Hey guys, just found this site. Super stoked, and going through all the posts to get a low down of what my best options are...

So my sad story is that I travelled in over 36 countries last year, mostly Europe and US, and booked ZERO frequent flyer miles...

I'm lazy and thought my company was making use of the miles...

Long story short, I travel out of Chicago and fly all over the US about twice a week, flying to Dubai in April, Munich in October, probably with a little tour of Europe again while I'm over there...

Wondering what the best way to go is for flying program. I signed up for Delta, United, and AA FF programs...

Mostly Delta flights at the moment, but it seems like most people say their reward program isn't the best. My company is sympathetic towards choosing a specific airline so I can get up to elite status quick...

Any suggestions on where to start, or a FAQ type section that I can't seem to find...

I'd say AA.

With that volume you should hit EXP rather quickly, and then you will reap the benefits of what I'd say is the best top-tier program: unlimited free domestic upgrades, 8 SWUs a year (+4 w/ 125k), generally great customer care. Codeshare w/ BA to DXB.

one caveat about AA is they don't award miles for taking BA between US and UK

there are plenty of AA flights from ORD to UK, though

Ouch! my sympathies.

I'd say, try to select your alliance first and then the best program for you in this alliance. Since you already have DL, UA and AA you are pretty much covered. See which alliance (Star or oneworld) that fits your flying pattern best and stick to that. Depending on what you value most (Status, award flights, upgrades) some programs within your selected alliance might fit you better than others.
There are lots of threads in the alliance forums that already discuss pro's and con's of different programs, so there is no simple answer to this. I am sure you will get several good options here, though. Good luck


Btw, welcome to FT

Most airlines allow you to collect FF miles up to one year later. You can probably claim a lot of miles from your previous flights.

+1

I will also be making frequent flights to the middle east this year and I've concluded that there is no perfect plan for me...looks like it will be *A to a hub, then BA from LHR to DXB. I've looked into BA's program and while certain aspects are nice I want a program where I will most benefit on my personal economy domestic flights. Also, with BA's fees on award travel, it's not a program I want to earn a lot of miles.

Agreed - all hope is not lost for the OP. Get retroactive credit immediately ^

The problem is, you have to be signed up for the Airline FFPs.

Which... I wasn't.

Unless someone knows otherwise...

No you don't - you can join now and get retroactive credit.

I had a friend last year in a similar situation. At my suggestion he signed up for FF program and got considerable retroactive credit for a bunch of DFW to middle east trips.

If you decide to go AA sign up for the Platinum Challege and get a Citi AAdvantage Credit card with 30K miles bonus.

Consider United. ORD is a hub for United and they have IAD-DXB and ORD-MUC direct flights.

You also have the option of Lufthansa for MUC and you will get the same EQM/RDM for trans-atlantic on Lufthansa with United unlike the AA-BA transatlantic issues.

Good luck!

You quoted the wrong comment

Trying to get some United retroactive credit...

Well, in that case, United is a pathetic exception - try to credit to a different Star Alliance partner. Consider Air Canada, Continental, Lufthansa, or British Midland.

Yes, it looks like my first big flights of the year are going to be Turkish Airways round trip ORD-DXB, so I'm thinking I'll be able to get elite status quickest thru United then.

Still working on the retro credit, if anything comes through I'll get an update for future reference.