, vs. seven two-day rentals.
Give us a little more information re: your likely frequent-flyer redemptions (routes, class of service, season) and we can probably provide better recommendations.
Whether you should collect frequent-renter points, hotel points, or airline miles from your car rentals (many programs give you a choice) will depend, in part, on how long each rental lasts. The calculation will vary depending on whether you'll be booking two seven-day rentals, vs. seven two-day rentals.
Give us a little more information re: your likely frequent-flyer redemptions (routes, class of service, season) and we can probably provide better recommendations.
I don't know if I can earn status with AA because I am not flying that much, but I have a lot of hotel nights and car rental days. Maybe I can use hotel & car to transfer points to AA?
Aug 6, 2018, 10:53 am
#14
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: AA Gold. UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt (Lifetime Diamond downgraded to Explorist)
Posts: 6,776
AA has partnerships with many car rental agencies that earns you a bonus for each rental.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...tners/cars.jsp
Marriott and United have a status linkup. As you'll be staying at SPG/Marriott hotels and you have the SPG card it'd be good to look into that too.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...tners/cars.jsp
Marriott and United have a status linkup. As you'll be staying at SPG/Marriott hotels and you have the SPG card it'd be good to look into that too.
Aug 6, 2018, 11:25 am
#15
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
If the OP will be staying at a lot of Marriott properties (including formerly SPG properties) there are several CC options. This post sums up the current offers and rules:
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...it-card-rules/
Depending on the OP's decision on airline(s), transferring Marriott to airline miles at the 1:1.25 level and/or the air + hotel packages could be a very good combination - but it all depends on the particulars.
So I will be flying from Austin to Chicago round trip maybe twice a month. My car rental days will be two 10 day rentals with Hertz; so a total of 20 days. I will also stay about 20 nights per month in a hotel. I am a member of SPG, I will be in Springfield IL. Should I stay the entire 10-15 days in one hotel or keep switching hotels?
I don't know if I can earn status with AA because I am not flying that much, but I have a lot of hotel nights and car rental days. Maybe I can use hotel & car to transfer points to AA?
I don't know if I can earn status with AA because I am not flying that much, but I have a lot of hotel nights and car rental days. Maybe I can use hotel & car to transfer points to AA?
You just mentioned Springfield, IL in this post...is that your final destination on most trips - or Chicago - or both?