I'm new to airline miles so I'm hoping to get some input. My boss will be flying to Dubai quite a bit for the next 3 months to a year. I'm looking for the best frequent flyer program. He wants to travel coach in September on the first trip so I'm thinking American, Continental, or Delta may be best depending on prices. He doesn't really care which airline, so this trip will be easy.

The second trip will be business class/first class Emigrates sp?. His travel preference is really messing with my decision regarding which airlines to get the freq. flyer prog. with since the prices vary widely with his two different travel styles he may wish to use.

Should I just set up several freq. flyer prog. by picking two or three airlines? He is a little wishy washy sometimes which isn't helping.

I was informed of this today and I think I may need to set this up tomorrow since he will be in Mexico until the 10th and I will not be able to speak to him much before he goes to Dubai. Help?

Connie

Whenever someone asks me about 'the best' frequent flyer program...I tell them to sign up for an airline from each of the three major alliances. For someone in the USA, they can't go wrong joining UA, AA, and DL or CO. Then, they are free to always choose the cheapest airfare from any of the legacy airlines and can always credit the mileage to one of the three alliances.


I'm sure other people can step up with some very different or more complex advice, but what I said above will best serve the fairly infrequent flyer based in the USA that wants to slowly rack up miles whenever they fly.



Also, the best program is different for everyone. One size doesn't fit all.

I forgot to mention we will be redeeming our AmEx points on at least one of these flights. I'm guessing AmEX may have suggestions as well.

Thanks, I check into those..So he won't rack up very many miles flying to Saudi Arabia monthly?

You only said in your post he'll be flying to Dubai, which is in the United Arab Emirates. I didn't see anything about the monthly trips to Saudi Arabia.

Off the top of my head I know UA has occassional sales to Dubai.

Some would avoid picking UA and CO given these will be moving toward the same alliance in 2009/2010.

I would suggest focusing on a single program -- based on what you have described, he will quickly gain elite status that way, for additional benefits.

You didn't say where he is located. Look at the flight options available from his nearest airport to the destinations where he will be traveling (Dubai, Ridyah etc) and narrow down the list of airlines to those that offer either direct flights or good connections. For each of those airlines, identify the alliance (Star Alliance, OneWorld or SkyTeam) -- and note that some airlines, like Emirates, do not belong to any alliances.

You may now see that most of his travel could be concentrated on one alliance or another. If that's the case, I would suggest picking one airline in that alliance; he will gain credit (both in miles accumulated and elite status gained) to that airline's program for all flights in that alliance.

Thanks for the info about the alliances. I hadn't figured that out yet. I stayed up pretty late last night and did some old fashioned research. It seems they're all pretty much the same. We just need to pick an airline as suggested.

One more question, since you all have been so helpful. How would it be a problem if UA and CO merge? I'm curious since CO would be my first pick. Would points possibly be lost?

Thanks so much for the help!

Connie

The airlines aren't merging, but will eventually be the same alliance (Star Alliance) - if you went the route of having one account with each alliance, eventually you wouldn't have an account with a Sky Team airline (which includes DL and NW). No miles would be lost, but one would lose the flexibility to use Sky Team partners with elite status.

Exactly. But if CO is your first pick, start with that. Book him on SkyTeam flights (CO, DL, NW, AF, KL etc) and he'll quickly earn status on CO. (Caveat: some lower fares do not earn full qualifying miles on CO. If he flies full fare or business class this won't affect him, though.)

When CO switches to Star Alliance, possibly next year, you can continue to book on CO, plus other Star Alliance airlines (UA, US, AC, LH etc). His CO status and accumulated miles are pretty much guaranteed even if CO does switch alliances.

It sounds like your boss is frugal naturally or someone else has imposed a fairly strict budget for travel. While business class is expensive, long-haul economy (particularly the itinararies you're mentioning) can be brutal. As a compromise, you might look at joining a frequent flyer program that includes an airline that has premium economy on the long-haul routes you're flying. Premium economy may cost 25-50% more than economy, but it's well worth it, especially on overnight flights. Also, at least in my experience with British Airways, I've been upgraded to business class frequently when I've purchased premium economy tickets. The tricky thing with BA is that, if you're a member of American Airlines' Advantage program, you don't get miles credit for flying BA over the Atlantic (because AA competes on the same route), so that's no good for you. So, Virgin Atlantic might be a better airline to fly on - and it has some partnerships with certain US airlines, so I think you can get miles with a US airline for flying Virgin. Continental and US are partners. If your boss is interested in flying Virgin Atlantic premium economy from time to time, then you should make sure that you choose Continental or US as one of your primary FF programs.