ok..

For anyone that read my other thread, I am basically familiar with the Jet Blue FF program only, and I am getting into the rest of this.

I just signed up for the AMEX SPG card, so I will be using that from now on to accrue points.

I am booking a trip to Europe for this coming summer (I will post routing questions in the other forum where they belong) but I just want to make sure that I understand correctly how this will work.

I am sorry if this sounds like a newbie question, as I am sure it is, I just want to understand this 100%.


I will book my flight to Europe using whichever carrier works best for me out of the ones that you can claim an award with from SPG/is part of an alliance that serves me best.

So far, it looks like I will be flying either Continental or Iberia.

Lets just say for the sake of this example that I book on Continental.

Is this how the program works:

1) I book my flight on Continental, and at the same time join their One Pass FF program. This is part of One World.

2) Any time in the future I book flights, I book them on a One World partner if at all possible.

3) The points (if they are of the right code etc..) get transferred to my One Pass account with Continental. (Or I request to have them transferred if they are not automatically).

4) I spend money on my SPG card, and at some point decide I want to take a trip. I take as many points as I need to get a free flight and transfer them from my SPG account to my One Pass account.

5) I book my reward flight.



Can anyone correct me if I am wrong, or add anything in that I am missing?


Thanks a lot!!

Without addressing your many points there is one very big fly in the ointment. When you transfer SPG points into most frequent flyer programs you get one FF mile for each SPG point transfered. However, with Continental and United it takes TWO SPG points to get one FF mile. If you plan to fly Continental or United you are much better off with AMEX cards that earn Membership Rewards points or one of the Chase Continental cards. Other than those two domestic airlines, the SPG card is the best card to use. (Transfer 20000 SPG points and get 25000 FF miles.

because of conversion issues i went with USAirways, since it's in *Alliance, you can still fly Continental but earn the points with US which has a conversion rate of 1:1 with SPG

Understood 100%, I saw this on the SPG rewards website.


I am just checking to make sure that I have the right procedure in theory. When I decide which airline I will fly of course I will take this into consideration (according to SPG website you can't transfer over miles to Iberia, just fly on them as a reward).

I just want to make sure that I have the procedure correct.


Is it?

If I understand your original post, yes.

Basically your procedure is correct. However, it is still better to get your thought straight, even in using a dummy example. CO also does not belong to OneWorld. CO belongs to Star Alliance, same as UA - and they are both have the poor ratio of 2:1.

Also re: 3), you want to make sure your targeted FF program membership number attached to the reservation you make with partner airlines. Some let you do it online. Some require you to call to add. In any case, MAKE SURE the targeted FF number shows up on your BP when you fly. If not, make the gate agent to add it back and dont walk away until you have a BP showing the targeted FF number on it. This way the posting even at times be delayed, it is painless and automatic. If not, the posting requires you manually send in your BP and request the posting and it will take forever and sometimes get loss in the shuffle.

Other airlines the ratio is 1:1 and you get a 5K bonus when transferring in 20K chunk at a time. Instead of taking whatever pts you need for the award you want, it is better to transfer at 20K chunk so you get the extra 5K bonus.

Honestly, your post is very confusing and not at all clear. If you don't want to get mislead by others, I strongly recommend that you clarify your post. It would help to state what exactly are you trying to achieve. I have a feeling that you might be mistaken with your understanding so far.

Very much so the case, based on the other thread the OP started. He needs to get a good grip on the BASICS first. On the other thread, his questions were largely answered but he did not seem to understand the answers, due to very lack of basic understandings.

(emphasis mind)

Yep. Happy is right and I'd said the same thing to the OP already. Here's Part One for the complete picture and he is NOT understanding any answer 100%:

new member, looking for some help/feedback/suggestions

Continental is part of Star Alliance-- not One World--never was AFAIK. Also as others have pointed out converting from SPG-One Pass is a devaluation.

Sorry for all of the confusion. Yes, continental is not part of OW, I made a mistake when I was typing that, I was in a hurry and at work. I get everything that you guys have said... sorry but I'm not a complete idiot... just new to this. Fortunately, I am a quick learner.

And I AM understanding your answers 100%. I appreciate the help you guys are providing, but it would be great if you kept the negative comments to a minimum. I am sorry if I don't have that much free time to read/learn about this FF stuff because I have a ton of other things going on in my life. That is why I came here, to be educated, not to be ridiculed.

Welcome to Flyertalk, goat521.

A lot of us on here are at least as busy as you. We also have tons of other things going on in our life. We, however, value the benefits of award travel to a point that we are willing to "invest" our time to read/learn the knowledge here and in turn are "rewarded" in a way we get to travel around the world with minimal cost.

So it is really up to you to spend the amount of time up to the level you want to be rewarded. As a quick learner, you would very quickly learn of the real value here I am sure.

Nobody is here to ridicule you. Most here merely try to tell you that it is important to first learn the BASICS before you can take advantage of the collective knowledge base of this forum / site can offer.

Please do remember, others also have tons of things going on in their lives. It takes time to read your difficult to understand and often confusing posts, then type a reply offering up suggestions. Are you saying your time is more valuable than others?

It is up to you which approach to take - be defensive as you are now, or as what buschoi suggested. Obviously the outcome could be vastly different based on which approach you take. The choice is yours.

Let me be upfront with you and please accept the fact: based on the posts and questions you had made in these two threads, you DO NOT understand our answers 100%.

Secondly, if any of us wanted to really really "ridicule" you, we could have just typed "do a search. All your questions had been asked and answered on FT millions times before."

Last but not least, as savvy FTers put valuable time composing informative posts to address your questions, nobody's asking for anything in return. But I doubt anyone would put more effort into helping someone who couldn't take "negative" comments or learn from his own mistakes.

Truth be told, I don't know if you are a quick learner or not. I hope you are and can study FT more thoroughly in whichever ways that benefits you best.

One bonus tip for you. Now is the month of March but you want to plan an award tix for this coming summer. Remember summer is a high season. Even if you could spend enough in the next 30 days to get both the bonus and needed purchase SPG points from charging your yet-to-be-approved Amex SPG Card, I doubt there would be any award ticket available by the time you accumulate enough SPG points to transfer to your choice of FFP then complete the redemption.

Another tip on the house. With your (zero) status, you simply can't book any award seat without enough redeemable miles in your FFP account first. Based on your research, have you found out how many miles you would need for an award seat in economy from U.S. to Europe yet? Have you figures out how long it will take you to earn all the required SPG points yet? Have you learned how long it would take for the miles to be posted from SPG points transfer to FFPs yet?

Only you can help yourself learn and be educated. Welcome to FT University!

Nobody ridiculed you. Negative, yes, but it was truth nonetheless. If you cannot accept that your post was confusing, I am sorry my friend, no one can help you here.

And inspite of everyone pointing out your shortcomings, you have not bothered to clarify your posts further.

With this kind of an attitude, good luck!