Dear all:

I'm brand new to FT (though I'm something of a regular on rec.travel.air), but I've done a bit of reading through old threads and messages (well, more than a bit...). A wealth of information--overwhelming.

Anyhow, I'm in a bit of a quandary re. choosing the right FF program, and thought I'd ask for advice as I can't see any old threads that deal with my situation. I've moved around quite a bit the last few years, and picked up miles on all sorts of programs.

I'm a frequent-ish flier, probably about 35-40,000 miles per year, with the possibility that might go up in the next year or so. So enough to be lower tier elite and probably not enough to be mid-tier elite on any FF programme. Right now I'm silver elite on CO (and have been for a couple of years), have been elite on KL (when I lived near ABZ), but will probably be elite with UA next year (2,000 short right now). I also have a bunch of miles with US, AA, and BA. I've just joined QF's programme, ahead of a OneWorld trip to NZ and Chile/Argentina this Xmas. So I'm all spread out, but want a programme I can be consistently elite on, to get the elite bonuses...

(CO's silver elite bonus of 50% extra is good, of course.)

I'm based in MAN (though flights from LON don't phase me). I generally fly to the US, Latin America, and NZ. Hence CO's less and less use to me as they seem to have scaled back in Latin America, and as they don't fly to Australasia. UA's good for Australasia, but not good for Latin America. BA/AA never give me miles for the rock-bottom fares I normally travel on. (Hence the switch to QF with their new rules on UK residents earning on such fares.) I'm not so sure about other airlines/alliances.

I don't use miles to upgrade; I use them for flights. I find the best use for miles is for flights to Latin America (here CO's great--when they flew to Santiago, that was only 35,000 miles from the continental US), and not much use for flights to Australasia. However, I've also used them for flights to the US.

I guess I'm basically thinking that the three most obvious programs are UA, CO, and QF, but I could be wrong...

Anyone got any advice? And apologies for waffling on.

Jon

Hi there,
As a UK resident I had a similar issue a few years ago. In the end I went with UA, mainly because they offered miles on even the discounted tickets. My advice, and the reasoning is:

Focus on UA and QF.

As you like to get free flights rather than upgrades, UA has worked really well for me. A round trip LHR - SFO gets (approx) 10,000 base miles and with the Prem. Exec. bonus, it comes to a total of 20,000 miles. This is the amount needed for a roundtrip almost anywhere in Europe on either Lufthansa or Austrian. I think that Thai offer Australian and/or NZ awards for about 100,000 miles.

As you have stuff booked on OneWorld, go for the QF. I stopped flying BA & AA as they wouldn't give miles on the deeply discounted tickets I normally buy.

Hope this limited info is of some help,
Jason

Thanks apx068. Concentrating on UA, then QF and CO (in that order) sounds like a good idea. The advantage of UA will also be the fact that my wife will be a UA elite next year.

But are you sure that UA gives miles on deep-discounted tickets? A travel agent told me otherwise earlier this year, just as I was about to buy a UA ticket (I think in H class). So I went with CO instead. (I'm off on Wednesday.)

As a result, I just need a quick mileage run to get the 3,000 miles I need for elite myself next year...

Jon

United continues to give mileage on deeply discounted tickets, other than the category of "consolidator" tickets. This even includes its weekly advertised e-fares. In this, United is following the norm for U.S. airlines. I believe that Northwest is the only major U.S. airline which has attempted to stop giving miles on its weekly advertised e-fares; fortunately, other airlines have not decided to follow suit. I understand that many non-U.S. carriers no longer give miles, or only give miles at a discounted rate (e.g., 50%) for heavily discounted tickets, even the ones purchased directly from them (and not consolidator tickets).

How can I tell what is a "consolidator" ticket? Is this a fare class?

Jon

Consolidator tickets are tickets normally issued through either "bucket shops" (listed in the travel sections of Sunday newspapers), or through selected travel agencies. I don't know what the fare code is on the ticket, but it's readily apparent that they are issued from consolidators. Also the few times that I've flown them, the price on the receipt was $0 plus taxes. I believe Priceline.com and Skyauction.com tickets are also considered consolidator purchases.

I'm not an expert on this--maybe someone can elaborate.

I'd like to clarify the point earlier in this thread about preferring UA to AA/BA because AA/BA don't give miles on discounted economy.....

Actually, BA is the one that is tough with this, AA has always given miles on discounted economy, even on Web fares....

It is for this reason that I am AA PLT and not BA Silver/Gold....as I put my business on AA through Miami rather than the direct flight from Cayman to LGW (no way I am paying for a B/Y fare on my own or the firms money!)

jbmurray - I would definitely recommend a Star Alliance (*A) airline, like United (UA). You can use British Midland right from MAN, and UA has very decent coverage in the States. *A also has great coverage to South America between Mexicana and Varig.

One added perk: as a European-based Premier Executive on UA you get complimentary Red Carpet Club membership.

------------------
"What do you mean you didn't get miles for that?!"

I wonder if you've been to the UA web site and joined Perks Plus?

This is a revenue based scheme - if you or your company spend 10,000 GBP per annum then you can register and earn points.

1 point per 1,000GBP. 4 points and you promote yourself to Prem Exec.

Any practical questions, please feel free to email me.

Sadly, no. This isn't the case for AAdvantage members resident in the UK (or, strangely, Japan). See the Aadvantage website. The only economy fares that earn miles are B, Y.

Jon

[edited to get rid of useless url]

[This message has been edited by jbmurray (edited 09-03-2001).]

Jon,

I believe TomCayman was talking about discounted flights on AA not on BA. AFAIK, all published fares on AA qualify for AAdvantage miles.

Hi there,
I've also been told by a travel agent that the really discounted fares on UA don't earn miles. However, this really isn't what I've found in practice. I always book the cheapest consolidator tickets from places like www.airnet.co.uk and have never failed to get full milage credit.

Perhaps one day the rules will change but for now it's why I stick with UA.

Jason

Welcome to FT

Never had a problem with UA consolidator fares. We usually book through USAirtours or Trailfinders. USAirtours is consistantly cheap and I've yet to have a problem with availability with them - highly recommended. We always get the miles.

UAL's free flights to the US used to be 40,000, they're now 50,000 but that's still abargain if you're earning 20,000 per return (300GBp jan-apr) flight. Spend 50,000 on a flight to Hawaii in Jul.Aug and you save a fortune (need to book in advance though)

Also you'll find *A useful for lounge access anywhere. CO will be a tad limiting and OW is a pain to earn miles/status on.

Thanks to you and to others for reassuring me about UA consolidator tickets. I think the agent I referred to was Trailfinders--though it may have been Travelbag. Anyhow, in the UK at least I find it increasingly difficult to distinguish between consolidators and other agents, as the consolidator business is so legit, and so much used.

(A quick plug for roundtheworldtrips.com, with whom I just booked a RTW flight to Australasia and the Southern Cone--very efficient, helpful, and knowledgeable compared to the various other agents I tried. No, I have no connection with any of them.)

I had doubted the (Travelbag/Trailfinders?) agent about UA consolidator fares, as earlier this year I got miles on a UA/LH ticket booked through Usit (Campus Travel in the US), i.e. at a student rate.

Looking through FlyerTalk, I've noticed that several people have put together comparison charts for the different programmes--*A and oneworld, for instance--regarding their elite levels. However, someone someday should put together some kind of spreadsheet about the different rewards available on the various FF programmes.

For instance, yes, UA is expensive to get to the States, but, for instance, on mileage plus to get from the US to New Zealand is only 60,000 miles--a bargain! If you get a cheap flight to NYC and from there a reward ticket to NZ, that's just excellent value.

Likewise, mileage plus regards Venezuela as part of Central America, and only "charges" 50,000 miles for a flight from Europe--another bargain!

On the other hand, if you want to get to Peru, CO is the bargain...

Someone out there (if you haven't already done it), do us all the service of comparing such rewards across the major programmes...

Jon