My niece asked me for some advice and I was hoping for some help. (I started to try to research the answer on my own but was soon overwhelmed....)

She is going to be traveling frequently, on her own nickel, between Denmark (Billund or Copenhagen) and Boston. She is based in Denmark. Like all of us, she wants to maximize her ratio of travel travel to dollars. She currently has no miles to speak of.

Obviously, I told her to pick one carrier and a) remain loyal to them and b)maximize accrual of miles from alternative sources (eg credit cards). But since she is starting from scratch, the first question is "which carrier?" I looked at who flies BOS/CPH and the number of carriers was large; often the itineraries feature two carriers/code shares; and furthermore, there is the issue of the airline alliance programs to consider.

Does anyone have any advice on which programs she should consider? Is there some easy way to compare the programs? What features should we look for/avoid?

Thanks to all ! Happy Thanksgiving!

PS, the list of carriers that fly BOS/CPH (including codeshare) include BA, SAS, UA, AA, Lufthansa, Delta, Air France, Alitalia, Swissair, KLM, Northwest, and Icelandair.)

KLM is pretty good for earning points across the Atlantic. 3 return trips and she'll have enough points to make Silver where the earning level rises on points. 6 and she'll be Gold with better point earning and lounge access. 9 return trips brings Platinum with better points earning and other benefits.

6 return trips would earn her one free return flight or 3 one way upgrades. As Gold she'd need 3 return flights for a free one and as Platinum just under 3 .

They're also aligned with Northwest and Continetal in the States so internal flights will earn as well.

Not sure how this compares to the other Airlines but I'm sure someone will jump in.


Nigel

Agree about KLM. As soon as you make Gold or Platinum the program is really good because of the mileage bonus.

If she flies in paid F (not likely) the LH program is somewhat better.

Also it is typically easier to get free flights or upgrades on the program of the airline itself it is better to select the program of the airline she is actually going to use most frequently and not one of the partner airlines.

If she chooses KLM she will have almost unlimited award ticket opportunities in the USA (Northwest and continental - perhaps Delta soon w/ the pending alliance) and great choices (routings) to Honolulu and Asia.

Besides earning the points, one must consider what/where you can use them for awards.

Good luck!