Optimum combination of FF programs
 

Here's a challenge: what combination of FF programs will enable you to fly the widest range of airlines while still avoiding dispersing your miles too widely? The goal is to get as many miles as possible on as few programs as possible, while still being able to choose which airline to fly based on price.

The combination that I use:
Northwest
US Air
Continental
Delta

I also am members of United and American's FF programs, but have never actually found it necessary to fly them. The *vast* majority of my business goes to Northwest and US Air.

Continental is primarily useful because of its partner agreements with Frontier and America West. Northwest is great for a lot of reasons, but among others for its partnership with Sprint and Sprint PCS. US Air is a great airline that often has creative bonuses.

My set of six airlines would enable you to fly *almost* any other airline and still get FF miles. Anyone care to propose an alternative set of airlines? More/fewer?

As I always fly out of europe I currently use BA and BD, thus getting OW and *A

I am a member of the UA and AA FF programs primarily because they may prove useful for international travel at some point. But I like NW a lot, so I'd give priority to them.

Currently most of my travel points go to USAIR DIVIDENDS since I am a Preferred member and I enjoy getting the extra bonus. I find their service to be better than the rest of the other US carriers.

I am also member of AAdvantage, Continental One Pass, NW Worldperks, AF Frequence Plus. I have been doing some thinking lately and would concentrate on accruing miles through US DIVIDENDS, NW Worldperks and AF. My choice for US is obvious, I have the most miles with them and enjoy the Preferred status. Having CO and NW programs seem to be redundant since these two carriers have reciprocal agreements. I think NW has very creative marketing bonuses and provides unlimited upgrades to its Elite members, so that alone might be worth it (although the service has a lot of room for improvement). AF Frequence is the easiest program to attain top tier membership with just 25,000 to become AF Freq Blue and 40,000 AF Freq Rouge. Flying on any member of the SKYTEAM will earn you points and they pretty much cover the world. Besides, the amount of points needed to redeem awards might be very enticing at times. One time I couldn't believe it when AF offered a BUSINESS CLASS award from N. America to Europe for only 50,000 miles or something in that neighborhood. Personally I have always enjoyed flying AF and I think that their crew is polite and very professional, not to mention one of the the best looking.

I completely agree about US Air. Their service is better than any other airline that I have flown. I hope they don't get bought by UA.

As for CO/NW, I was tempted to conclude that membership in both programs would be redundant, but for the partners! Often America West and Frontier have the best deals for transcontinental travel, but who wants to be a member of their FF programs? Since CO (and only CO) partners with them, it does make sense to belong to the CO program.

On the other hand, belonging to the NW program makes sense because you can accumulate so many bonus miles with them...

Obviously you guys haven't looked at the bonuses we've been getting on the CO board..I just got 86k on one round trip EWR-AMS...with some members reportedly getting 200K on a RT EWR-HKG....it's been a plethera of bonuses since late last year >>I myself have put over 400K in my account since mid December..and you can qualify with segments on CO...but not NW.

Obviously you guys haven't looked at the bonuses we've been getting on the CO board..I just got 86k on one round trip EWR-AMS...with some members reportedly getting 200K on a RT EWR-HKG....it's been a plethera of bonuses since late last year >>I myself have put over 400K in my account since mid December..and you can qualify with segments on CO...but not NW. CO now has Midway too...another option!

Actually, I have looked on that board and have booked a flight on 5/11 returning 5/15 because of those bonuses. But almost all of those bonuses run out on 5/15. Other than the Frontier/America West partnerships, what is the point of being in CO FF program after those bonuses expire?

Midway is partnering with both NW and CO, so that's not a reason to prefer CO.

FYI...there are 2 AMEX bonuses that continue after 5/15..they go all the way until 6/30...they are both DOUBLE miles...is that not a good reason?

Here is how I work it;
Airlines
AS Miles go to AA
AA Primary Carrier
DL Last Resort
NW Tertiary Carrier
TWA Last Resort, but merging to AA http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
UA Secondary Carrier

Hotel Programs
HH Double Dip http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Hyatt Keep at Hotel Points
Marriott Roll into AA as Miles
SPG Keep as Hotel Points
WCH Roll into AA as Miles

Car Programs
Hertz Keep as car points (only b/c of the small numbers)

The AS frequent flyer mile program and the United (*star) or AA (O/W).

Both AA and UA will offer th rougly the same fares and rougly the same routings/choices on their networks and alliance partners. UA might be a better choice since you can earn AS miles on AA and BA and LA but this is more of a personal choice.

By keeping it down to two programs, you maximize the number of miles earned and still have a fairly wide choice of routes and fares.

The only airline that is not fully represented here would be Delta and the sky team alliance--no big loss.

Each person's situation is different ...depending on where they reside(for hub reasons)..how much of their travel is 1) Hotel stays and 2) Air miles ...some are weighted more heavily on one side than the other thus; the need to dump points onto the lighter side. For me:

Living within hub distance of PHL(US) or EWR(CO)..I chose CO as it's closer to my office. I fly around 100K per year and about 75% of it is domestic.
CO-Primary
NW- Goes in my CO account
HP-Also goes in my CO account
DL- Very rarely...almost always get one of the first 3 with CO being about 80%

Hotels: I get somewhere around 200 nights per year in hotels.
Hilton- Double Dip and HUGE bonuses right now...keep as Hilton points ..but always have option to transfer them out at a bad rate.
Marriott- Used to be my #1 program 200K award was untouchable...they've ruined that! Keep as Marriott points.
Starwood-Good program but not enough properties for me..I stay with them when I get the chance..and during the promos.. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif Definitely keep as Starpoints.

Car Rental...I get around 200 rental days per year.
Avis- at 50 points per day..Starwood account gets my points here..and 2 or 3 promos per year with double points doesn't hurt. The key for me is that the points are PER DAY...my rentals are usually for the week and 500 miles or so for the week just doesn't cut it..I would rather have 250 Starpoints...my Avis rentals alone get me 3-4 free nights at the 4k level per year..not bad!

Oh yeah...and AMEX points always into an airline account ...usually my CO account too...bad exchange rates on hotels...but here is where some people dump points into the hotel programs due to the fact that they get enough air miles but stays aren't long enough to mount heavy hotel points.
Just my 3 cents http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

One of the bonuses you are referring to must be GGAMEX BLM1, but I'm not sure what the other one is. My AMEX is the Delta Skymiles card (those 10,000 miles suckered me in...despite living near ATL I fly NW and US mostly and avoid Delta) so I don't think I can get this bonus. Or can I?

What's the other bonus you mean? I am flying CO in early June with no bonuses except online booking... I'd love to add some other bonuses to that trip. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

GGONE CHWR runs until 6/30...DOUBLE MILES...and the Blue card bonus BLM1...make sure you sign up for both...even though you may not use the blue card...some folks are reporting that they've gotten the bonus anyway (including me http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif). Is that now enough for you to prefer CO...or you want to debate more? Earlier you stated that NW has SO MANY bonus opportunities...they couldn't even carry CO's jock strap as far as bonuses go in the last 6 months...at one point we were earning 7-10 times the amount of miles flown...now with those two bonuses you still earn over 4X the miles flown with your status miles (PLAT=125%). GO over to the CO board and read the thread titled "NEW GGONE BONUS SUMMARY" by Vulcan..and you will get the picture. His original thread was so popular ..we had to start a new one.



[This message has been edited by IM4Travel (edited 04-29-2001).]

Thanks for the info. If the bonuses on CO continue the way they have been, I'd agree that they are vastly better than the NW bonuses. But I get a feeling the gravy is coming to an end... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Another point that I forgot to make was that most of the NW equipment is older than me...and I'm 35...c'mon with the DC 9's...they're tired!! Real tired!! NW has the oldest fleet in the industry amongst the big players in the US...CO has the YOUNGEST!!!

Indeed NW has one of the oldest fleet. I believe they are one of the two US carriers still flying DC10's to international destinations (CO is the other one, though they have 777's and 767's). I will avoid DC-9's like the plague and will agree that their food service is deplorable.

However, I find that their partnership with KLM is one of the strongest features in Worldperks and would redeem my awards by flying internationally on KL, ALITALIA and MALAYSIAN. As for domestic routes, they partner with MIDWEST EXPRESS and ALASKA, two excellent choices in my opinion.

Continental may be great for bonus miles through AX and such but that is a whole different topic. The question is what program(s) are the best to concentrate mileage on. AS has many more partners than CO does. AS works as the best catch all program that your primary (UA or AA) does not.

Delta is the weakest link becuase of how restrictive its program is.

I collect all my miles in AS precisely because of all their earning and redeeming partners. I fly AS or more often nowadays NW or AA and get straight flight miles, a 100% elite bonus and as often as possible, a 50% class of service bonus. If forced, I'll use CO, but only get flight miles and they aren't Q miles, so avoid them when I can. This covers most of my trips with the occasional UA, USA, and TWA flight when I have no alternative. My AS miles rack up very rapidly with the minimum double miles for every trip on AS, NW, and AA.

Well...we don't get much (any) chance to fly AS around these parts. Can I fly CO and put the miles in an AS account....do PLATS get 125% bonus and what are requirements for elite?

Well...we don't get much (any) chance to fly AS around these parts. Can I fly CO and put the miles in an AS account....do PLATS get 125% bonus and unlimited upgrades on CO?? what are requirements for elite?

You do not have to fly AS to be a member, and you can earn AS miles flying any of its partners. Alaska has one of the most generous award schedules out there.

Airlines: With AA and UA, you can pretty much reach any major destination in the world. United has recently lost my business - likely permanently - but I don't have any problems with the rest of *A. AA is a great airline for those who spend a lot of time in coach.

Hotels: Marriott and Hilton will give you the best coverage in terms of a wide variety of hotels in all service levels (at least in the USA). Hyatt and Starwood are good programs too, but they focus mainly on the big-city hotels.

Car: Hertz and Budget are the only two companies I've found that give you any real rewards (50 FF miles doesn't get me excited). Hertz earns you free rentals at a rate of about 19 cents on the dollar, provided you redeem for free days and take triple points as your promotion code. Budget earns you free rentals or free merchandise at a rate of about 15 cents on the dollar, provided you book/redeem directly through them (and not another travel site). In terms of coverage around the world, having Hertz, National, and Budget memberships is sufficient.

Charge/credit Cards: Diner's Club, Skymiles Amex, AA World Mastercard. By Sept. 2001, I will have earned approximately 77,000 Skymiles for around $16k in card spending and an $85 fee, thanks to signup bonuses. I probably won't keep the card long-term because I don't like too many annual fees and the customer service is simply at-level with other free Amex products (i.e., Golf card, etc.). I recently added the AA World MC for $50 and a 10,000 mile bonus. If the customer service at the World MC level justifies the $50/year, I may keep this one long-term.

I took a look at the reward schedule of AS and it didn't really impress me. It's certainly no better than NW or CO. I don't see how it could make sense to belong to the AS FF program unless you actually fly AS (you wouldn't get the generous bonuses NW and CO FTs have been getting lately).

Idomoneus: The question posed on this thread is for the best combination of FF programs that allow you to maximize miles into the fewest accounts and still be able to choose the widest range of flights and prices.

I agree that if you want the best bonus offers you should stick with CO but that was not the question. Bonus offers come and go but I will still stand by my original premise that the best combination for concentrating miles is AS and either UA or AA.

Show me another combination of two programs that gives you a greater mileage earning opportunity through flying--I do not think it can be done.

If you want to discuss the best bonus earning mileage programs then that should be posted in a new forum.

Here's what I do:

Accumulate all flight miles in AS. I fly AS as much as possible but since I'm in Chicago that only means the occasional trip to or from ANC to see my mom and dad, friends, etc.

For all non AS travel, my first choice is NW. I get the I get the % bonus for being an elite member of AS's Mileage Plan, status miles, pre-boarding, preffered seating and the occasional upgrade from their NW/AS relationship.

The first class bonus includes another 50% bonus, the nice thing about Alaska's program is that the 50% first class bonus applies towards elite status.

I also book my business related NWA travel through their eBiz perks system, thay way I get two points for every dollar spent towards flights.

Example redemption levels include:

Drink Coupons (5)
300

WorldClubs Pass - One Visit
400

Confirmed Upgrade One Way - Domestic, Any Fare
1,800

WorldClubs Membership - One year
4,200

Complimentary Ticket - Domestic, Coach Class
7,500

Confirmed Upgrade One Way - Europe, Full Fare
9,000

Complimentary Ticket - Domestic, First Class
10,000

Complimentary Ticket - Europe, Coach Class
10,000

Silver Elite WorldPerks Membership
12,500

Complimentary Ticket - Asia, Coach Class
15,000

Complimentary Ticket - Asia, or Europe, World Business Class
30,000

If NWA is too expensive, I can fly AA and get MRTC as well as the appropriate bonuses, minus the availablity to upgrade, preboarding, etc.

I accumulate bonus mileage in my WorldPerks account through car rentals, hotel stays, etc. so I can upgrade if I don't have a cert.

-Robert

Continental may be offering bonus mileage, but how easy is it to REDEEM the miles? I know that using AS miles to travel CO is difficult at best and nearly impossible if you want First Class.

I've never had a problem redeeming anything with CO...I've been flying and earning with them for years...infact just the other day..there was a small survey on percentages of seats reserved for awards by the different airlines and CO came in second with 7.6% only behing AA.

Here is my list...

Airlines
AA ( Most balanced program )
C0 ( Best earning bonuses )

Hotels
Hilton ( Keep It Straight & Simple )

RWINN:

What are your thoughts on EBIZ Perks? Do points post promptly and properly? Any problems?

I've had a few problems, sometimes it can take awhile. Sometimes points post as the segments are completed, but it seems like things get kind of sticky if there are changes to flights. I had some flights in early April that have not posted, I had flights from last week that posted the days after I took the flights.

I'm going to wait a little bit longer before I contact NWA about my missing points.

-Robert