15-18 flight sectors per year.. so, 4+ roundtrips ?
I would suggest Malaysia's program, where even discount Qatar economy flights earn 6 tier points per flight. 4 flights per rt = 24 elite points.. and you would easily qualify for OW sapphire this way..
https://enrich.malaysiaairlines.com/...w-updates.html

miss post

3 r/t EU-DOH-SEAsia fares in economy to reach OWS sounds too good to be true tbh, considering that this amount of flying plus some intra-EU one ways barely got me to 40% of BA�s Silver� But if that�s the case, I know where to credit starting next year, thanks!

It depends on what you are trying to get out of a program. 4 long haul trips is a lot of flying, despite the cost. A long time ago, 2 long haul trips in economy like that would have gotten you to mid tier status anywhere.

Discount economy earns a small amount, and redemption using Malaysia miles is not great on top of that.

Hello everyone,

I need some help on deciding on if I should go with JAL or Cathay Pacific program for this year. I am based in HCMC have Platinum status with Vietnam Airlines United Gold, and Atmos Gold. I will do four paid long haul paid business class flights this year, mostly economy flights within Asia for short haul. Strictly looking on which would be the best program for my spend. By the end of the year:

At minimum I will have JGC Premier status (10,000 short of Diamond)
I will have Cathay Pacific Gold but not really close to Platinum

It seems like JAL would give me more for how much I am spending for flights (OW emerald vs sapphire). Is there any reason for me to go with Cathay Pacific? The biggest benefit with Cathay is the fact that it's only a 2.5 flight from HCMC and positioning fares would more affordable.

How long will you be in Ho Chi Minh City (or Asia in general)? Just 1 year, a few years or forever?
A ffp for just "this year" is not really sensible. FFP's are for the mid term, but not not long term. Long term they devalue and change rules too much.

What is you objective with ffp's? Awards, the benefits of status or what ??
What is your definition - criteria for " best program for my spend"? Will not be same as mine.
Can you earn ff miles/points/avios on the ground (non flying) from credit card, household spending, hotels etc?

With
--Vietnam Airlines Platinum (Skyteam)
--United Gold (Star) [miles do not expire]
--Alaska Atmos Gold (Oneworld)
do you really need another ffp? Keep with what you have?
With economy short hauls in Asia and 4 business long haul getting status is not guaranteed.

What has positioning fares to HKG got to do with anything? With alliances, subject to the t&c's, you can earn and burn on partners. Status earnings on partners can be more difficult.

Be mindful of ffp miles/points/avios expiry.
--> Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire

I'm a little puzzled there too about positioning flights since all OW airlines in the region fly to SGN. But perhaps the OP means required segments on that airline to acquire status? JL requires 50% of status points earned to be on JL. CX isn't as rigid but they do have a 2 CX segment requirement to upgrade status in the new program.

No need to repeat what Mwenenzi has already said, but agree it doesn't sound like you need a new FFP. What is your objective of using JL or CX's programs vs. AS that you already have? Perhaps focus instead of getting OW Emerald with AS?

When doing your calculations, be aware that JL requires 50% of your status points (FOP) be earned on JL flights and their award chart is not competitive. You also mentioned JL Premier status, but there is a disclaimer on the site . JGC is primarily for residents of Japan since you have to hold an eligible JAL credit card to enroll. I know there used to be a way for non-residents to join but I no longer see it on the site as an option. (someone else can chime in if it's somewhere else and I'm just missing it).

CX just changed their program, so make sure you're aware that for Gold you have to earn 900 points, not 600 if you're starting from no status since status points reset after upgrading to Silver. This is the same way A3 works in *A. With CX and AS having fairly similar distance based award charts, I don't see the advantage there of switching unless for enhanced award availability on CX.

For non-Japanese resident members you don't need a JAL credit card to enrol https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/jmb/lsp/...qualification/ (compared to https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/jmb/lsp/jgc/qualification/ )
But you need to join JGC at the 1,500 Life Status Point 3-star level - I don't think you can join or be grandfathered at below 3-star level outside Japan <-- I'm happy to be corrected on this

Once you reach 1,500 LSPs, you get a link to a web form New status programme (launching in January 2024).
My missus was enrolled at the end of the 50,000 FOPs era in Dec 2023. Already web form then. She never had the Aeon Card JAL (couldn't be persuaded to sign up for it, I ended up transferring her renewal JMB thru Bonvoy and thinking about Accor in the future) nor JAL Card (we can't get that, as overseas members). We were given 1,500 LSPs on 2024 transition.

---

OP claims he can obtain JGC Premier
Obtaining JGC Premier in 2026 will not only require 80,000 FOPs, but JGC membership.
It's not obvious from here he is a current JGC member - as said above, non-resident members are generally at least 3-stars
If 3-star, OP is a oneworld Sapphire ("JGC Green") without annual renewal requirement other than to pay 2,000 JMB annually until next rule change, but he does not mention he has that. He mentions he has Atmos Gold, which is equivalent but has annual renewal criteria.
I'm not sure he understands the JGC bar to becoming JGC Premier. There is no direct conversion of FOPs to LSPs, but 1,000 sector miles (which is the base variable for FOPs before bonuses and multipliers) is 5 LSPs (so 80,000 FOPs is less than 400 LSPs...)

In contrast JMB Diamond is a superior tier to JGC Premier and can be obtained without any JGC membership, for 100,000 FOPs https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/jalmile/...ond_miles.html

Umm, having to earn 900 status points when starting from scratch to earn CX GO was the old way, but with the new programme, as long as one earns 600 status points in calendar year 2026, he will have GO for calendar year 2027.

JL Premier is only accessible with JGC membership, which is only accessible to people with 1500+ Life Status Points (regardless of residence).
For everyone else without JGC membership, JL status is just Crystal, Sapphire, and Diamond.
If Travelingjack04 will have 90k FLYON points with at least 50k on JL flight numbers, then I would suggest doing a run for the last 10k to get to Diamond.

Here are some more details and responses to some of the replies

• HCMC is now a permanent move for me. What I meant by this year was me earning with a new FF program for this year so that I may enjoy the benefits in 2027 and beyond
• I will not earn enough to keep status with VN and United for 2027. Atmos wouldn't work as I may not even fly with them this year and beyond, more benefits when joining FLY ON program (free wifi and using miles for upgrades), and JGC Diamond is OW emerald which I should be able to make by the end of the year.
• JAL USA card doesn't seem like a viable option at all so I guess I will push for Diamond. All of my long haul flights are on JAL metal so I have that covered.

Thanks for the replies and clearing up the whole LSP program.

"Atmos wouldn't work as I may not even fly with them this year " So what !!. The concept of alliance's is you can earn and burn on partners, subject to the rules. Just crunch the numbers. Some ffp's have "own flights" rules for status and others do not.

How many ff miles with AS (HA) Atmos? The HA Hawaiian brand of AS fly's to Asia.
Have you considered the expiry of the AS & VN ff miles?
Status does not do much for you when you fly long haul business class. Usually higher ff miles earnings.

In the case of JAL, it does matter a bit to go with JAL Mileage Bank. First, Life Status Points are JAL's version of "lifetime benefits" but broken into different milestones.. instead of making everyone wait until they hit 1 million of something (like AA, UA, etc). You earn 5 LSP for every 1000 BIS miles essentially, regardless of whether it's economy or business (as long as it's paid travel that accrues). with 4 long haul biz trips on JL, plus intra-Asia economy, 1500 LSP is not too far away. Second, JL Diamond get an annual gift each year -- IMHO the best choice for non-Japan residents is gifting JL Diamond to your partner or family member. JL treats Diamonds very well, in my experience - they will receive more attention than OW Emeralds on a flight.

Hi all,
I'm currently on a Star Alliance FFP, and is in the market for an OW plan. The answers to the sticky questions are as follows:

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: Good redemption rates.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: I would say 25k-50k--however I was talking about the 2010s, and may not return to that level until 2028 at least--we are going to have a baby, and we don't think bringing a baby to a Transpacific flight is a good idea.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: Economy to Premium Economy.
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Pleasure, so I have much freedom in choosing airlines. My consideration here has more to do with avoiding entering the US through LAX.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: Transpacific. I was born in HK and still have significant associations there (as well as the Pearl River Delta region), while my wife is a Japanophile. So I expect us to visit East Asia more than within the US.
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: SAN (San Diego).
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: I currently have about 130k on UA's plan and plan to redeem it for our final honeymoon this year, as well as downgrading the branded card to free-tier in the next anniversary. I also have 11k on Alaska/Hawaiian Atmos.
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: I'm impartial to Alaska, Cathay Pacific, and Japan Airlines. Miles-wise, it's probably JA, since we prefer their SAN-NRT flight.

Also note that we may consider moving back to East Asia in the future (I mean closer to 2030 than now), so that might be a consideration.

25-50k per year on economy fares isn't whole lot, so where to bank them really will come down to how you want to redeem. It is worth note that most CX economy fares do not credit anything to AA.

Your note about moving back to East Asia in several years probably would not affect my decision on where to bank miles because it sounds like you are unlikely to earn status in any of the programs (at least not enough for OW Sapphire level). Many OW programs especially in Asia have hard expiration dates on miles that can't be extended with activity. So you're best going with a program where miles don't expire as long as you have activity in xx amount of time (AA, BA, QR, etc.), AS miles don't expire (currently, this was a merger negotiation but that could change in the future).

AA has a fixed award chart for most partners, and has some decent sweet spots, though none of those are to/from North America. AS, BA, QR, IB, AY all use a distance based award chart and are excellent for shorter flights that may otherwise be costly. I keep miles in both AA and BA for different purposes. With AA, AS, and BA you can earn a good amount of non-flying miles from online shopping and travel reservations. With BA the earning rate per � / $ is often much higher on the British site than the American one, but it's always good to compare because it's not always the case. AA's and AS's shopping portals are usually dismal in comparison, though AA has short bonus earning windows quite a bit.

So which program is right for you really comes down to how you'll use the miles as it sounds like you'd likely earn at similar rates in any of AA, AS, or BA programs.