Hi,

I have accepted a new assignment where I will be traveling back and forth from GRU (Sao Paulo) for the next 2-3 years. I am based in Michigan and will travel from DTW. My assignment in GRU is 3 weeks on, one week back meaning one RT every month.

The travel to GRU will start in August. We are not permitted biz class, but the next tier down from Full Y is allowed. (B on NW, H on CO, B on AA etc)

I have no statuses now, I lost my AA status this year. Actually I was 'soft landed' down from Plat over the past 2 years.

I've narrowed the choices to 2 programs, CO and AA. I'd like to try get ExecPlat on AA, and Plat on CO I usually get stuck on NW, I know it's not the best out there but here in DTW they really own the market. It does look like I'll have the luxury of planning fairly far forward though, so I should be able to book via NW on CO metal and give miles to CO.

Anyway, Here's my plan - please feel free to knock holes in it.

Since I can't make 100k miles on AA this year, I'm going to book NW and apply miles to CO in NW/B fares. This will allow me to get to Platinum in 2008, which should be good all 2009 right? Will CO recognize the 1.5 bonus for B on NW if miles are posted to CO?

Starting in 2009, I'll book AA going for the ExecPlat. Start with Plat Challenge and fly AA until I get the 100k.

I'm hoping by applying miles to CO in 2008 I will take advantage of any CO/AA partnership coming up. Being Plat on CO may help anyway if they make a swap.

What are the holes in this strategy? Is it better to book on CO rather than NW? I find the NW fares to be lower for B than CO for H, but since I can't make the NW elite bonuses this year anyway does it make sense to book and fly CO all the way?

My ultimate goal is miles not upgrades, for a couple of nice FC trips a year for myself and SO.

Any help is appreciated!

Why wouldn't you go ahead and do the Platinum Challenge with AA right now? You only need 10k in 90 days, then you're Platinum all of next year which should give you Platinum bonus miles and help you get EXP quicker.

PLT bonus will not help you get to EXP quicker, but I do agree, just do the challenge now and start racking up bonus miles.

Yes, I thought about doing the Plat Challenge now, but I won't have 10k miles to spare if I want to get to NW/CO Platinum by year end. I won't be using AA until I have a challenge in place, early 2009.

Considering a NW/DL merger, and the fact that CO is getting out of Skyteam, I would dump NW and start building an AA war chest

Here is an entirely different approach.

1. Join Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. You can credit flights on AA, CO, and NW to this program. (Also: AF, BA, CX, DL, KL, LA, QF, etc.) Flights on AA and NW (but not CO) count for elite status. This would give you an opportunity to compare the service on the various carriers serving the route, and the miles can be redeemed on any of those carriers.

http://www.alaskaair.com/as/mileagep...rs_Airline.asp

2. Apply for Merrill+ VISA and spend $20,000 by end of calendar 2008 to achieve +2 Level.

https://cards.ml.com/MLRewardsCenter...ds/MERRILL.htm

3. When you achieve status on Alaska Airlines submit evidence to Merrill who will arrange status match on AA for 2009...

b) Frequent Flyer Status Match - Status Level +2/+3
American Airlines will provide Status Levels +2/+3 cardholders with an elite status match to the AAdvantage Gold� and or AAdvantage Platinum� elite level, excluding AAdvantage Executive Platinum�. It may take up to two weeks to process the elite status match. All elite status memberships will have an expiration date of February 28th. The expiration year will be determined by the month in which the elite status match is awarded. At the end of this year, cardholder's status in this program will return to its existing level unless cardholder a) requalifies per terms of American Airlines AAdvantage program or b) resubmits proof of status on another airline, per the process described below. Copy of the cardholder's current statement reflecting such status on another airline must be submitted to Merrill Lynch in order to qualify. Cardholder eligibility for AAdvantage membership status match based on frequent flyer status on eligible carriers as specified by American Airlines. These carriers currently include: Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air France, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Continental Airlines, Crossair, Delta Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, KLM, LanChile, Lufthansa, Northwest, Qantas, Sabena, Singapore Airlines, Swissair, United Airlines, and U.S. Airways. Eligible carriers subject to change without notice.

Alaska is a great one conduit strategy for the One World/Sky Team alliance...

What would you recommend for the UA MP/US Air/LH M&M/CO soon to join star alliance? I have heard LH M&M miles expire ina fist come first expire fashion every 18 months irrespective of if there is new activity within the 18 month period or not...

Is there a one conduit where the star alliance miles can be earner where they do not expire, or better yet can then be transferred to Alaska Airlines for a 1:1 ratio?