Based Out of Indianapolis: Best Frequent Flyer Program?
 

Hi all,

I am very new to this forum and have been having a blast lurking and reading the various threads. I actually would like some advice.

First off, and correct me if I am wrong, I understand that if I am looking to qualify for a frequent flyer program's elite or preferred status, the time period is Jan 1-Dec 31. Assuming so, I will be able to choose the potential airline with which to make a push in the coming year, as I will likely be traveling often enough to achieve some status or get a free flight or two.

Some core issues to keep in mind:
1) I am very new to the frequent flyer thing (i.e. benefits, restrictions, etc.)
2) I am based out of Indianapolis

I travel mostly to NYC and D.C. but also have the occasional mix of the southeast and west coast, etc. I have found that I often am choosing from 4 or so options for the cheapest available flights. They include:

1) Northwest
2) US Airways
3) Southwest/ATA
4) Airtran/Frontier

Now, because Northwest/USAir frequent flyer programs are more mileage based, I'd like to try to book those for longer itineraries, whereas since Southwest/Airtran are just segment based, I rather don't mind booking them for shorter itineraries (the catch is, Southwest/Airtran don't seem to fly nonstop or conveniently to my regular destinations (NYC/D.C.) so this method has proved difficult). Does my logic make sense?

Now, my question is, realizing that I've not laid out many parameters, what are the pros/cons of the various frequent flyer programs out there? What should I steer towards in the coming year? I will probably fly about 4 segments/month (2 round trips) on average, so I am somewhat of a light-mid level traveler.

Thanks for all the help, and if any clarification is needed, please let me know.

All the best!
Jared

I have to use IND as well. I believe NWA (Northwest) has some direct flights from there, not sure about Southwest, but other than that, you'll be connecting to hub cities. So I found it didn't matter which program I chose, because every one of them required connections to where I wanted to fly.

US Air and NWA use miles OR segments to qualify for elite status, so you could use them for both short and long flights. However, I think you should thoroughly read both airlines' forums and you will see that neither is very well liked right now, especially US.

I personally chose to go with United. From IND it's a 45 minute flight up to Chicago ORD and then I can get pretty much anywhere in the world from there. I also chose them b/c I'll be doing a lot of International travel and their System Wide Upgrades (SWUs) are a great benefit.

I hope this helps you out some.

Of the airlines you mentioned - I'd go with NWA. Top tier earns 125% bonus and IND is a focus city for NW. I wouldn't use AirTran or WN because of the lack of an internationl network, and US is garbage.

I'd go with NWA and if needed use CO.

Yep. NW as primary, CO as backup.

I'm an IND based flyer, too. I was (well, still am) Gold on US, but have moved to NW (and will make Plat after this trip). I'm much happier. NW does run non-stops to NYC and DC, so that's a plus (to be fair, US does this, too). For connections, DTW beats CLT easily - I don't count PHL since I had a "no PHL" rule when flying US (it really is that bad).

My reasons for avoiding United and AA are that ORD is such a mess in any type of bad weather, I'd rather avoid it.

Just my opinion,
jon

Welcome to FT, Yarhead. I suspect that you know this, but it bears repeating. Try to concentrate your miles/EQM on one airline. Since you are not a heavy traveler, you will get more bang for the buck that way.

I wouldn't say which airline specific,
But go with major airlines.(US,UA,CO,NW,DL)

If you tell us where you travel the most, it would be easier to reccomand one.

Welcome Yarhead, my fellow IND flyer.

If NYC and DC are your "primary" locations do you have a preferred airport in those cities? Personally I prefer DCA and LGA which makes NW very attractive and within Skyteam you also have CO going into EWR and DL going into JFK. You can connect to your southeast US destination via ATL with DL and also via MEM via NW. West destinations, it really depends on which locations you are going to as to which carrier is best but NW has som decent direct flights to LAX etc and I would think DL would have some decent connections via SLC. So, for purely domestic flying I actually like Skyteam for the primary destinations you mention as far as which carrier you would make your primary carrier for depositing your miles it would really depend on which one of those you think you would fly the most and get the most bang for your buck. One thing I dont like so much about Skyteam is that I always seem to have to pay a $50 or $75 fee to book and award but I guess that is because I dont book like 2 weeks out etc but I dont have that situation with UA my primary carrier but DL, NW and CO seem to have decent online booking engines for not only flights but awards which is nice. Also, if you are interested in racking up some miles then you may look at DL and connecting in CVG which is only like a 20 minute flight but gives you 500 miles and is a nice airport to connect in, IMO.

As far as Star Alliance. For domestic flying I would avoid UA like the plague. I have been 1k on United for about 7 years now and most of my flying has been to asia europe etc but lately I have been doing more segments and domestic ones and you will need to go though ORD with UA and unless you take the 6AM flight from IND-ORD you will be delayed and often sit on the ground due to air traffic in Chicago. People talk about weather in Chicago being the problem but I have sat on the ground in IND for 2+ hours on multiple occasions on perfect sunny days due to weather. I had to go to MCI for like 20 weeks straight and chose UA because of my status and it was very painful....really regretted not taking the NW direct after all was said and done. As far as US, they do a good job in IND. The agents are good and have years of experience. It was better at one time when they had a club etc but still they have some pretty good people at the US gates and counters. They have some good flights to DCA and LGA but LGA is all RJ's I think and the E145's at that which can be painful even for a relatively short flight. US is also pretty cheap to the southeast portion of the country and has some decent connections via CLT. You also have connection options on US via PHX to the west.

I dont know much about Airtran but I do like Frontier but if you primary destinations are NYC and WAS then you will be conecting through ATL most of the time and again if you want miles/segements that isnt a bad thing but just doesnt appeal to me personally.

I hate Southwest so I will leave it at that on that option. :p

So, personally....I would be either NW or US depending on exactly where I was flying and a sampling of fares and schedules to those destinations. For me, domestic flying absolutely sucks and I dont see how some of you guys do it. I am now a 100+ segment per year flyer but couldnt imagine doing 100 segements per year purely domestic.

I agree with this completely. NW has been great

Greetings from Southcentral Indiana.
Although my loyalty is to UA/Star Alliance (raised on the East Coast, and was in Chicago for 20+years), I agree with the other FT's, if Chicago delays are a problem. However, I also agree with frekwentflyer that UA's benefits for 1K members are superior to the other alliance.

NW has most flights out of there, so NW should be your best option

You need to think about what is most important to you:

Southwest may be best If you are looking for the best award availability domestically (and could do BWI instead of DCA/LGA) . For NYC you have to use ATA through MDW though, unless you can do ISP. Of course there are limited "elite" options - so if those are important then Southwest is probably not a good choice.

Northwest has a lot of scheduled service from IND to DCA and LGA and you at least have the potential of making an elite level depending on how much you travel. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck in booking award travel out of IND (to LAS or Florida locations) with NWA; YMMV.

Another consideration is who is paying for your travel. If you need to focus on who has the lowest fare on your most frequent routes that may restrict your options (probably to NWA or SWA). This is my major factor and since most of my travel is employer-funded, I have a lot of trouble concentrating on one airline out of IND resulting in orphan miles on Delta, Continental, United, AA, SWA, and Frontier.

If your travels take you to NYC and DC from IND, (And I know im going to get flack for saying this) but take US. The US operation out of IND is top notch (again, not saying much but..). US has a much bigger operation than NW from both LGA and DCA, which will enhance your options if you need a reroute. Plus of course, the star alliance beats the sky team 100 times out of 100. For these 1 hr flights, USairways is just as good as the next guy. It is also worth mentioning Northwest mainly uses the CRJs (which are absolutely awful) while USairways is starting to utilize E145's, 170's and 175's which are the best RJs on the market.

Just my two cents...

PS I cant believe im defsending USairway

Keep in mind that when the new terminal opens at IND next year there will be a NW Worldclub. To the best of my knowledge, that will be the only airline club at the airport, which would be a huge advantage to NW.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that many of th NW non-stops out of IND are heavily weighted toward regional jets. (For instance the 3x DCA-IND nonstops are all on regional jets). Generally speaking the routing rules usually allow a person to connect through DTW, though, and thus be able to fly on all mainline equipment.

As an aside (I used to be IND based, btw), make sure to at least try First Class Express on Schoolhouse road for parking. They used to be my favorite parking outfit and with the AAA discount they were pretty competitive and always quick.