Another loooong "which carrier's loyalty program" thread
 

Y'all may remember I posted earlier about joining Airtran's program. Now I'm realizing maybe it's not all it's cracked up to be. And there is no way I could actually fly 10 separate segments in 3 months (or 25 in a year) to get elite. And then, once I got it, I could maybe upgrade to business free, and fly to a very limited number of places, and that's about it.

I routinely fly between BWI and BOS, although can use any of the airports around them (BWI, IAD, DCA, BOS, MHT, PVD). About 5-6 roundtrips a year I'd say. I also occasionally (2 roundtrips per year) fly to either GSORDU, or CHT. The thing is, Airtran is the only one out of the bunch that flies nonstop BWI-BOS. But so what? Part of earning miles is flying more indirect routes, and I have time to do that when I'm flying to and from school.

Now, I really want one thing with an elite status: seat upgrades. Maybe a free flight here and there.

I decided I need to go with a legacy. I am most familiar with AA (thanks to Up In The Air) and Delta.

My dad has 20k skymiles that he says I can have if I pay the transfer fee.

I'm thinking Delta. It seems easier to reach their lowest Medallion status, the minimum number of miles earned per segment is 500, and they seem to have the most perks.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

be on the lookout for the $250 ish trans cons like iad-sfo/lax-bos w/ another back....lotta mi's [10k or so] plus cheap at $500.....if you do aa, a challenge would get you gold....research before pulling the trigger....good luck...

Hi l'avion,
I am no one to give you advice and am a newbie too, however, I did find a good source of avice about the best frequent flyer programs that I thought was great. Posted to his personal blog by FlyTalk's own Gary Leff. I don’t know him personally but he is a major miles maven. I guess he is sort of a cross between Alan Greenspan and Martha Stuart, without the prison sentence, (as far as I know anyway ;) ) His blog posting discusses a Conde Nast Traveler article in which he is quoted about at least 9 out of 10 tips that are attributed to him. His blog posting and a link to a PDF of the Conde Nast Traveler arcticle can be found here: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...talk-exploits/
I am sure that this article has been discussed in the forums but I haven't found the thread yet.
I hope this helps some, and please let me know what you finally decide.

Hmm.. I think I'm overanalyzing everything but I want to make the right decision. Then again, this will reflect the travels for the rest of my life. :rolleyes:

Transferring miles is usually a bad deal, and more to the point, should have no bearing on your choice of FFP.

Anyone?! I think it's down to Delta vs. AA. How do the two compare for what I want to do? Anything I should know from the veterans?

Make smart decisions. Before you go Delta, at least read these threads:

Lower Tier Mileage Awards No Longer Seem to Exist...

PLEASE READ FIRST: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Anything To Do With Delta

Wonderful, but I'm sure there are a ton of stories like that with ever carrier.

Another question: with a Medallion status, it says one may only upgrade to business from a full-fare coach. Even those are pretty expensive. How strictly is that rule followed? Could I upgrade off a lower fare?

DL miles are particularly hard to use, while AA miles are among the most highly valued among major programs.

Hi l'avion,

As stated before I am only a newbie too but, I have been asking myself and all of the gurus on the forums a smilar question for a while now, namely whether I should work on Delta or Continental. And after some hard thinking, I chose, AA... (yes I know it wasn't on the list.)

Basically I decided on AA becasue I felt I could do a challenge and get status within the three month time frame. If you think you could fly 10 or 20k miles in three months an AA challenge might be right for you. (AA actually says 5k or 10k qualifying points, but if you, like me, are flying the cheapest fairs it works out to being twice that many miles.)

If you are interested there is a VERY detailed thread here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-platinum.html

Or you can wait and see if I make it or not! :)

Anyway, I hope this helps some.

The reason you are struggling and also the reason you are not getting the answers you want is that there is no one right answer. Pick a program and stick with it. Whatever you get will be better than if there were no programs or if you didn't join one. Trying to find the absolute one best answer will drive you nuts and not accomplish anything - IMO.

The decision is not irrevocable. Most FTers have collected miles in multiple programs and changed their priorities as events in their life has changed. This is not a life-determining decision.

The price differential isn't quite what you think.

Making PLT through the challenge in 10K miles doesn't cost double what is costs to make in in 20K miles, so you may spend more doing it with "cheaper" fares.

DW and kids did a successful PLT challenge on a TATL for a fare of $830. The cheapest available fare at the time was $720. So a successful PLT challenge done on a TATL would have cost $1420.

Plus, in a sense you are paying more in RDMs earned by doing it on 20K miles.

On a PLT challenge you start a 100% mile bonus on your qualifying seg. Not a big deal if you fly shorter segs, but in DWs case she earned a 5.3K mile bonus on her qualifying seg. And double miles on her next TATL, two months later.

I had a nice dinner in Paris with Gleff and other FT fellas. The guy is like an "open FT bible" I've heard so many things from him that I almost left the place with the feeling "I don't know sh#*& about this!!!"
Very interesting indeed.
Thank you Gleff for the nice chat. Im still learning.
Hernan

I couldn't do the AA challenge at this point.It would mean 2 BOS-LAX flights in Y at a cost of $600 each way...

I think AA is out. They don't have much coverage of BWI anyway...

How about US Air? Seems like their lowest level elite still offers unlimited free upgrades...
edit: I see US Air only rewards non-elites with the number of miles between the origin and final destination, regardless of how many stops I make. So a BWI-ATL-BOS would still get only ~400 miles, right? Does Delta do the same?

DL is nice because they're giving away a lot of miles through bonuses these days, but beware that you might have a harder time redeeming DL miles than other program miles.

AA doesn't have much presence in BWI, but it has more presence in IAD and especially in DCA.

As for AA challenge, just keep your eyes peeled. Sometimes AA will run pretty cheap W fares to, for example, Europe. Or the recent H fare for EWR-LAX.