Hi Garykung

Thanks -- I think you are right.

By the way, I was PPS for several years but did not find much real extra benefit over regular Gold except for access to the main SQ lounge in Singapore.

Please understand this - I am not saying *G is nothing. But simply *G means nothing to SQ.

I still encourage you, like other, to maintain as a *G, but with a different airlines (so you can get better benefits).

One more thing - since you did not say (except CX and SQ) which airlines you travel as well, so it is difficult to say what is the best choice in your case (CX is the choice because you have given CX and SQ as the choices only).

Hi Gary

Understood.

Which *G program do you think has the best benefits? [A different issue than easiest *G to achieve]

Thanks

Personally speaking, UA has the best benefits (Declaimer - I own UA's share).

Since you are Asian-based and seem to travel on SQ exclusively, I will suggest Asiana instead.

1. OZ has one of the lowest requirement for *G - 40K within 24 months. This also means OZ *G is valid for 2 years as well.

2. It has a lifetime program that count *A BIS miles.

3. It provides a small elite bonus for RDM (better than nothing).

4. Miles expiration after 12 years they are earned (SQ is 3 years. UA miles expires 18 months after no activity regardless when the miles are earned.)

The reason why UA is not for you because you do not seem to travel with UA. A lot of non-*G benefits are in fact airline specific. So given you travel on SQ, OZ may be a better choice.

*G, to SQ, means you are a second class citizen.
It does mean something to them.

Hi polarpacific,

since you stated that most if not all of your longhaul travel leads to europe/US and you are based in singapore I would go for CX since HKG is a very viable transit point. This probably also counts for all the travel to China because of the excellent destinations KA offers.

As people have already stated, A3*G is perfect if you only are going for the normal *G benefits like lounge access when traveling economy. Also miles on A3 dont expire, so you can dip a few miles every year and get your award threshold in years after that...
As for Asian carriers, your miles will expire which means that if you dip enough to SQ to reach gold and enough to CX to reach gold, you might not be able to make use of all the miles in the end...

Obviously then it comes to personal preference of travel, you have to ask yourself which airline you like better in terms of seats, service etc.

Another point: Your final destinations in Europe/US... If for example you travel to smaller cities in europe I'd go for *A in your longhaul travel since they offer better connections in europe.

Another point to consider is lounge access: CX SL gives you lounge access on CX and KA while most SQ silver wont (correct me if im wrong about SQ not giving access to silver tier).

So the obvious conclusion for me would be:
- go for CX GO/DM in the long term since it has a lot more to offer than SQ gold and its easier to reach than SQ PPS.
- go for A3 *G since status validity is LONG! (got status jan.2012 and valid until 2015). Your miles will be safe as long as the airline doesnt go bankrupt


PS: I forgot to mention that IMO other benefits like upgrades etc (when flying eco) are probably astronomically better with CX GO/DM than SQ GO. Even when I only was MPO green I received an opup to C.... Im pretty sure SQ GO might not be getting as many, although I shouldnt say anything since im not a SQ FT.

cheers.

Hi Gary

Thanks for the info about Asiana. I have been meaning to try them since they won some international awards the past few years. ... Would have been useful for SIN-YVR after SQ cancelled that route, but it doesn't seem that OZ has the ICN-YVR leg either.

I assume you are Singaporean.

In that case you can do SIN-ICN-SFO-YVR.

SIN-ICN-SFO can be operated by either SQ or OZ exclusively or mixed. And SFO-YVR can be UA or AC.

FWIW - OZ Lounge (I was in Business Lounge at that time) is generally better than SQ lounges IMHO (Private Room is the only exception).

Hi mxr

Thanks for the thoughtful insights.

You are right about upgrades --

In 100 flight sectors with SQ as PPS or Gold in a mix of F/J/Y over the past 6 years I cannot recall a single instance of a complimentary upgrade, although during those same years with 30 sectors on StarAlliance partner AC I did receive one a couple times.

Over at OneWorld, I had QF Gold for most of the same period and with 60 sectors on QF and 50 sectors on CX I was also pleasantly surprised to receive a few operational upgrades.

I agree with your point about the limited lounge access in the SQ program, especially in Singapore for the main Silverkris lounge. This is a key deficiency in the SQ program.

Regarding my in-flight experience between SQ and CX:

Entertainment -- CX better (especially for tv series but SQ also good for movies)
Food -- CX better (all classes)
Staff -- CX better (more genuine)
Seats -- SQ better (prefer width over length in J)
Colour -- CX better (prefer green over brown)

In terms of non-flight aspects:

Website -- CX better (new SQ web and mobile so troublesome)
Telephone -- CX better (staff more informed and efficient)


Altogether, I have decided to aim for CX Diamond and let SQ Gold fall back to Silver.

Hi Gary

Actually I am Canadian (though haven't lived there in 25 years). Have been based in Singapore the past 5 years.

I tend to go to YVR about twice per year for conferences and have tried a variety of paths/airlines --

SIN-HKG-YVR on CX and AC
SIN-PEK-YVR on AC
SIN-TPE-YVR on CI
SIN-ICN-YVR on SQ (discontinued)
SIN-LAX-YVR on SQ/AC

Not yet flown SIN-YVR via PVG or NRT

Had a bad experience last year with the SQ38 all-J flight SIN-LAX with connection to YVR. SFO is certainly a nicer and more efficient airport than LAX but I really prefer to have just 1 stop transpacific to YVR.

Anyway, will be focusing on CX over the coming year so will mainly do SIN-HKG-YVR.

Thanks

Even better - my concern is the need of visa.

As a Canadian, it will not be difficult for you to understand that why there are not many *A flights in Canada (especially Canada is a *A country) - the protection from the "Government". Only AC, CA, LH, NZ, UA, US (and BR - future member) have their presence in YVR.

If your travel is mostly with F and J, then of course 1 stop is good enough so that you can enjoy more. But if you are in Y, one more stop may not be a bad idea (as you can relax a little bit on the ground).

There is a thing I want to warn you about CX is recently AMEX has partnered with CX in certain countries to provide complimentary and "permanent" status to Platinum and Centurion cardholders. And Canada is one of those countries. Your DM may not as worth as you think.

In other word, stopping in the U.S. may not be a bad idea as you think.