Hiddeflyer

I'm flying from Europa to Australia next week business class Singapore airways. I typically fly Skyteam but they have no suitable flights here.

I have a relatively old MileagePlus account from United that has maybe 15-20k miles (not a lot) that's the same alliance. The singapore airlines flight alone is probably more miles. What should I do:
- Create a new Krisflyer account if I fly with Singapore airlines? It seems like it is not possible to gain status on the united program if I don't use at least some united marketed flights?
- Credit the miles to the Mileageplus account that I have?
- Create a new account in another star alliance partner.

I'm interested both in the miles itself as potentially getting status. I'll have a second business class flight soon-ish with Singapore so may not be impossible.
I'm traveling with someone that is in the same situation but has a lufthansa account rather than united. Any recommendations on that one?

LondonElite

Where do you live and what are your typical destinations?

hclee01

If you are looking at status, SQ currently has a promo till Feb 2022 where KF members can earn elite status miles by transferring miles from their credit card accounts to KF account. This way, together with your flight elite miles, you should be able to attain the KrisFlyer Elite Gold status (Star Alliance Gold status) relatively easily.

https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/s...tatus-credits/

Hiddeflyer

I live in Netherlands but I have enough miles in skyteam to travel from here so this would be useful for some future trips that I am considering, maybe even around the world in the next 2-3 years potentially including some more exotic things (south pacific) but could be anywhere really.

LondonElite

There may be some current quirks, but in general, US-based FFPs have historically been more generous in both the collection and redemption of miles/points. There are exceptions and limitations (F-redemptions on SQ), but I would tend to stick with UA.

roc83

in general it depends what you want to get out of the mileage program. As KrisFlyer Elite Gold benefits on SQ are very limited - actually when you fly business there is no benefit; status recognition (e.g. being able to book first row seats) is usually only for PPS members. But with 2 flights in Business Class getting PPS is very unlikely (unless you booked a super expensive fully flex fare) as it requires 25K SGD spend... So you wont have much status benefits. SQ usually doesnt give free upgrades to its frequent flyers - even PPS members almost never get any upgrades - as they hardly overbook their flights. And during this times likelihood of overbooking is 0.
If you just want an easy way to get *G status then it might be worth, also considering that you can use credit card miles to earn status miles.
For your friend with Lufthansa status - I assume you both live in Europe - in that case (if his flight volume is sufficient to achieve SEN status with LH) it might make sense to collect miles with LH - at least they give you 2 upgrade voucher, you may have some chance for complimentary upgrades in case of overbookings, etc. - otherwise if SEN is unachievable for your friend and it is only about achieving *G, might be worth to do it with SQ

To collect miles - guess 2 flights in business class wont earn you enough miles for some long haul flight redemption in business class - unless u have some more flights with SQ not worth it and you might be better to collect with other airlines

Hiddeflyer

I've also tried to figure out some things myself but I got really confused

On singapore airlines it's relatively straightforward:
- My ticket is a combination between J and D classes. I think it gives me 150% miles for J and 125% for D. The distance flown is roughly 20k miles so I'd get between 25k and 30k for the return
- I guess that's both the number of award and elite miles I get so a second trip would get me star alliance gold and I would have 50-60k miles in the bank for award travel?

On united I am totally confused:
- I can't find how many award miles I would actually earn here
- For the status I am also confused, it says somewhere I need 4 united segments flown to get status. Is that true? In that can I would never get close to status and only earn the miles
- There seems to be a maximum PQPs per partner flight (is that per leg?) of 1000 and it looks like you need 7000 for gold so isn't that potentially harder to achieve?

On LH:
- Seems it's 200% miles for both J and D? so 40k miles?
- But the senator status seems harder to reach as 2 return trips isn't enough anymore?

LondonElite

If you never fly to the US you essentially can't fly on UA metal, which means you can't meet the 4 UA segments requirement and can't earn status.

Hiddeflyer

Ok thanks, then United is out for me I think as I can get the gold on Singapore (but not lufthansa) I will probably sign up for Krisflyer

Mwenenzi

SQ ff miles have a hard 3 year expiry. Use them on loose them. Beware.
Link (open wiki)-->Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire

Very true, but USA based ffp's are morphing into frequent spender programs

Does UA still have the 4 own metal for status?
***********
One flight/trip is not a sound basis to select a new ffp. Not likely to get status with any ffp.
What other Star Alliance airlines may you fly?
SQ is a ffp of AS and other airlines.--->https://www.wheretocredit.com/singapore-airlines/j
Need advice on which *A FF scheme to join? - please post here

To me adding to something you have UA is better than a new ffp where the miles will/may expire before you use them. Small amounts of ff miles can be of no use. Never have enough for a decent award.
UA ff miles now do not expire. A *big* bonus for infrequent Star Alliance flyers

Edit
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...r/qualify.html

LondonElite

Yes. Not sure if a codeshare counts, but I don't see that helping OP.

Very true!

Kacee

I think KF miles are generally more valuable these days than UA miles (though expiration can be a concern). You'll want to look at each program's accrual rules and figure out how many your flights will earn. SQ is really tight with mileage earnings, and SQ flights do not earn particularly well on UA either.

There are also a number of programs, e.g., A3 and OZ, on which it's relatively easier to earn/keep *G status.

Hiddeflyer

Thanks for all the advice. Seems it's a trade-off where for United my miles stay valid forever while for KF they expire - but with KF I can get star alliance gold with the two flights but I cannot with United (because of the united segment requirement).

Can anyone tell me how many award miles I would earn with United? I cannot find the table for partner airlines

Mwenenzi

What benefit will star alliance gold be to you? (other than a shining bit of plastic)
Will/do you fly much with Star alliance airlines?

roc83

Yes thats the key question needs to be answered. As mentioned when flying SQ J then KFEG doesnt give any benefits (except a little more luggage, there are definitely no soft/unpublished benefits) - hence in that case i would rather look for the program where you can use the miles best. If you fly on LH Group airlines in Europe, then be aware that KFEG only helps when flying LH - if you fly Eurowings (i.e. all flights which do not go to Frankfurt/Munich/Zurich/Brussels/Vienna) then again there is no benefit