bigmillz

I guess I should ask the million dollar question. With upgrades off the table in Europe at least, aside from lounge access (which I get a lot of through Amex), what exactly makes an FFP worthwhile for someone residing outside of the US?

guv1976

Are you aware that status in the AAdvantage program can now be earned simply from credit-card spend? Not sure how much of your monthly spend you would want to divert from Amex to a Citi or Barclays AA card, but you could attain oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status just from spend.

AA has seasonal LIS-PHL service; oneworld members BA, Finnair, Iberia, and Royal Air Maroc serve LIS year-round.

More information about AA's new "Loyalty Points" status-qualification program here:

https://exploreamerican.com/newaadvantage/

ft101

Take your pick from priority check-in, priority boarding, priority baggage delivery, free wifi, bonus miles, dedicated phone support team, complimentary seat selection, excess baggage allowance, long haul upgrades etc. Airline lounges are usually better than Amex lounges too, especially if at a home base.

bigmillz

Oneworld has the fewest partners, doesn't it? Not that this is a deal breaker, but I fear it may limit my chances to build & use status more.

bigmillz

I did check here: Delta Sky Team Partners : Delta Air Lines
It seems the upgrades appear on the fewest airlines partners (only Aeromexico as far as I can tell), and that's definitely the most valuable perk to me - even to just seats with more leg room. I get priority boarding via a disability, leaving really just the baggage perks, priority support, and priority check-in as worthwhile benefits for me personally.

Getting tough to justify it :/ - but thank you for bringing this to my attention

guv1976

That's true, but oneworld includes AS, CX, JL, QF, and QR. AA also has a couple of non-oneworld-partners -- GOL and B6 -- on whom flying can count towards AAdvantage status. And AA has some other non-oneworld partners on whom miles can be earned and redeemed.

A lot depends on where you will be flying for cash, and where you will be flying on awards. But you won't be getting nonstops from LIS on AA or oneworld to anyplace outside of Europe (except PHL, seasonally, and CMN). I suggested AA because it was not clear to me from your intended flying patterns (primarily in Economy) how readily you would be able to achieve status merely by flying; with AA, you can now achieve it merely by spending.

Mwenenzi

For any alliance & airline ffp non alliance partners you need to look at routes/destinations they fly and if you would fly those routes/destinations.

https://www.oneworld.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oneworld

https://www.skyteam.com/en
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTeam

https://flights.staralliance.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Alliance

With non USA airlines I would forget about getting (frequent low cost) upgrades.
Many airlines do not have the USA equivalent of economy plus (more legroom), or what ever jargon is used.
Some airlines have premium economy which is a different class.
USA and non USA airlines operate differently.

Palal

I'll restate what I said in the other thread...

In Portugal, LCCs + TP (when needed) are the way to go. Intra-EU biz class sucks. FR has more legroom than legacies.
ex-LIS - star alliance is the obvious choice. oneworld is the second obvious choice (usually cheaper to go through MAD on OW and cheaper to start in MAD/BCN and fly through LIS on *A).
I'm not a huge fan of TP - they have poor seating, lackluster on-board service and if anything goes wrong - good luck! However, they do cover the most destinations ex-LIS especially long-haul.

guv1976

Somehow, I don't think that the OP would be very happy with 28" seat pitch on FR's newest planes:

https://onemileatatime.com/news/ryanair-boeing-737-max/

Palal

TP and VY have miserable pitch.

bigmillz

I have been looking at maps of routes...you're definitely right. And thanks as well - the consensus here seems that non-US airlines operate their FFPs very differently.

I noticed the same, regarding flying out of MAD. I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a high speed train there too.

I've considered moving to Cuenca, Ecuador as well, and it's the same situation. Best rates are to go CUE>UIO or GYE and then onwards. Flights out of CUE either don't exist, or are ridiculously expensive.

Yea, I'm really big on legroom above all. Screaming kids climbing seats, reclining laptop-on-tray slammers, and no middle row all come second to me. I'm not even 6ft but flying economy on a long flight is borderline intolerable sometimes! My legs cramp up for days. Guess it's that "economy class syndrome" 😅

sokolov

Check Aegean. I find it worth my while.