Updated 10.22.99

1. Make sure the fare class you fly is eligible for point accumulaton in the program you'll be depositing your points. And watch out for codeshare flights. I'm not on any codeshare flights so have not researched this point but from subsequent posts it has been reported that CP codeshare flights do not count on CPlus. Best thing to do is to call the program you want your flight to qualify on and make sure that the flight is eligible. And get everything in writing - have the agent note your file or e-mail the info to you.

My points will go to CP, AA, BA Canada and .... haven't decided on the fourth yet though I know it won't be QF or AY(see #2). I will be flying on CP, AA, BA, AY and IB in order to qualify. If you're going with Canadian Plus, please note the following:

IB - only full fare economy, business and first fares may earn points (however IB domestic full fares aren't too expensive!)
CX - the following fares may not earn points: Z,R,U,V,N,Q,T,X, & E.
AY - the following fares may not ear points: D & N. And these flight ranges: AY1001-4000 & AY7001-9999.
BA - the following fares may not earn points: E,O,P,T,X, and Z (from CPlus' April, 99 membership guide)
AA - the following fares may not earn points: transatlantic Q (from CPlus' April, 99 membership guide).

Of course I am relying on the other programs following similar rules but my queries with BA Canada and AA seem to suggest this.

2. Make sure the frequent flyer program you choose to earn your points on give you the best bang for your buck and offers you awards that make sense to you based on where you live and personal preferences. As already mentioned in other threads, QF is quite lame. Well I've since found out so is AY. In both programs your 100K points go a lot less since their awards are based on kilometres. Plus you apparently have to pay a fee to join QF! I also find CX awards high priced. Hence my indecision on the fourth program to use though at this point it will be between IB and CX.

3. If you're going for more than 2x100K bonuses and wish to minimize price (airport taxes can be hefty!) and travel time .... choose destinations that require a stopover (with a change of aircraft/flight number please!). E.g. instead of two return trips on AY I am taking a single trip with connections outbound and inbound.

4. If you go the route of giving your ff number at reservation (i.e. different ff programs for different segments) or at check in .... don't rely on the system to do this correctly and without hitches. Once points are credited to a program that's where they'll stay and they may not be transferred to another. I'm leaning towards a non automated approach so in case I'm late for a flight and forget to verify my boarding pass, I won't end up short one seg on one program and one seg extra on another! Of course this begs the question ... do I have more faith in the postal system? Whatever you choose to do, don't lose your boarding passes or ticket coupons!

5. If you are not already a member of the ff program(s) you'll be accumulating your points on, make sure you join it/them before you take your flight(s) ... the programs usually stipulate that you have to have signed up before flying in order to earn miles (i.e. no retroactive credits). And apparently AY requires that you have joined their program before the start of the promotional period in order to be eligible for the bonus. From what I have seen so far none of the other ff programs have this stipulation but don't quote me on this!

Note portions of this post have been gleaned from other posts by other mileage enthusiasts (thanks). Have fun all!

[This message has been edited by Gabriel (edited 10-22-1999).]

I called BA and they told me that pretty much all fares for many of the carriers apply. To be specific, the following codes accumulate miles:

AA: C,S,Y,B,G,H,I,K,M,N,O,Q,R,V,A,W,X,Z
CP: J,C,B,G,H,K,M,N,O,P,Q,V,X,Y,Z
CX: J,C,D,I,W,B,Y,H,M,V,T,K
AY: C,S,Z,A,B,G,H,K,L,M,Q,T,U,V
IB: J,C,D,Y,M (the cheapest)
QF: J,D,C,B,I,K,L,M,Q,T,U,V,W,Y,N(INT'L ONLY)

On BA, the only fares that don't qualify are H,G,and Z.

Obviously, all AA/BA trans-atlantic exclusions still apply.

Please note that the above qualifying fare types do NOT apply to BA Exec Club UK !

Please note that above qualifying fare types ONLY apply to SILVER and GOLD members of BA's Global Exec Club. For Blue members a lot of fares types are not eligible.
I posted the full list(for Global members) in the BA forum: http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/Foru...ML/000236.html


[This message has been edited by mijne (edited 10-05-1999).]

I have updated my orginal post to emphasize that the eligible/ineligible fare classes apply to CP. I've also found and added my fifth point thanks to Celestar340.

A quick question for the experts out there...I'm also planning to do 2 x 100k, but as of now I'm only a member of CX and not any other programs...so if I join AA now (today), I'll still be eligible for getting the 100k with AA, and my flight with BA tomorrow will count towards this promotion, right ?? Thanks...

It looks like a short trip SEA-YVR won't qualify because it is a CP codeshare flown by Horizon , although SEA-YVR-Victoria BC will work b/c YVR-Victoria is on a CP aircraft.

jl

Does anyone have a summary of what fare classes on the other carriers qualify for the AAdvantage program? The AA website says in the promotion that "All flights must be marketed and operated by an oneworld carrier and eligible for AAdvantage miles". For most oneworld carriers the AA website is vague in that it says that "eligible published fare tickets" will qualify for miles, but does not list the eligible fares.

Okay - I've got all my trips planned out by year's end and I will have enough flights to qualify for at least 7 programmes for the PROMO.

Though my judgement may be impaired by greed right now (more, more), I really have to 'economise' and aim for maybe just 6 programmes (2 AsiaMiles+4 oneWorld).

AY and QF may be the 'losing' partners. We shall see.

The next 2 months should be interesting:
CP - 8 sectors mapped out.
BA - 7 sectors to go. 1 already flown.
QF - 8 flights planned.
CX - 6 flights planned. 2 already flown.
AY - 4 flights planned.
IB - 4 flights planned.

Aim: Requalify for CP's Exec Plat.
Requalify for CX's Gold Marco Polo Club.
Get lots of miles.
Break my bank account. Eat bread and water for the next 2 months.

Flights from SEA to YVR on CP do count on all airlines except CP. CP requires that you fly on their aircraft. All other airlines only require your ticket to have a CP flight number.

Skyflyer: I spoke with a very nice AA representative yesterday to ask about which fares qualify for AA. Although she seemed competent enough she seemed as confused about some of the issues as we do.

Codeshare flights count as miles and for the promotion (this is the meaning of "marketed").

Here is a list of fares she gave me:

BA - any except transatlantic
CX - Y,B,H
IB - Y,M,L,D,W,N,B,S
AY - A,B,G,H,K,L,M,Q,T,U,V,Y
CP - any except consolidator

I would call to check just in case, but this should help you plan.

Please speficfy "consolidator" codes for CP.

These days, any travel agent is a consolidator!

Thank you for the clarification Tango-saves me $100!

I've updated the five point checklist with information from recent posts re: codeshare flights.

Tedhl - you're probably on your way by now but hopefully you would have joined the other ff programs you want to use for the bonus before your flight!

Celestar340 - ouch! Very aggressive itinerary! But I know what you mean (not that I'm greedy). I came close to going for two more bonuses (in addition to the planned four) when I found out I could fly Helsinki to Tallinn quite cheaply. But I took a cold shower and reigned myself in. Afer all I might as well try to see some of the places I'll be passing through. Well at least you will still be able to afford bread ... I'm checking the Yellow Pages for soup kitchens!

BTW here is my itinerary. If anybody is in any of these cities the same time as I am let me know and we can meet and have a good laugh over this insanity!

CPH - 11.04 to 11.06
HEL - 11.06 to 11.08
LHR - 11.08 to 11.09
SVQ - 11.09 to 11.11
MAD - 11.11 to 11.12
BCN - 11.12 to 11.15

garbriel: don't chicken out. tll is a prettly cool place (although you will freak out when you see that airport (i.e. 1950's)). i did an overnight from hel, stayed at the hotel central (fully renovated in '95. huge rooms, runs about $90US.)

everything is so incredibly cheap (a nice change of pace from most nordic countries). it's a walled city with a beautiful yet eerie feel. and believe me, modern capitalism has come and is alive and well (i.e., bk & mcd's are all over the place & shopping 7 days/week).

tallinn(estonia) even has a small but fun party scene (dj nightman is the disco w/ good music, cheap drinks, and nice people.) english is not abundant, but can definitely be found amongst the locals. i highly recommend it. also, it's like budapest & prague with excellent large dinners with wine for about $10-15US. go for it!!

[This message has been edited by lonman (edited 10-22-1999).]