I am working for a company in India and I will be flying round trip from the U.S. to India on a monthly basis.

I am trying to figure out whom to try and accumulate miles with. Currently I have around 30,000 miles with Delta and a few with United.

I believe that the majority of my flights will be with either Continental or Delta. Unfortunately I don�t know that for sure.

I know that I can get Delta miles when flying with Continental and think that I will go that route but I figured I�d see if I�d be better off to go another route.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Thanks

Welcome to FT!

Which city are you flying from and to which city in India?

... and, does your company's travel policy specify a particular airline (s) ?

Which city/cities in US and India?

Also, 30K miles is not a lot compared to what you'll be earning now, so feel free to start over in a program that makes most sense for your new travel pattern.

Sorry, I should have added a little more information:

Most of my trips will be between Denver, CO and Mumbai, India. I do plan on taking a few side trips here and there but it will be Denver to Mumbai.

My company does not specify any particular airline. I do have some say in which I would prefer to fly with, but they usually go with whoever has the best price. From what I have seen I have a feeling that most of my flights will be with either Delta or Continental.

I guess I am trying to decide if I want to hassle with trying to accumulate miles with just one company or if it would be worth it to earn miles on both airlines.

Thanks again.

It doesn't matter whether you fly DL or CO. You can accumulate mileage in one program because they are both members of the "SkyTeam" alliance. You should consider what you plan to do with the accumulated miles and pick the alliance partners that would be best to achieve your goal, which would include the airline(s) that you would probably use the most anyway. This would be the airline in which you try to steer your mileage. For a DEN based frequent flyer, why not consider the "Star" alliance which would include UA, US and Lufthansa, which would also get you to BOM going east. If you prefer to go west to BOM, you may want to look at other some Asian airlines and their links to US carriers.


Good luck,

-outoftown

Personally I would elect for CO, as they seem to have a much better availability for tickets while redeeming your miles. I have been lucky with NWA also with regard to their upgrades on domestic routes (subject to availability).

If your primary destination is in the Denver in the US I would go with United/Star Alliance if you have a choice. United has a hub in DEN and you will able to fly to a number of US destinations for your side trips non-stop from DEN via UA. I am not that familiar with their mileage program but if they have a something equivalent of an AA Platinum challenge program you must sign up for it right away. You will be able to earn double miles right from the get go.

I knew that CO and DL are both members of the "SkyTeam" Alliance but it still seems like I can either have the miles added to only one or the other. I am still new to the whole miles game but because they are each part of an alliance does it matter where I have the miles?

My next flight home is on CO whom I have no miles with at this time. I do have ~30,000 with DL and was thinking about putting the miles their just to keep them all with the same airline.

Should I add my CO OnePass number onto my ticket so that the points get added automatically, or wait and give them my DL Mileage Plus number at the gate so that they get added to my DL miles?

Thanks for helping the newb!

Stick to just one airline program. I'd say DL. When you fly enough, you will
earn elite status and bonus miles. This will add up lot faster compared to
using different airline programs to credit your miles.


If your destination is BOM, DEL or BLR, I'd say stick with a Star Alliance airline. Much better
service.

There are three major "alliances" of airlines: Star, Skyteam, and One World. Each has a website as well as a dedicated forum here at FT. Within an alliance you can usually get miles on your home program no matter which airline you fly. Get to know these families and research how you can travel DEN-BOM on each.

It makes sense to sign up for one---and no more than one---FF program within each alliance. Usually it's best to do so at a US carrier. For example, accumulate miles on United even if you fly Lufthansa.

After that you can choose your flights based on fares or schedule and whichever carrier you happen to be on get miles on your "home" program within that family.

Whenever you can without making other compromises, it is a good idea to accumulate miles in one program.

As others point out, both Star and Skyteam should offer good DEN-BOM options. One World seems weak to me, but you should not take my word for it.

Awesome!

Thanks for the advice with only being associated with one of the alliance members. I'm not sure why I did not think of that, but indeed that is what I need to do.

And now for a different perspective.

The trip to BOM can be long and exhausting so you should consider which airline offers the most direct routing with the least amount of stopovers. The more stopovers, the greater the chance of screw-ups in terms of delays and possible lost luggage.

A couple of years ago I had a job that took me to both India and Pakistan about once every six weeks and it was rare that I had a trip without some form of delay which caused me to miss vital connections.

I suggest that you look at the possibilities offered by United. You can then make the trip to BOM with just one connection/stopover in FRA. The advantages of the Star Alliance have been mentioned above.

If you're flying monthly and in discount coach, you need to worry about EQM/MQM. Deep discount coach fares on CO only earn 50% DL MQM, and deep discount coach fares on DL only earns 50% CO EQM. [And if you fly CO deep discount, you must buy them on co.com to get 100% EQM.]

Two main factors that your decision may hinge on:

1. Flying experience to India - With Skyteam, you can connect in either New York or ATL. With Star Alliance, you will be connecting through Frankfurt. Do you have a strong preference towards a 3-4 hour flight followed by a very long flight, or would you prefer two relatively long flights with a layover and gate change in between? If you anticipate that your trips to Mumbai are going to continue long into the future, then this would probably weigh heavy in your decision.

2. Use of your accumulated miles - With Skyteam, your flights out of Denver will have to connect in one of the following cities: Salt Lake City, ATL, Cincinnati, Houston, Cleveland, Newark, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit, or Memphis. But with Star Alliance, you can fly direct from Denver on United to most of their destinations. So when you cash in your miles for a dream getaway, will you be okay with having a connection or two, or do you really want a non-stop? This should also be a consideration for side trips that you make. (Of course, if you don't mind the extra connections on Skyteam, your side trips will earn you more miles.) Where will that dream vacation likely take you? While both alliances have pretty similar coverage to Asia, Latin America, and Europe, Skyteam is weak in Australia. Skyteam has more comprehensive service to some of the smaller islands in the Caribbean, however.

I think that by balancing these two factors you should probably be able to make a decision that works best for your concerns.