Yeah, I know there isn't much to do. And I do know that I should only credit to one airline per alliance (if possible). I do have some SAS flights coming up in the early summer, so I might get EB Silver. And I know that I have at least 4 KL flights from late summer to early summer next year. Which unfortunately passes the end date of this qualifying period. So if I manage to get EB Silver, is there a ST FFP that may match that? Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about the Norwegian flights, but fortunately there are less than two of them per year (normally).

Question to those who have achieved Lifetime Status in ST …
I have just received Plat for Life under the FlyingBlue program, and would like to start accumulating ST mileage under a different program that also offers Lifetime Status eventually.
Which program would you suggest?

I don't see the point of this initiative for another ST program...:confused:
What you should do is doing this in OW or *A.
But may be I am missing something ?

Ah, yes … sorry.
I'm already onboard OW (via QF) and *A (via OZ). QF both are on target for lifetime, albeit QF not receiving top tier Emerald status.
So, I'm looking for another ST because I do fly ST when it may not be possible to fly OW or *A.

In that case, unless there is another ST carrier you fly a lot where you live, there is no real interest to build a new top status for life in another ST airline. Just pile up miles in FB and use them.

[deleted]

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
upgrades, priority services, baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, lounge access, etc.
>>> Reply:
In this case Award access, redemption rates, and mileage expiration are my key factors. I am mostly looking for a place to park my miles.

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
less than 25000 miles, 50000+ miles and 20-25 flights, etc.
>>> Reply:
I am flying over 100k miles a year w/SA, but I do fly a few thousand miles a year on ST - mostly on AF & DL

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
first, business, premium economy, economy
>>> Reply:
economy

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
>>> Reply:
I am mostly flying ST for work, where I have to fly SA unless there is no direct flight.

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply:
Mostly domestic USA and intra-european.

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply:
SFO

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply:
1k on UA, working on OZ for free UA lounge access

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply:
I cant say I prefer UA, but I am hub-bound and work-bound to them

Unexpectly took a longhaul CI flight in J. If I credit to CI's Dynasty, I should be getting 175% mileage. But wondering if there's any better solution? I don't normally fly on Skyteam.

For example I see that DL miles never expire, and there's the ever slightly chance of me taking DL for US trips since I'm based out of YVR.

Not looking for any elite status out of ST, but just somewhere to park my miles while getting most bang for my buck.


Questionnaire: Copy and paste into your post
Provide the requested information.

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
upgrades, priority services, baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, lounge access, etc.
>>> Reply: good award redemption, better award access, long term expirary of miles

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
less than 25000 miles, 50000+ miles and 20-25 flights, etc.
>>> Reply: ~30,000, but usually not on ST

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
first, business, premium economy, economy
>>> Reply: Economy

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
>>> Reply: Yes / Pleasure & work

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
transatlantic, domestic USA, intra-Asia, etc.
>>> Reply: Transpacific and intra-Asia

6. What is your home airport?
>>> Reply: YVR

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: n/a

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: CX, NH

If you have already taken the flight (as your text) note many ffp's only allow you to credit if a signed up member at the date of the flight.
A minority of ffp's allow you sign up and credit flights previously taken.

https://www.wheretocredit.com/china-airlines/j
125% ff miles in one ffp may get you a longer award flight than 175% in another ffp. Earn to burn is what counts with awards.

DL is a good catchall ffp due to no expiry of ff miles.
Be mindful of expiry Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire. Click to open the wiki.

Yes, I already visited wheretocredit, and that's where I found out the 175% CI vs 100% on DL.
So which ST airline would have a better burn rate?

Thanks - I wasn't aware that most only limit you to signing on on date of flight.
The airlines I usually take (CX,AC,AS) usually let you retro-claim mileage within 6 months of the flight.
Which airline allow this on Skyteam? CI? DL?

In the thread https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/info...help-here.html post 2 has info on "Retro credit of flights taken before signing up to a FFP". But may be out of date and does not cover all ffp's.
https://thepointsguy.com/guide/retro...ileage-credit/

For earn to burn have a look at www.awardhacker.com. Do a few sample routes.

Good luck with the investigation

Thanks, most of those links do not cover ST's FFP's.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/info...help-here.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22311026-post3.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/info...alliances.html
https://www.finder.com.au/how-to-cla...t-flyer-points

The best link I could find was
https://thepointsguy.com/guide/retro...ileage-credit/
that mentions about DL
Also China Airline's application form
https://www.china-airlines.com/us/en...tcm42-7415.pdf
So the problem with retro claim should not be a problem on CI or DL. Just matter of which FFP has a better burn rate. ANd how much I would value DL's no-expirary vs. CI's 3 year expirary.

Neat site, but it doesn't cover China Airline's Dynasty and lots of ST programs. Will need to manually pull those up.
But a few samples clearly shows DL has a much lower rate than KE. So unless one wants to go for lifetime status on KE...

I'm trying to get a second opinion on my plan before I proceed with it. I thought DL would make the most sense for ST program due to the generous MQM crediting from MU. Which program is the easiest to get ST Elite Plus? Given I fly with MU and I have DL AMEX, I think this may be the best plan, but I just learned about the KE's program. Unless I'm mistaken, I just need 500k to get lifetime ST Elite plus with them? For a second there, I thought this was similar to OZ's program, but then I also need to fly KE metal in order to obtain status? When I do fly within the US, I do prefer DL so from that stand point, I thought I nailed down on the program of choice, but I do fly across the Pacific more than I do within the US. So what do you guys think?

I'm a Star Alliance FF but I have to travel from YUL to BKO and the price for Premium Economy with AF vs Standard Economy with TK is the same. Not to mention the significantly longer travel time with TK. So I'll have to break my allegiance.

Nonetheless, I have a 10,000 Skypoints balance from my previous escapades with Delta, but I was wondering if I'd be better off signing up for Flying Blue. I don't anticipate flying with ST anytime soon.