I'm a senior in high school living on the east coast about to attend college on the west coast and I'd like to find the best program for my situation. I'll probably be flying round trip from San Francisco to Dulles (or another airport if its cheaper) at least 4 times each year for the next four years in economy. I noticed virgin america typically has the cheapest flights, but their program is rated poorly. What would be the ideal program?

Also, I'm trying to establish residency in California for tuition purposes and I'll need a new bank account; which bank and which credit cards would benefit me most? My expenses will mostly be food, books, entertainment, etc....

Thanks in advance

What are your goals in joining a program?
Do you expect to do any frequent international travel?
What's more important: Upgrades or award tickets?


Flying between NorCal and Washington, I'd go with United or American. Welcome to flyertalk.

Halothane

4 rt's per year will get you about 20k mi's....so the 2nd yr you might a 25k reward trip.....also, sometimes you can enhance the trip by creative routing to get more mi's [like sfo-lax-aus-iad on aa]....also, scheme to get elite status [25k mi in a calendar year]....

i agree that aa or ua are probably the best choices.....good luck...

How much will your airline ticket purchases be driven by price vs. loyalty to one airline. Will you be loyal to UA or AA if they cost $100 more per trip.

Since you plan on doing only 4 trips per year, you will be just under the first tier elite level. Creative routings might help.

UA probably has the most nonstops and has economy plus. If price is important, you might want to choose AS. AS has a lot of partners and will allow you to accumulate miles into one program while shopping for the price.

IAD is a UA hub plus, as noted above, UA has E+ seating available. With IAD as my base, I'd go with UA over AA. You may also want to consider JetBlue (my favorite domestic airline), which has a couple of direct daily IAD-OAK flights.

From the "or another airport if its cheaper" line, I'd think s/he won't be loyal to an airline. There's nothing wrong with that! I would suggest getting a credit/debit card & bank account that give you standard rewards that can be used for anything instead of an airline card with the limited flying that you'll be doing. Then, as Jeeves said, sign up for AS so you can get miles from a lot of airlines into one account.

And, OT, but I gotta ask (maybe I shouldn't, though): What's with the FT handle?

Jet Blue, Virgin America, and United seem to have the best selection of nonstops from SFO/OAK to IAD.

Jet Blue's FF program requires approximately 4 transcontinental round trips plus one more (one way or round trip) flight booked on-line within one year (each earned point expires one year after earning). If you buy with a Jet Blue American Express card, you may be able to extend point expirations. No FF partners other than the American Express card. No elite status, all economy class. Jet Blue uses A320 planes for transcontinental flights; they have 34" seat pitch and personal TV screens. There are 38" seat pitch seats for an extra charge.

Virgin America's FF points are based on fare paid. Award costs vary by the flight and class selected. Virgin America has first class, and economy class with 32" to 34" seat pitch and personal TV screens.

United's FF program is based on mileage. United gives 2,419 miles each way for SFO-IAD. You will need 5 round trips and 810 additional miles to make the 25,000 domestic economy award threshold. 25,000 elite qualifying miles in a calendar year gains elite status, including free Economy Plus seating with 35" of seat pitch, versus 31" for regular economy (but no personal TVs for either on most planes). Miles for redemption of awards expire if there has been no activity for 18 months in the account, but United has numerous partners (e.g. on-line shopping, as well as Star Alliance airlines such as US Airways and Air Canada) that can be used to create activity in the account.

United can be a rather unpleasant experience for a non-elite, limited to the worst seats and with long check-in lines if you are unable to check in on-line. Elite status passengers get a number of perks that can make flying on United more pleasant.

The main other airline in the SFO/OAK/SJC area is Southwest, but it does not appear that they have non-stops to the DC area (BWI). Alaska has a west coast regional presence, and may be useful for mopping up miscellaneous miles (has mileage partnerships with both American and Delta, even though American and Delta do not have mileage partnerships with each other).

Thanks for all the helpful information. I decided to go with United.
I realize I need 25,000 miles in a year to qualify for elite status; would these extra trips be worthwhile? Is "creative routing" more expensive? Remember I originally planned on four round trips a year. How much more should I expect to spend to qualify. I noticed that qualifying increases my miles per flight; will I be able to return to 4 trips a year the following year and still qualify?
Also, are there any exceptional benefits to selecting a particular bank or credit card plan? I'll be attending UC Berkeley if location has any impact

Again, thanks for all the help

EDIT: I had some communication problems and ended up purchasing two one way tickets to SFO through United. I only intend to use one of them, but the tickets were nonrefundable and actually cost more to change than to simply buy new tickets. Will I still get the points/miles?

Interestingly enough, sometimes creative routing may be cheaper. You just have to play around and see. Last weekend I almost bought a ticket for FRA-CLT via LAX for the same price that FRA-DFW-CLT. Alas I wasn'r sure if I could fly on that date and the fare is now gone.


Nope. Gotta fly to get the points.

Since OP is likely to fly less than 25K each year but 20K will not be hard to achieve, flying either United or US and banking miles on OZ would be an alternative. Even if OP is not getting anything else than star alliance silver for the first year, s/he is going to be OZ Diamond (*A gold) the following year so that s/he will gain access to the rounge whenever flying...

While this isn't directly related to routing, there is something you need to think about? If someone outside of CA will be paying for or more than 50.1% of tuition, room and board, etc etc, you won't qualify for in state tuition. The UC school system is pretty good about preventing people from coming in state to lower tuition if they themselves aren't bearing the full (or majority) of the burden.

Search around (google) for information on residency and UC. This will prevent you from making mistakes.

Could someone clarify what OZ is? I'm already committed to the frequent flyer program at United

My parents and a few of my relatives who graduated from Berkeley have been doing most of the heavy lifting for me. I'm aware I need to establish a bank account in California, a drivers license, and register to vote within a week or two after my arrival and that I need to relinquish all my ties to Virginia. I know I need to begin filing my taxes independently. If there are any relatively obscure tips anyone can provide, they would be greatly appreciated. All in all, I realize there's a good chance I won't ever establish residency for tuition purposes, and even if I do, it won't be until my third or fourth year.