Newbie question from a big FT fan...

I just accepted a job offer from UW-Milwaukee and will likely be based there for a few years at the least. Am wondering what is the best airline program for MKE based travellers. I expect to make one trip to Asia every year, perhaps one trip to Europe and several domestic trips (say 8 roundtrips). I know that Midwest airlines is based out of MKE - but am not sure how good it is. My solitary experience on Midwest has been the FNT-MKE route where they used a horrible Turbo Prop Beechcraft - with all the noise, vibration and cold!

Right now I am based in Detroit and last year just missed to cross 25K miles on Northwest. I have started this year well with some eight flightls already and am hoping to get elite status by the end of the year. I have some miles balance on US Air as well and little balance in AA right now.

All responses are welcome. If the questions has been answered before then I apologize - pls do point me towards the right thread.

Since Midwest doesn't fly to international destinations, my first choice would be United. They have a hub in Chicago, which is ~50 miles from MKE.

Like Milwaukee's Best beer, Milwaukee's best choice for a low cost domestic carrier is AirTran. They are adding non-stop destinations from Milwaukee to the West Coast (Las Vegas, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego) as well as Phoenix. They are nonstop to Orlando and Tampa, as well as Baltimore. The service beats Midwest's Saver Service (which can only be expected to decline further now that they are effectively owned by Northwurst). Upgrades are cheaper. And the prices can't be beat.

Since you are going to be based in Milwaukee, fly Midwest and have your miles credited to Northwest Airlines. I think these miles also count toward elite qualification on Northwest.

The international destinations are served by Northwest and/or their SkyTeam partners.

And welcome to FT, imdeng!

Welcome to Flyertalk!

Stick with Northwest. If you do fly on Midwest, just credit your flights to NW, Midwest flights even count towards elite status.

NW is a great choice for domestic as they give free upgrades to their Silver and Gold members, something you won't get from United or AA. NW also has a Worldclub in MKE if you plan on joining, and they have lots of flights to their hubs every day.

One think that any MKE flyer has to worry about if flying on United or AA is they will often cancel their ORD-MKE flight if they need the plane or crew to fly a different route, that's because since MKE and ORD are only 75 miles apart, an airline can get away with not reaccommodating you on another flight, or just bus you up. It's happened to me way too many times.

NWA is the way to go. Short security line and good schedule. The WorldClub is nice.

Agree with NWA. For int'l, I think I'd rather fly out of MKE with one-stop in DTW/MSP than get into Chicago traffic, find distant parking at ORD, and deal with the hassles of ORD - even if the payoff is a nonstop from there.

Don't get me wrong: I loved living in Chicago with ORD a short train ride away - it's great having both a *A and OW hub there, because it means there's always plenty of choices and usually plenty of competition. But with a car involved, I think I would have felt differently.

There is a direct bus from milwaukee (coach usa) for $25 to ohare (90 minutes) anf for $38 to midway.

reg. best program, i think it depends also on how you plan to use the miles who is paying for your revenue tickets when you travel

Agree with Northwest, for several reasons.

First, if you fly a route on which Midwest has a nonstop, you can take that and credit the miles to your NW account.

Next, although Milwaukee isn't a hub for NW, it does have flights to a few destinations other than just the hubs of MSP, DTW and MEM...more than you'd typically find for a non-hub city.

Next, when you need to connect, you'd usually go via Detroit or Minneapolis...both far more attractive connection places than O'Hare.

Finally, you said you'd be going to Asia, where NW has a strong presence. From MKE, it's a short hop to Detroit or Minneapolis, from which you can catch a nonstop to Tokyo or Nagoya.

Thank you all for the great and informative replies. It is great to see such a supportive online community. I have been a miles and points junkie for a while and seems like I am going to be spending some quality times here...

I agree with many posts that suggested NW as the way to go. I already have a significant history with them (not that it counts for anything) - and I like their service. Midwest flights counts towards NW's elite levels - and for my Asia/India flights - NW has a great schedule. Further - ORD is not the best place for a connection and I would rather connect through DTW (as long as it is the EM terminal) and MSP. So NW it is for me.

Thanks again - I can only hope to be as helpful for someone else as you all have been to me.