Hi,

I am new to this forum and also just recently moved to NY from LA so I will be traveling back and forth more often now. I would say at least 4 times a year. Which airline FF program should I take advantage of? Also, which airline would give me the most mileage and elite status the quickest? Thanks for all your help.

welcome to this board jfanman

please give some more informations:
* do you have some miles (and status miles) in any program yet?
* will you fly paid eco, business or first?
* what do you want to do with the miles? upgrades, free flights (international?)?
* which US airports in New York ar the nearest, easiest for you (JFK, LGA, EWR)?
* any international flights planned in the next years? importance of your airline being a member of a (worldwide) alliance for cashing in miles?
* what elite perks are of what importance to you (upgrades?, lounge access?, check-in-speed?, first to board?, bonus (=more) miles?)
*

You might want to search some of the other forums regarding which is best. There have been some good discussions about pros/cons.

Welcome to FT

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

Here's a good primer on choosing FF programs.

Unfortunately, there is no one "best" program. What's best for you may not be best for someone else. Considering what you want to use your awards for can help narrow your choices. For example, if you only want to redeem for Hawaii, make sure you airline has plenty of flights there.

Also consider the recent codeshare agreements that Delta and US Airways have proposed.

Let's see.. you're moving from New York to LA, you'll be flying back and forth, you want elite status quick.. and you want to know which airline to choose.

I can't really answer your question without knowing a little bit more, but I'll give it a quick stab.

You get plenty of transcon service from United (Newark and JFK --> LA).

You get plenty of transcon service from Continental (Neward --> LA).

For that matter, you can fly JFK --> LGB on JetBlue but since you want elite status you're probably not going to be looking at JetBlue.

American and Delta also offer transcon service.

If you want elite status quickly, your best bets are probably American (because they offer an elite challenge that lets you fly alot of miles in a short time to earn your status) and Continental (which is offering elite status).

How much are you going to be flying? If you want to upgrade your transcons on Continental, and you fly at peak times, you're likely going to have to be a platinum (=> 75k miles/yr). That's because EWR is a CO hub.

That said, their domestic upgrade policy is nice (free). United and American only give limited free domestic upgrades (you can pay for the rest). Delta has nice upgrade policies as long as you aren't paying the lowest fares (which are ineligible for upgrade no matter what).

Personally, I like the service aboard UA's transcons the best (in C or F). That's just me.

As for the accumulation of miles, remember that all American miles count towards lifetime elite status (so you get lifetime gold with 1 million miles of any kind, including credit card miles, transfers in from other programs, etc.). United, Delta, and Continental do not offer that.

Another thing to consider is that if you pick United, you will likely also be able to earn miles and use elite status on USAirways (lots of flights out of LGA, including the DC/Boston shuttle).

Similarly, if you pick CO you can fly NW and eventually DL as well (similar if you pick DL you may be able to fly NW and CO). DL has a large route network up and down the East Coast (just as US does).

If you travel internationally at all, you might consider the airline alliances. United belongs to Star Alliance, so you can redeem your points to almost anywhere, and get almost anywhere while earning points.

American's alliance w/ BA and QF is nice, too.

No question that SkyTeam (DL/Air France/etc) will be bolstered by CO, NW, and KLM.

It all comes down to..
* what fares do you pay?
* what other destinations?
* how important are upgrades?
* what award destinations are you looking for?
and many other factors that make up an individual's choice of program...

I do NYC-So.Cal a few times a year.

If going to LAX, United out of JFK is the best service in coach. Nice big 767's and usually some empty seats to strech out in.

If going to SNA CO's EWR-SNA service is the only nonstop out of the area and the service is not too bad. The drawback is your on a 737

Any other EWR-LAX service is on a 757, or 737
and if not in FC should be avoided.

I have had decent luck getting status upgrades even as a silver on CO into LAX & SNA , but it is a dice roll.

Off topic, but I can't understand why CO has not got any compitition on the NYC-SNA route.

Both AA and JetBlue offer JFK-LGB. My guess is that there probably isn't enough of a market for SNA-NYC since fares out of LGB are dirt-cheap on both airlines. AA even gives double miles for now although it is on a 757. Another thing to consider is departures out of SNA shut down at 10 (arrivals at 10:30), which is still somewhat early for red-eyes. Of course an airlines does not have to offer a red-eye, but my guess is that is one of the reasons. In 2003, the limit of flights in SNA will be raised by 8 additional flights and maybe someone will jump in then. They should simply make it an international airport and SNA-MEX flights will be full. AS tried SNA-YVR for about a month, but now that flight goes via SEA.

Actually, the only miles I have is with America West and it's currently at about 11,000 miles. Since I'm a student, I'll be flying economy class 100% of the time. I'm hoping that I can get some free award travel domestically. International would be nice but not required since I don't see myself doing much international traveling. Since I'm in Westchester County, the closest airports near me would be JFK, LGA, or HPN. I'm mostly looking for elite status for the free upgrade perks that I'll receive. Any tips or advice would help. Like I said before, I'm really just starting out as a flyer.

If you are on a budget but still hoping to cash in on miles, I would fly AA from JFK-LGB. AA matches JetBlue fares on that route and currently also has a mileage promotion. If you buy 3-4 weeks in advance, you can get a roundtrip for about $250 which is extremelly good for a transcon. AA has a few routes to Europe and has great coverage in South America and of course the US (except north-west). AA does lack in Asia though (only flies to Japan). If Long Beach is a convenient airport for you in the LA area, I would stick to AA. I haven't found DL, CO or UA matching AA or B6 fares. B6 just started their FF program so I would not advise to go with them.

Great! Thanks for the advice. I have found that AA has very good rates on JFK-LGB so I think I will use them from now on. So now that I have chosen an airline to stick with, what are some strategies to maximize my FF mileage earning potential? Are there any promotions or credit cards I should use or apply for? I currently have an AE Blue card, Citibank Dividends MC, and Discover Card.

In order to maximize your miles earning potential on AA (if you are going to stick with them), I would get the Starwood American Express card. It lets you earn 1.25 miles per $ spent and only has a $30 annual fee (which is waived the first year), which is much better than the Citibank AA cards. The SPG points can be converted to miles on most major airlines (not just AA), so you have the flexibility. Go to http://www66.americanexpress.com/car...8164636790/0/n and you can get a 10K points sign-up bonus. I would also sign up with the AA Idine program which earns you miles while you eat out. Theres plenty of Idine restaurants in NYC and LA. I would sign up for the JFK-LGB double miles promotion on AA.com. These are the simplest ways without having to open additional accounts/getting mortagages. Also sign-up for the Gold & Platinum challenges (probably just before your next flight), so that you get status almost immediately and start to earn the elite bonus points. And of course I would monitor the AA board in this forum for additional mileage earning tid-bits.

[This message has been edited by zakami (edited 08-26-2002).]

As others have said, it's a complex question that needs more information from you.

If you fly 5 times per year, you will barely make silver elite level. If you don't make it, the upgrade issue isn't important.

Do you have a favor airline. Some love AA, some hAAte it. Ditto the other airlines.

If you don't mind connections or if you are flying from LaGuardia, US Airways has a 20,ooo domestic award versus the others' 25K. Delta doesn't require a Saturday night stay for domestic awards. Jet Blue might have the lowest fares. Many forget about Midwest Express which has extra wide seating. Delta doesn't allow upgrades on cheap tickets.

Alaska Airlines ff plan isn't any good for those wanting upgrades or for those with high elite status. However, you can get miles from American, Continental, Northwest, KLM, British Airways, etc.

Actually JetBlue JFK-LGB is only in the last two years.

The only non-stop SNA-NYC service I am aware of was AW SNA-JFK in the early nineties, TW the same route once a day in the late nineties and CO EWR-SNA. I first started flying the route in '95 and CO sent an always packed 757 r/t daily. The service was expanded over time to 4 737-800's a day, now down to 3 daily.

UA for years had LGA-ORD-SNA and back that was very good and always packed especially (sp?) the ORD-SNA leg. Now thats gone too. I think AA flew LGA-DFW-SNA as well but I never took it.

The kicker to the whole story is until this year the fare into SNA was always higher than LAX.

Just a mystery to me.