I just recently left UAL so I no longer have my so called flight benefit and need to begin playing the points game. I am trying to figure out which points program to begin accruing with. I have two travel priorities Europe & Texas. I presently live in San Francisco. I have family in IAH and AUS otherwise all travel would be to Europe, primarily CDG.

AF & KL have non-stops out of SFO so it would be great to start accruing with them but since I see my self traveling to IAH and AUS quite often as well I am wondering if I should start with CO.

I was wondering how status was handled between sky team air lines, how easy it was to redeem points on partners, and if was faster to achieve a status with Flying Blue or OnePass?

What I witnessed with Star Alliance partners at UAL has tempered my expectations greatly. I just bought my ticket back to IAH for Thanksgiving on CO and I was waiting to figure out which points card to present when I checked in.

Merci!

status is faster with AF. 40k miles is gold and ST E+, hence lounge access. You also get lounge access domestically with NW and upgrades (if you don't live in the US ). CO gets you domestic upgrades (+NW) and better Elite bonus, but you will need 75k for lounge access (international) and none domestic. If you fly AF anyway and book V-vlass (=100% miles) I would go with FB. OP is a good program too, it all depends on what you want and what is most important for you.
Redemption is about the same, AF gives Elites substantially more Y awards.

So it would appear that accruing with AF/KL would be the smarter choice since I would rather get rewarded on my transatlantic travel. However something occured to me ... security. Would I be allowed to use the priority line at security with my AF/KL status in the US on a domestic flight? I would tend to think not. Maybe I should just do both AF/KL and CO.

I know that I would accrue points quickly on AF/KL because its over ten hours to CDG from SFO I will not be torturing myself in tempo.

Yes, if you have status you can use the Elite security lines. My CO BPs always read 'Elite Access'. All CO and DL flights give you full miles, but be aware that rock-bottom AF/KL (and some other partner) fare classes only give 25-50% EQM. Also AF/KL will charge you fuel surcharges on award tickets (like most European Airlines). There are some good things to FB (else I would have switched to WP a long time ago) and some bad things. Check the FB forum for details.
Depends on what you want vs. what you can stand.

So as I understand things as an AF/KL FB member:

-I will achieve elite status faster than CO OnePass
-I can use the priority security line on domestic flights as an elite.
-CO and DL flights will give me the full mile value (they will not be EQM though)
-I will not be able to use CO lounges as an FB gold (elite) when flying on a CO ticket (I don't like that)
-I will have access to NW lounges as an ST elite. And of course AF/KL lounges.
-I would not get upgrades on domestic CO flights.

The things that are most important to me in order are

1. Security! (Avoiding that line as much as possible) (As a former air line empoyee I know that that will be the hardest part of my transition back to a normal passenger.)
2. Upgrades
3. Lounge Access
4. Redeeming Miles

So it would seem that I should go with FB because security is my primary concern.

From a security perspective, any elite status will do, so that's not an issue.

Neither carrier officially offers TATL upgrades for free, so don't expect much there. If you are flying from SFO to Texas you'll probably be on CO if you pick SkyTeam, so you should try for CO elite to get the upgrades there. That being said, the SFO-IAH route is pretty hard for upgrades, so don't expect them.

Lounge access for ST E+ is only valid for same-day international travel. That means you don't get access for your SFO-TX flights, though you would for your SFO-France flights.

I don't see any indication that DL/CO flights wouldn't earn EQMs on FlyingBlue, so I'm not sure where that came from.

You can earn CO EQMs on Alaska Air as well, so that may play into things depending on where else you fly out west.

Overall, I like CO, but the 40K miles for ST E+ is pretty nice, and the OpUp chances are better on the home carrier for the TATL runs. Combined with the fact that CO upgrades are pretty hard to come by on the west coast runs, FB sounds like the right choice.

Arrgh, I didn't know that. Although I've got a FB membership I signed up for OP since I sometimes fly EVA. I recently put miles from two long-haul flights onto the OP program; I should have put them into FB instead considering the faster status and lounge access benefit!

Is there any comparison table for SkyTeam programs like the one made for *A by BlondeBomber?

I was just in a similar position, but decided to stay with Delta. I was debating flying using my FB number since I love Air France on my LAX-CDG flights.

I'd recommend signing up with Delta and booking a reward on AF. AF doesn't have the perks online like the skymiles shopping (you'd have to use NW if you live in the US, but those aren't AF miles).

To be clear, most of those FB benefits are only available if you live outside the US. If you sign up with a US address, you'll not get Elite+ until 70,000, no lounge access, and no domestic upgrades.

The other thing to consider are the intangibles: quality and availability of service from the program, etc. A quick trip through the FB forum will be enlightening.

Oops! I think I found the answer to my question... here (SkyTeam charts by Gnopps)

JohnPaul, it might be a good idea to check Gnopps' compilation of comparisons for other possible options.

Flying Blue it is.

Thanks for all the help.

JohnPaul

well, you don't get access to CO lounges as a CO Elite either

and as Alan pointed out: try and get a mailing address outside of the US (e.g. Canada, Europe), else NW lounge access on domestic flights and upgrades on NW might not work (although at least lounge access there are numerous reports that it works nether the less).

I dumped Nonepass years ago... few upgrades on BOS-IAH ever available and never any international seats available. AF is much better.