Another 'Which FFP?' Thread
 

My son will turn 18 this year and I've offered to pay for a mileage run so he can earn a shiny FFP card of his own.

For the following itinerary, which FFP would be best? He will be flying F to maximize the miles.

HKG-NRT-DEL-NRT-SIN-SYD-AKL-SYD-JFK-LAX-DFW-ANC/SEA-DFW-PHX-LHR-MCT-LHR-CPT-JNB-HKG

My thoughts:

• BA - The trip should get him to Gold/OW Emerald.
• CX - The trip will only have him reach Gold/OW Sapphire, but he flies CX the most.
• QF - Not sure about this program.

Thank you! :)

Is he based in HKG? That would be CX's hub so CX might be better in terms of benefits after gaining elite status.

Yes but he will be going to the U.S. for university.

You will reach QF Platinum (OW emerald) after the LAX-DFW flight. That will allow access to all AA lounges, including the Flagship lounges at LAX/ORD/JFK. However, the earn/burn rate in the QF FFP is among the worst. You could then do an AA Platinum challenge for the remaining flights (except PHX-LHR) and earn a bunch of miles.

What will he be using his card for? That probably decides which programme is the best.

I think he is not looking for award travel. (For award travel, AA is the best, but he cannot use it for non-AA upgrades. If he is flying CX, AA miles cannot be used for upgrades.)

If he wants lounge access:
* AA is the worst. He cannot gets into an OW lounge when traveling domestically.
* BA will put him in the EM category, but if he flies between US and UK, he cannot get BA miles & tier points on AA flights.
* If he can eventually end up in the CX DM tier, then he should go for CX. He has more flexibility when he flies CX, and even when he is flying CX.

Just to clarify, is CX's program the only one that can be linked with Asia Miles?

Also:

BA Gold vs. QF Plat -- any major differences? :)

QF platinum earns points when travelling AA trans-atlantic. On some itineraries BA earns status quicker and on others QF earns status quicker.

BA has 2-4-1 which QF does not have.

He doesn't fly AA so whether he'll earn points won't be an issue. :)

If my estimations are correct, QF status is easier to retain, but 2-4-1 is certainly attractive. ^

With your contacts within CX (which I assume you have considering your CX "Invitation" status), any chance you could ask them to fast track your son's status? Gold status alone would ensure that he would get domestic lounge access in the US. Also sticking with CX means that should anything happen you again can use your contacts higher up the food chain to sort things out.

It is very unlikely that CX will fast track anyone from nothing to a Gold status. CX does not even often comp people unless they flew CX/KA a lot. They may do that for some corporate deals. It may be easier to ask for special consideration for a DMP member.

The biggest problem for OP's son is that, if nothing can be arranged, it will take him at least 210K miles from nothing to Diamond. Perhaps if his son has already flown CX/KA very frequently before he turns 18, it may be possible for MPC to recognise that and perhaps comp him based on his pre-18 flights.

Whilst unlikely, the OP does have IN status which is granted by CX to a select group of customers - similar to BA Premier and QF Chairman's Lounge. Needless to say, I suspect CX will do what they can. Even a fast track to CX Silver MPC status (OW Ruby) would be a bonus as at the very least it would give lounge when the OP's son travels in economy across the Pacific.

As the OPs son is most likely to travel on CX, considering CX has apparently dropped OW Emeralds to below CX Gold, it might be best for the OP to go for CX Gold if they are largely travelling on CX as opposed to getting Emerald with someone else.

Given your proclomation of flying F a whole lot, I presume you usually fly your son F too? In which case what's the need for status?

If it is for lounge access in the US then just buy an Admirals Club membership, or even give him an Amex Platinum chargecard. I don't think AC staff are going to recognise a HK issued one versus a US based one...if they even care.

I am sure OP must have his own reasons. Perhaps his son will be flying J more often than F. Perhaps he like his son to get priority on a full flight (if not on a full fare F). Perhaps he likes his son to get better service from the FAs (OW Fs are still being treated better than non-OW Fs on OW flights).

You are very correct that status is not quite useful if flying F all the time.

Perhaps from Green to Silver but I doubt anything beyond that. :)

And INs below Diamond Plus! :mad:

"Proclomation"?

When he flies solo it is in Business Class. :o

If he is going to fly J a lot on CX, perhaps you can consider CX Gold:
* Unless he is doing a annual MR, he may not be able to keep his OW-EM status. If he cannot keep it up, he may lose first class lounge accesses anyway.
* While he cannot have seat guarantee on J, he can have a high waitlist priority on CX. With CX J often full these days, a high priority can be helpful.
* If he flew 30K already on CX/KA last year, you can try to see if CX can comp him Silver from his pre-18 flights. That moves him ahead pretty fast already.
* Lounges in US are not comparable to those in Asia. There are very few first class lounges (e.g. AA's Flagship lounges) in the US. And these lounges are not really good anyway. So having access to business lounges, such as the Admirals Club, should be good enough.

Unfortunately whilst I can find a few references to DM+, I can't find out what it is exactly and what requirements there are to get it. I assume it is based on spend like PPS?

I'm sure he'll want to make Diamond within the year he makes Gold, but I agree with you! ^

I believe you need to accumulate over 300,000 Club miles. :)

Ouch! I would expect a significant amount of extra benefits for flying that many miles with CX - that said, it sounds suspiciously similar to LH's HON status which is the hardest status to get, but clearly provides the most benefits.

Like what, for example?

No - 300K miles is nothing if you fly Y. Diamond Plus is granted to DMs who are in the top 1% in terms of revenue generated to CX, which translates to about nine full-fare F HKG-JFK round trips every year.

Further discussion here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=602408

300,000 miles in Y? Nothing?

You have got to be kidding.

You would certainly end up with a rather sore posterior! :p

That links goes to a thread discussing getting Silver Medallion status on DL...... :confused:

Sorry, here it is:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=602408

:D

Hey, I'm named in that thread! :)

Is DMP status lifetime or do you lose it if you stop flying that much?

Lifetime - I doubt that - that is so "unCathay". At least I doubt whether they will advertise that.

I think Kchika meant that to CX flying 300K in whY miles was nothing rather than the to the poor pax. I wonder in the ranks of the super fliers on FT (i.e. > 200K miles pa how many do that in whY...

I know I don't. :)

Not me. 260 flights (~60% of total) and 160k flown miles (~30% of total) in economy for me last year.

Hi, Folks

Just need some advise to choose which FFP to reach/maintain the elite status.

Home Base: TPE (Taipei)

Most travelling routes: TPE-HKG by CX in J class, once or twice per month

Other routes in a calender year:

TPE-NRT, could be by CX or JL, twice a year in J or Y class
TPE-SIN (via HKG) by CX or Jetstar Asia (3K, direct flight), once a year in J or Y class
TPE-PVG (via HKG) by CX or KA in J/Y class, once a year in J or Y class
TPE-United States (LAX or SFO) by CX or AA, once a year in J or Y class

I am thinking about CX / QF / AA or even Skyteam/StarAlliance FFP.

Here's my idea:
- most of my friends suggest me stay in CX MPC to remain the Silver.

- QF seems like quite easy to reach Gold/OW Sapphire, but I needs to fly by Jetstar Asia (3K) twice a year to match the minimum requirement of four eligible QF(s) flights per year, it might be a problem.

- Maybe I can take a AA Challenge and paid USD$150 fees to sign up for a Platinum challenge to get AA elite status quickly.

EX: TPE to LAX itinerary
I can purchase AA business class (1.5xEQP) or eligible economy sub-class (1xEQP) and fly non-direct flights (ex: TPE-NRT-SFO-LAX) to make sure to get the maximum EQP, but not sure that AA code-share flights eligible or not??

EX:

TPE-LAX-TPE Code-Share/Operated by Eva Airways
-or-
TPE-NRT-TPE Code-Share/Operated by Japan Airlines
NRT-LAX-NRT Operated by American Airlines
-or-
TPE-SFO-TPE Code-Share/Operated by Eva Airways
SFO-LAX-SFO Operated by American Airlines
-or-
TPE-NRT-TPE Code-Share/Operated by Japan Airlines
NRT-SFO-NRT Code-Share/Operated by Japan Airlines
SFO-LAX-SFO Operated by American Airlines

When I reach the AA Platinum, I can get extra 100% bouns miles when flying CX, so would it be easier to let me maintain the OW elite status in the future?

Thanks in advance for your all kind reply and suggestions! :D

Bonus miles can only be redeemed for awards and do not qualify you for Elite status :(

(updated)

I think the ex-TPE fare for AA/BR code-share are very expensive in Y. AA's GSA (台灣中國運通) only promotes TPE-NRT-USA.

Oh by the way, you can only earn AAdvantage miles for CX's Y/B/H classes if you fly economy. On the other hand, you earn Asia Miles / MPO Club Miles for almost all subclasses on AA that earns miles on AAdvantage.

As per Platinum membership guide and website info,

100% Mileage Bonus
Your miles add up twice as fast since you’ll receive a 100%
mileage bonus on the base or guaranteed minimum miles for
eligible flights on American Airlines, American Eagle,
AmericanConnection and select airline partners. For complete
details please visit aa.com/elitestatusbonus.

aa.com/elitestatusbonus

As an elite-status member you earn an elite status mileage bonus on the base or guaranteed minimum miles for each eligible flight on the carriers listed below:
* American Airlines (including codeshare flights booked as an AA flight number)
* American Eagle®
* AmericanConnection®
* Alaska Airlines
* Cathay Pacific Airways
* Dragonair (Effective November 1, 2007)
* Finnair
* Iberia
* LAN 1
* Qantas Airways
* Royal Jordanian Airlines

Elite Level Elite Status Bonus
AAdvantage Executive Platinum® 100%
AAdvantage Platinum® 100%
AAdvantage Gold® 25%

I think it shoube be qualify for remain elite status when I reach AA Platinum, right?

(Sorry, my mistake and mis-understanding. Someone already explained for me, thanks!)
(I thought that means 100% Bonus EQM for AA Plat, but it should be 100% Bouns RDM)

There are three standard ways to qualify for status with AA:There is another critter Called "Redeemable Miles" (RDM's), this is what one uses to redeem awards.

An AA platinum flying a 1000 mile segment on an AA flight in N class would earn:An AA platinum flying a 1000 mile segment on an AA flight in F class would earn:More here:

Thanks for all explanations.

Therefore, if I can hit 50k EQM per year, the best choice should be AA, not CX, right? since CX MPC's program required 30k EQM / 20 Segments for Silver and than plus 60k EQM / 40 Segments to upgrade to /maintain with Gold tier, I have to catch Gold tier in the 1st year with total of 90k EQM or 60 Segments. In addition, CX MPC did not offer any bonus mileage or upgrade cert. for elite tier members like AA as follow:

- four 500-mile upgrades for every 10k EQM.
- 100% mileage bonus for AA and selected airline partners.

As same tier as OW Sapphire status, AA offered better benefits, low entry threshold and more easy qualification requirements than CX MPC...

The two points I'm considering is about the segments and award redemption value. CX required only 40 segments to maintain Gold tier but AA required 60, and most of my flights was regional shorthaul flights between Taipei and Hong Kong. And CX R/T award tickets in Y / J class only required 15k / 30k between TPE/HKG.....

It seems like I answered my own questions...haha!! I just can not make a decision...

As I said, if you will be taking Y on CX it will be wise to choose MPO, since you can get miles for K, L, M, V tkts on AsiaMiles but not AAdvantage. Also, the 30k+60k thing only happens if you start from zero. If you are already a SL then you simply need 60k in your membership year to achieve gold. If you'd rather have me explain to you in Chinese to make things clearer for you, PM me!