Two friends are about to fly Alitalia.

Which FF program should they join? They're based in the UK and fly coach/economy, and of the Skyteam airlines will probably mainly fly the European ones, and fairly infrequently at that. They'd want to use miles for whatever made sense for the smallish number of miles they'll be collecting -- probably redemption inside Europe.

Which program gives 100% mileage credit for discount economy fares?
Which program has the best redemptions for tickets inside Europe?
Which program's miles last the longest?
And are there are special offers now they should register for?
As a couple, can they pool their miles in some sort of "family account"?

Thanks...

For your information, there are not "family accounts" that allow pooling of miles.

Please note that these are "Frequent Flyer" programs, meaning that they are designed for people who fly alot in order to garner their loyalty.

Too many infrequent flyers worry about "which program to join...."

If they are infrequent flyers, they are probably best served by flying what ever airline has the cheapest fares to where they are going. The actual choice of program within an alliance will probably not be an important issue as they will likely never earn enough miles for a free ticket, or if they do, they will have paid more unnecessarily for the tickets in order to qualify for the free flight.

That said, if they are flying on AZ, then I would suggest AZ's program.

Cheers

They should choose a Skyteam Airline that serves their area the most.

In the UK if I had to choose, I'd go with AF/KLM, since they have alot of flights all through Europe compared to Alitalia (who by way has had financial trouble for years!!)

I'd go with KL/AF, seemed when I was looking at fares from London to Europe, KLM had some great fares....

(void)

Flying Blue offers just 25% of miles in KL/AZ V-Class - which is the class I�d choose (cheap eco) - AZ gives 100%. I did VIE-AMS-JFK-DTW-AMS-VIE with 10k+ miles on AZ, FB had earned only about 2k5. But AZ is starting with restrictions as well - from January this year no miles for KE V-Class anymore (and even Q!!)

So in the ST Alliance I�d say that AZ is best for cheap eco miles.

Check Mile Maven for details. www.milemaven.com

Plus: AZ miles never expire (well, as long as AZ exists )

FB offers full miles on all AZ flights and also on all CO and DL, which IMO is better than any other ST program (if you like CO/DL/AZ)

Take a look at AZ's mileage requirements for award tickets and those of other SkyTeam partners. AZ generally wants less for Business Class and, because it includes a number of countries (Israel, Lebanon, Jordan among others) in Europe, much less for both Coach and Business to these countries.

I meant AF, not AZ - sorry.


FB just 25% on AF or KL in V-Class.
Mille Miglia (AZ) 100% on AF or KL in V-Class.

also on NW in V-class only 25%. But you get full files on all CO, DL, and AZ revenue booking classes. Upshot is, look at your travel pattern and select what is best for you.
If you want to compare FB and MM (AZ), you could also argue that FB gives you free domestic upgrades on NW and domestic lounge access; to my knowledge MM does not offer this!

This is incorrect. A number of airlines allow for pooling of miles within a family. In SkyTeam the only airline that allows for it is Korean Air (KE) as far as I know. My family and I have freely shared and pooled miles between our individual KE SkyPass accounts for years with no problems whatsoever.

peace,
~Ben~

I find Alitalia useful for Europe.

I find Continental useful for international flights.

Both statements in terms of collecting and spending miles.

For infrequent flyers an important feature for the choice of the FF program is the non-expiration of miles. AZ miles currently don't expire, while AF/KL miles do expire. Also CO miles don't expire.
I would choose either AZ or CO.

If you fly once every 3 years, AF/KL miles will never expire. If you fly even less, why collect miles in the first place

After a search I do not see this specific question answered....
I want to use skyteam/onepass for my trip to Cyprus (yyz-mxp-lca-mxp-yyx).
AZ awards EQM on YYZ-MXP, however AZ is using CY on MXP-LCA. If the ticket numbers on my MXP-LCA segments are "AZ XXXX", does that mean I will gain EQM on the CY segments?
CO.COM quote:Mileage Accrual Chart--Alitalia (AZ) flight number on ticket for Alitalia- and Alitalia Express-operated flights

and of course they say this too:All other fare classes do not accrue mileage. Continental Airlines and Alitalia reserve the right to change the eligible fare classes at any time without notice.

thank you for any help you can provide