Help for a newbie
 

I have never had any kind of Frequent flyer account. Now i feel stupid, but never late to make ammends.

I live in Helsinki, and there are 2 trips which I make most often:

- To visit the inlaws in Brussels every Christmas (normally with Blue1, SAS or Brussels Airlines).
- To my home in Peru every 2 years or so 80% of the time with KLM or AirFrance, but also BA, Iberia, Taca, Lan or could look into going via US, which is a bit of a hassle, but I guess would be with Continental or AA).

And then the random Europe city break which could be with any airline, but might usually involve FinnAir.

As you see, I do not travel often enough to warrant wanting to have elite status, so would rather like to get some free tickets.

My questions are:

1. Which flyer programme to join? And does it matter which airline I chose (eg. KLM or AirFrance or Delta, since they belong to the same 'Family'?)
2. Since I have a wife and a newborn, should this influence my decision at all? We always travel together everywhere we go.
3. Is there any programme which redeems miles retrospectively, which I have not claimed over the past few years?
4. My dad has exactly the same name as me (except mother's maiden name, which we use in Peru), and he has a frequent flyer programme (OnePass I think). should I just give him my miles? Are there any legal complications?

Sorry if I appear ignorant, but really would like to have something to start with.

Thanks a lot.

You have a very bunch of interesting questions. Just my opinion but I would forget trying to give them to your Dad. Nice thought but could mess up yours and his FF program unless you pay a fee. Second I would look at Alliances not individal airlines so you can earn miles on one airline from 10-15 partners. I would suggest going to the Alliance page and pick the one that would be most useful. I'm sure theirs others here that can steer you to the best one for you. Also no one I know of gives miles for past flights more than maybe 30 days ago, so I think you are out of luck on that one. You do fly enough to earn a free ticket every other year so don't give them back to the Airlines you paid for them with your ticket. Good luck and enjoy the family reunions.

Yes, never too late to make amends.

Excellent questions. I'll add my thoughts, but I suspect you will hear more from others.

Do enroll your wife and newborn also.

I'd also enroll in more than one alliance. It is free, and you never know when your circumstances might change and you find yourself flying a different pattern.

I'm going to give a "Sky Team" example since my nearest airport is MSP (Minneapolis-St Paul) Minnesota. Sky Team's Delta pretty much owns the situation here. So - I belong to Delta's program. If I happen to find myself on Malev, Alaska, or some other members of the Sky Team alliance, I just give them my Delta Frequent Flyer number. Then all my miles accumulate in one place.

After you've gotten yourself signed up, do read the fine print of the alliances. It can be a little tricky. An example is when Continental used to be part of Sky Team. I could indeed get miles on them for my Delta account, but ONLY 50% of the miles flown. And sometimes the less expensive fare classes don't qualify.

Then start following the chatter here as you have time (not much with a newborn, but ....). There are lots of other ways to accumulate miles - credit cards is a major one. The web sites of the airlines can have little deals like signing up for email that are good for a quick 500 miles.

Romelle

Thanks jjmiller69,

WHat I don't understand, is that for example if I join KLM's flyer programme (I think it's Flying Blue), aren't I automatically joining the SkyTeam programme?

Is it recommendable to join SkyTeam separately or through one of its members?

Thanks Romelle,

To continue your example, would there have been any difference had you joined the SkyTeam programme through, say, KLM? I will probably join all three FF programmes, but what I am strugglin gto understand is whether it makes no difference through which airline you do it? :confused:

which airline you use in the alliance for collecting your miles can make a difference. There is no overall SkyTeam program. You need to pick the program of one of the members of the alliance and then you can collect all of your miles for flights within the alliance in that one program no matter which airline in the alliance you fly on.

But as Romelle notes, you have to be a little bit careful because some fare classes do not get you maximum miles depending on which airline you fly. Sometimes deeply discounted economy fares will only get you 50% of the miles or none at all. Other airlines will allow more miles for cheaper tickets and some will have minimum mileage accruals no matter how short the flight is.

And definitely check the mileage requirements for free flights. They are not always the same for every airline in the alliance so that complicates things a little bit.

It also helps if there is a program in your home country that fits your needs because it makes collecting the ancillary miles for things like credit cards, shopping and other local partners much easier to do.

For example, a couple of years ago I joined Air Canada's Aeroplan because they have very low redemption amounts for international premium class travel for the places I want to go. It's worked out fairly well for me, but many of the earning opportunities are only available in Canada or to Canadian citizens. Since I live in the US it has been a bit of a limiting factor. So I have decided to switch to more US-based programs now going forward.

But if you fly most often with AF/KLM then it would make sense to join FlyingBlue and probably Finnair's program as well in order to get an airline on OW and allow for local miles accumulation opportunities. And maybe Blue1 to get you a Star Alliance program.

[QUOTE=glennaa11;16015780]which airline you use in the alliance for collecting your miles can make a difference. There is no overall SkyTeam program. You need to pick the program of one of the members of the alliance and then you can collect all of your miles for flights within the alliance in that one program no matter which airline in the alliance you fly on.

But as Romelle notes, you have to be a little bit careful because some fare classes do not get you maximum miles depending on which airline you fly. Sometimes deeply discounted economy fares will only get you 50% of the miles or none at all. Other airlines will allow more miles for cheaper tickets and some will have minimum mileage accruals no matter how short the flight is.

And definitely check the mileage requirements for free flights. They are not always the same for every airline in the alliance so that complicates things a little bit.

It also helps if there is a program in your home country that fits your needs because it makes collecting the ancillary miles for things like credit cards, shopping and other local partners much easier to do.

For example, a couple of years ago I joined Air Canada's Aeroplan because they have very low redemption amounts for international premium class travel for the places I want to go. It's worked out fairly well for me, but many of the earning opportunities are only available in Canada or to Canadian citizens. Since I live in the US it has been a bit of a limiting factor. So I have decided to switch to more US-based programs now going forward.

But if you fly most often with AF/KLM then it would make sense to join FlyingBlue and probably Finnair's program as well in order to get an airline on OW and allow for local miles accumulation opportunities. And maybe Blue1 to get you a Star Alliance program.[/QUOT

This post seems to answer most of your questions. A excellant point sticking close to home. Because like he said you can pick up many miles with promotions. Like the previous post Delta is the most prominent in my area. But I also have AA as a reserve. And yes sign up everyone because if you or your wife have enough miles you can gift the ticket to your child and save yourself some money on a future flight.

Thanks everyone for the useful information, which has now inspired some further questions ;)

1. I am not sure I understand the recommendations to 'sign up my wife and kid' also. If the have different names and are separate people, how can we accrue miles to the same 'basket'?

2. If I make a booking for 3 people (say me, my wife and my cousin). In the end of the booking you normally get to give the frequent flyer number. So, do I get the miles for all three journeys? Where is the line drawn? Are the miles counted for who pays, or each passenger gets their own miles (back to question 1).

3. If I make a booking for a return trip to Peru, which say uses more than one airline (which can be from different FF programmes), do I have to collect the miles separately, or do all go to the air carrier which cover the longest route or what?

Thanks, and sorry for the hassle.

Definitely sign everyone up with their own account. If they are flying, they need to be earning something! No, it won't go into the same basket, but you can use your miles to get a reward ticket for your kid (or any other way you want to work it)

Every person who FLIES receives their own miles. It doesn't matter who pays.

If the airlines are all in the same alliance, you should be able to book the ticket using your miles from 1 program.
(this one I'm sure someone could expand on).

You collect miles for each segment (i.e. each different flight you board). So, if you are going from Helsinki to Lima via some other place(s) you would collect miles for each different flight. It is important to always keep your boarding passes (the little stubs that you keep when boarding) until after the miles post to your account. If for some reason the miles don't show up in a reasonable amount of time and you need to request credit they will ask you to provide your original boarding pass. So basically you get miles for each plane you get on. Does that make sense?

I suppose it is time for you to learn what people mean when they talk of BIS miles. With apologies, but it stands for "Butt In Seat". That is who gets the miles - the person flying.

I'd guess your infant will travel in somebody's arms for a while so won't actually be a ticket holder, but do be sure to get him/her signed up before the first real paid-ticket actual-seat flight.

Lots of us wish there was a family or group number under which miles could accumulate, but so far the airlines haven't seen it that way. No "baskets".

One person - one account - one batch of miles. On the other hand, you can use your batch of miles to buy a ticket for anybody else.

When you buy three tickets, there are three separate places to enter the frequent flyer numbers. One for each person.

After you think you know which program or programs you want to sign up for, you might go into those individual airline areas here and test your assumptions and understandings. "Airline Programs". People in the United area really understand United rules, ... etc.

Because my area is so dominated by Delta, I'm really only reasonably well versed in Delta rules. For the record, I learned the hard way about the fact that I only got 50% miles for my Delta account from a Continental flight. A flight from MSP to Dublin. Missed lots of miles. I argued/whined a while, but it really was so stated on the itty-bitty print deep on Delta's web site.

Romelle

I am most curious: How did you manage to get any Delta miles for a Continental flight? They are not in the same alliance.

Thanks.

This was back when Continental was part of Skyteam. Sort of.

Romelle