Hello everyone.

I am thinking of joining frequent flyer program or reward program. But can’t seem to decide what I should do in my situation.

Please, help me with the decision!!!

Here is my situation.

I and my wife fly at least ones a year when we take vacation. At the most we may fly 2, very rear 3 times a year. One flight is usually international – Europe, Caribbean, Mexico. Other flights are local.

I am looking at United and American AA frequent flyer programs and also at American Express rewards program which allows getting hotel stays, car rental and other merchandise. It also allows converting points into miles. But I read that when I do that American Express charges extra point for that. Is it true?

I am also looking at cash back programs, like True earnings from American Express and Costco.

I will really appreciate all the input from you guys.

Thank a lot.

First, welcome to FT! I will say that when I first joined I thought that I would fly only once or twice a year, but now I must (at least I think I must) be an elite -- all thanks to FT. So, you might end up like me. Anyway.

The answer, I think (I won't say IMO because for a newbie it is VERY confusing), depends on where you live. I have heard that it is easier to get reward tickets on AA than UA, but don't quote me on that. If you are making your decision on price alone, Northwest might be good because they are usually fairly cheap compared to other airlines. Northwest might also be good because you can earn miles in your NW account when flying on Delta or Continental. I, as well as many other people, stress NOT to join Onepass.

As for AA, they do have a good FF program. In fact, Consumer Reports just rated AAdvantage as being the best FF program. You say that you will fly to the Caribbean and Mexico. AA has the best presence in both areas, as well as in Europe.

I personally enjoy UA because they have economy plus (more legroom at a cheap economy price), somewhat wider seats in economy, and channel 9 (where you can listen to air traffic control). On UA you can earn miles while flying on US Airways, and you can earn miles while flying on Lufthansa.

Almost all airlines now have a credit card option where you can earn miles, and even some have the ability to earn elite qualification miles with a certain amount of money spent.

Again, the best answer might depend on where you live, but I hope I helped.

thank you for reply.
It seems that place of residence play an important role for choosing the program.
Sorry, did not thing about this. I live in south California

thanks

aa can get you to the carribean & to mexico & europe....i do suggest that you look at aa & ua's partners, both for earning & redeeming mi's...i am not really familar w/ua, only fly them 2 or 3 times a year...put your wish list together & match it w/ both airlines and their partners, it might help in your decision...also spend a lot of time following them in these forums...good luck!

You may find the How to Begin section of my website below to be of interest.

thanks pgary

Actually I am reading your web site right now. Very informative. A lot of information. Will take me a few days to finish it, especially with all the links to the good articles that you reference

Any thoughts on American express reward card any one?

I recommend you visit the AA/UA fora. A little bit of searching and some time spent reading the stickies will give you a lot of insight into both airlines.

One of the AAdvantages (pun intended) of AA is their undocumented elite status "challenges". You and your wife can earn gold or platinum status with just one trip to Europe. Then you start earning bonus miles with your flights and have access to first class check-in. There's a sticky at the top of the AA forum that explains this in detail.

Won't the OP have to earn elite status with UA before having access to economy plus?

I used to primarily use UA with AA in secondary, but I've switched that since I've found out booking award travel with AA seems to be MUCH easier than with UA...

It doesn't cost anything to sign up for FF programs, so go ahead and sign up for both AA and UA. The AMEX starpoints card allows for transfer to about 20 different airline programs, and gives a 5K bonus when you transfer 20K. I just found out, however on another thread, that you get 1:1 when you transfer to AA, but only 1:2 when transferring to UA. I vote for AA. In fact I am flying to San Diego on Friday from Chicago. I think AA has less expensive net-saaver fares and is pretty good to/from Southern California.

Bolding above is mine. Could you please clarify? I thought that card gave a 5K bonus for each 20K transferred.

Sorry for the typo. You are right. You get the 5K bonus when you transfer 20K.

[QUOTE=dgordon]It doesn't cost anything to sign up for FF programs, so go ahead and sign up for both AA and UA.


Can you clarify for me this, please? Isn’t sign up mean getting one of theirs AA or UA credit cards which run around $60 a year membership fee?
If that the case then what do you mean by : “It doesn't cost anything to sign up for FF programs”

Excuse me for my ignorance in this matter.

Thanks

You do not need an affinity credit card in order to belong to a frequent flyer program. Many people do not have credit cards, but get miles for flying the airline. Just go to aa.com, and united.com and sign up. You will then be members of their frequent flyer programs and get miles for flying their airline. If you then apply for a credit card, you would put in you exisitng ff# to be attached to that credit card. It does not cost anything to belong.

i see now.

thank you very much