Here are links to the 2 major alliances: Star (of which United is a member) and OneWorld (of which American is a member)

http://www.staralliance.com/star_all...e/main_10.html

http://www.oneworldalliance.com/

Remember, too, that each airline within an alliance may have partnerships with other airlines that are not yet within their respective alliances.

On United, for example, one can earn miles flying USAirways (though they will soon enough be a member of Star).

Look here:

http://www.touroftheozarks.org/

and you can win 2 tickets.

As long as you don't open up a bunch of accounts at once, keep your bills paid up, and don't carry high balances, you should be OK.
I bought a house about 5 1/2 years ago, and just refinanced it. I have many, many Visa MasterCards with large credit limits, plus an enormous amount of other credit cards which I don't use.. But they're almost always paid in full and never paid late. I have a very high credit score, thus my mortgage company (Wells Fargo) seems to care less how many credit cards I have.
Just, FYI, last month they gave me a no-fee/no-points/no-closing costs 15 year / 5% mortgage as a refi.

I don't use the hotel programs - I use priceline for hotels because the expense is so much lower and you'll get so much more for your dollar.

Go to biddingfortravel.com and you'll see what hotels go for what amount.( Makes bidding very easy and they will teach you how to determine a bid price.) How do you earn miles since priceline bids don't count torwards mileage? Easy, I use a world perks Visa card to pay for the transaction. The best of BOTH worlds, and I save a ton of money.

Last weekend Sofitel (4*) in Minneapolis for $65 + taxes and fees.

burgerwars,
Congrats on the great ref! I don't know your status in life but I am retired and really don't want or need all those cards but (and that a big but) I do want to learn how to start accruing FF miles, fast. You think a lot of cards is the answer? Do you keep your cards within the same alliance?

gogoflyer

Student Explorer, Your post was a great help! Thanks for the links, they put some light on the subject!

gogoflyer

Bradford,

Thanks, I applied and got the Starwood card. Are you saying to have only one card? Makes a lot of sense. Most people here are getting multible cards and playing them like they would the stock market! Do you do a lot of flying? If so I can see where one card might be enough because you get so many ff miles when you fly. I don't fly but would if I could afford a ticket so I need to get miles other ways. I don't want it to take me several years. I would like to have enough miles to get at least 2 tickets a year, 4 would be better.

gogoflyer

hnechets,
Thanks for your answer. It's confusing as some people here have many cards and some, like you are saying, not! Don't worry about that third question, I didn't understand it either! :-) Can you tell me more about "elite"? How do I get there?
gogoflyer

I have just reread all post here and know that I have a wealth of info! I have visited all links (great web site, Pgary!)several times. I learned about alliances and see that United has 18 partners, whereas the others don't have near that many. Each card has good and not so good points. So I guess I just need to pick one! I am leaning towards United, but there are several cards to pick from within United, so I will need to look at each one. You have all helped me to understand more. I think you would get bored if I answered everyone so I'll just say Thanks, but don't stop! If you have more to tell me, please do!
gogoflyer

Just keep in mind, that more partners does not a better alliance make. It really comes down to where u want to fly. Carefully consider the various alliances. And again, remember that there can be partnerships outside a particular alliance.

So look at the various airlines and see where they fly and how often.

For myself, I am based in Chicago and do mostly mid-con flights. United just makes sense. Particularly since I will soon be based in San Francisco.

You mentioned, however, that you want to go to Alaska. In that instance, you might consider airlines Alaska Airlines is partnered with. After all, when it comes time to getting an award ticket, it will be much easier to snag a seat on an airline that serves your destination far more then, say, United.

Again, just keep in mind your own travel plans and where you would like to go. You don't necessarily need an alliance with 18+ partners.

How do I find partners outside an alliance?

Look at the particular airline you are considering flying. Their websites will list all partner airlines.

This is United's: http://www.ual.com/page/article/0,1360,1177,00.html

Note, those are their partners IN ADDITION to the Star Alliance members.

You're quite welcome, gogoflyer!

1. It's OK to belong to a lot of FF programs. You never know when you will need to fly on an airline that you don't usually use. So it is prudent to get whatever miles you can get.
2. What I meant was, **given a choice**, don't spread your flying out amongst all of them. If you can, concentrate on one or two and get all the miles you can in those accounts.

Elite status is such a basic question, that it tends to be taken for granted by frequent flyers and what it is isn't given much discussion. So, if all will bear with me, here's the skinny in a nutshell:

When you fly a certain number of miles with an airline, you will be given more status than the average flyer. For instance, if you fly 25,000 base miles* (see below) Northwest will grant you WorldPerks Silver status. You will get to board ahead of non-elites, therefore not usually having a problem finding overhead space for your carryon luggage. You will be able to get settled down instead of standing in line in the aisle. And, in line with your desire to get the most miles the fastest, you will get a 50% bonus on your frequent flyer miles. In other words, if you fly 1000 base miles, you will be awarded 1500 ff miles. See?

If you fly 50,000 miles, you get gold status, and get double miles(2000 total ff miles if you fly 1000). 75,000 (oh, my aching backside!) and you get 125% (1250 extra miles for a total of 2250 ff miles) more miles.

There's more to elite, but these are some of the bigger advantages.

* Base Miles: Sometimes called elite qualifying miles...the miles that count towards earning elite status. Take the example above, you flew 1000 miles, and earned 1500 miles. Only the 1000 count towards elite status, whether getting higher elite, or maintaining your present status next year. The extra 500 miles DO NOT count towards that. They do, of course, count towards ticket redemption, as do other non-flying miles. This does cause confusion at times. Just remember, Base miles for earning elite status, all miles for free flying.

Warning, this is very general and how Northwest does it isn't how all airline do it. For instance, Delta would not give you 1000 base miles for the above trip if you purchased one of their cheaper tickets. You would get the full 1000 ff miles plus any elite bonus ff miles, but only half of the 1000 base miles would count towards elite status; Delta does not call them base miles, but Medallion Qualifer Miles, or MQM if you were wondering what that meant on the Delta forum...yes, it can get complicated sometimes, so I picked an easier example with an airline I am very familiar with. Read the Delta forum for how ff'ers feel about this "feature" of the SkyMiles program.

Hope this helps. It by no means covers all the minute details, specials and exceptions, but by now, you're probably getting a handle on things. The search function here works pretty well--wear the sucker out whenever you get a chance!


[This message has been edited by hnechets (edited 07-20-2003).]

So, partners are all the airlines in the alliance of the major airline?

Thanks for that great explanation of "elite". So, I can only get there with my flying miles, other accured miles don't count and it is not this way with all the cards...I just have to check. I will go see how Delta feels about MQM.
thanks,
gogoflyer

Close. There are three major alliances: Star, Oneworld, and Skyteam. Yes, each of the airlines within each alliance are partners with eachother.

However, airlines also have partnerships with other airlines outside their alliances.

Take United for example: they are "partners' with those airlines that are members of the Star Alliance.

In addition, they have several other airline partners. This includes airlines like Emirates (not a member of any alliance currently) and even Delta (members of Skyteam).

Sorry if I confused you. I was just trying to point out that the airlines you are looking at (United and American) have partnerships beyond their respective alliances. Basically, just something else to compare as it can open up other mileage earning possibilities.

Happy travels!

[This message has been edited by StudentExplorer (edited 07-20-2003).]