I am pricing up some longhaul fares from TPE in J/F for next year and the results from OW airlines are quite disappointing.

Apart from business trips etc. I planned to take my wife to Hawaii in F next year and the best fares I am getting are with Asiana and ANA. Same with essential business travel, best rates for 2010 are consistently with *A airlines.

Does anyone have any advice about which airline has the better elite program, or even if I should look at another *A loyalty program? Which *A airline is most likely to give a status match for CX Gold?

Do ANA/Asiana or *A elites in general get less recognition than CX/OneWorld because the status seems much easier to achieve than with CX? For example CX requires 30,000 miles in one year to reach Silver then another 60,000 miles to reach Gold, then another 120,000 to reach Diamond. Status only lasts for 12 months. Asiana only requires 40,000 miles in 24 months(?) to reach Diamond.

Thanks for your time ^

It's a shame for you as I find OW carriers consistently better than *A carriers and the benefits of OW are better as well (eg. first class lounge access for emerald). CX is my favourite airline in the world.

You can look at JAL which has very competitive fares out of Taiwan to the US and Europe if you want to stay in OW. Otherwise Asiana and ANA are both OK airlines and basically the same as JAL. CX is in another league as far as seating and entertainment.

Be careful when you compare airlines. The precious metal or gemstone associated with each level are not standardized. "Diamond" is top-tier on CX but mid-tier on OZ. Top-tier on OZ is Diamond Plus.

Alliance-wide status levels are also not standardized. *A has no third tier that corresponds to OW Emerald. Its top tier, Gold, compares to OW Sapphire in terms of both benefits and difficulty of obtaining it. (Both come with mid-tier elite status on most member airlines that have three levels, though there are exceptions in both alliances. On bmi, which has relatively low requirements to move up each step, you have to be top-tier to get *A Gold.)

A given status level is still easier to reach with Asiana, especially since last October when they cut the first-time qualification requirements, but not as much easier as it might seem at first glance.

Thanks for the useful info.

I'm in a bit of a bind over which program(s) to go with. Cathay has always been great to me and I am reluctant to part ways with such a good airline. For me their longhaul J product in particular trumps many carriers in F. I can't even complain about price since they have had some great ex-TPE J deals all year.

However, the routes I need to fly next year are either unavailable or very expensive on CX or OW in general and I am looking at a pretty large premium to stick with them.

I will be doing enough travel in the next 12 months either to make Marco Polo DM or maintain MPC Gold + earn mid tier on another airline. I still have some time to decide which plan to go with. I don't really know what extra tangible benefits I could get from DM vs Gold (I don't need guaranteed seats because I have a very flexible schedule).

Another reason I am keen on *A status is that I have never flown SQ, LH or LX in J/F and would love to check them out soon.

I also thought about trying for an AA Platinum challenge but it seems a bit pointless spreading loyalty programs across the same alliance. Although AA's Platinum bonus and redemption seem considerably more attractive than the rather miserly deal offered with Asia Miles.

Hmmm... I think I talked myself into sticking with OneWorld for another year.