Help Decide Which Programs to Use
Jan 27, 2011 | 8:23 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: NE US
Posts: 2
Help Decide Which Programs to Use
Not sure where this belongs because there are several programs. For an upcoming work trip to the EU (trip booked by boss - no input from me on anything except hotel in Paris) I have the following flights: Day 1/Day 2 overnight flight (Flt 1) JFK to CDG on AA Business Class, US hotel chain, Day 3 (Flt 2) CDG to FRA on AF Premium Economy, Day 3 and Day 4 hotel is an EU chain I'm not familiar with, Day 5 (Flt 3) FRA to VCE on LH Economy, hotel TBD for Day 5 and Day 6, Day 7 (Flt 8 & 9) VCE LHR JFK on BA Business Class.
I have no status on AA, ~22K in the acct (AA pulled out of primary airport 4+ yrs ago - been dumping 1 activity a yr into acct to keep balance active, but flies into airports 2+ hrs away). I am Silver on UA and Delta. Planning on using Delta for AF flight, UA for LH flight and US hotel chain miles (promo going on now), and AA for AA/BA flts. The hotel in FRA (Lindner) does not appear to be affiliated with any of the programs I belong to, but is part of LH Miles and More. I'm toying with joining LH or other airline program to capture the miles at the hotel, but not sure which to use.
Should I stick with the plan I have above or is there a way to Max miles/status that I'm overlooking? Since this is a forced march, I want to make the most of it, so I can sit far away from boss (not a loyalty gal) on any future flights. Most flights are domestic and are SkyTeam or StarAlliance. All EU flights to date have been SkyTeam or *A, but EU travel to go up this year. Cost will drive the flts selected (permitted Business class on long haul int'l).
I have no status on AA, ~22K in the acct (AA pulled out of primary airport 4+ yrs ago - been dumping 1 activity a yr into acct to keep balance active, but flies into airports 2+ hrs away). I am Silver on UA and Delta. Planning on using Delta for AF flight, UA for LH flight and US hotel chain miles (promo going on now), and AA for AA/BA flts. The hotel in FRA (Lindner) does not appear to be affiliated with any of the programs I belong to, but is part of LH Miles and More. I'm toying with joining LH or other airline program to capture the miles at the hotel, but not sure which to use.
Should I stick with the plan I have above or is there a way to Max miles/status that I'm overlooking? Since this is a forced march, I want to make the most of it, so I can sit far away from boss (not a loyalty gal) on any future flights. Most flights are domestic and are SkyTeam or StarAlliance. All EU flights to date have been SkyTeam or *A, but EU travel to go up this year. Cost will drive the flts selected (permitted Business class on long haul int'l).
Jan 27, 2011 | 10:12 pm
#2
Join Date: May 2007
Location: ORD, DEL
Programs: AA (Plt Pro; 1.5 MM)
Posts: 6,223
Welcome to FT!
I think you already have a good plan: have one account at each major alliance (AA at OW, UA at *A, DL at ST) and credit the flights there.
Whenever you can influence the choice of airline, steer towards *A. (My primary FF program is at AA, but you said it is not a player in your market.)
If possible work out a deal that you'd buy your own tickets and get reimbursed. Then you can get credit card miles too.
For the hotels, best to join the hotel programs themselves.
I think you already have a good plan: have one account at each major alliance (AA at OW, UA at *A, DL at ST) and credit the flights there.
Whenever you can influence the choice of airline, steer towards *A. (My primary FF program is at AA, but you said it is not a player in your market.)
If possible work out a deal that you'd buy your own tickets and get reimbursed. Then you can get credit card miles too.
For the hotels, best to join the hotel programs themselves.
Jan 28, 2011 | 9:07 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: NE US
Posts: 2
Thanks for confirming that my plan made sense. Corporate policy prohibits personal cards if you travel more than 1x/yr. I can safely say I have passed that already.
AA leaving was a bummer, but it was a slow pull-out (first cut AA routes dramatically, then only to AmerEagle to a hub that could be reached via car or train easily. Given that I'm not at a hub, and most of the time am not going to a hub for domestic, I frequently end up out on ST, back on *A.
For hotels, CDG = Hilton w Dbl Dip. The other chain will likely not stay at again (most int'l to France, not Germany) - only there for meeting - so not really worth joining their program per se.
I'm curious, what is trans-Atlantic Business like on AA compared to CO and AF?
AA leaving was a bummer, but it was a slow pull-out (first cut AA routes dramatically, then only to AmerEagle to a hub that could be reached via car or train easily. Given that I'm not at a hub, and most of the time am not going to a hub for domestic, I frequently end up out on ST, back on *A.
For hotels, CDG = Hilton w Dbl Dip. The other chain will likely not stay at again (most int'l to France, not Germany) - only there for meeting - so not really worth joining their program per se.
I'm curious, what is trans-Atlantic Business like on AA compared to CO and AF?