As per my previous post Mrs Ontheroad and I are planning at least one round-trip from GLA to BJI (no, I hadn't heard of it either) in the coming 12 months. Redemptions are possible to MSP or YWG, but both leave us with long drives to our final destination near BJI, which also scuppers our plans to fly into one airport and out of another.

NW is the only airline serving BJI, so we're pretty much stuck to flying GLA-AMS-MSP-BJI, although we can pretty much choose whether to book with DL, NW or KLM. Enquiring on the KLM Flying Blue forum it seems all three FF programmes are equally worthless, although one helpful user suggested I consider joining CSA's OK Plus, because they seem to offer 100% miles on most economy fares.

So, are there any SkyTeam card carriers in the DC forum? And if so, can you recommend which SkyTeam airline might be the best bet for earning miles on T class fares on NW/DL/KL...?

Thanks!

Well, I have an AZ Skyteam Elite + card (through a status match ), however, I would not recommend the AZ MilleMiglia program unless you plan to take a lot of AZ or AP flights or unless you plan to fly a lot in business class.

Most Skyteam partner flights earn either 0% or 50% in economy. KL / DL / NW T class = 50%. The best KL offers book into V class, earning a staggering 0% on AZ

I have an AF FB card which is no good to you but I've been enquiring myself about who else to sign up with to optimize mile earning and what not and the kind folks over in Alaska Airlines forum have been really helpful. AS is a Skyteam Partner Airline (ie not a member) but you can earn on all ST flights on their scheme and they offer some good percentages on the y class fares. Hope this helps.

PS: AS is also a BA/AA partner so helps with crossover redemptions to Oneworld I think

I would second the suggestion to go with AS. It's a decent program, a nice airline, and their customer service mentality is pretty much the opposite of AF/KL. You can earn/burn with AS, NW, KL, AF, CO, AA, BA and CX (among others).

Another vote for AS. Nice redemption rates on a variety of airlines and friendly CS. Whatever you do, stay away from DL. Their "saver" awards may as well not exist, IMHO.

Not sure what your citizenship / credit situation is like but the Canadian branch of MBNA is offering a 20K signup bonus on their AS co-brand Visa with another 5K deposit following a 750 CAD spend.

Thanks to all for the suggestions ^ ^ ^

I would never have even thought of an airline like Alaskan, that'll make for flashy wallet fodder next time I'm buying a round in Glasgow...

And thanks also for the credit card tip YYZC2 - although I used to live under the flightpath to YUL I'm UK based. Will keep an eye out for any promos though.

Why was this posted in a Star-Alliance (bmi Diamond Club) thread ?

Except that you won't receive a card Unless you make it to elite level that is. At least that is my experience.

And indeed another vote for AS. I actually do fly AS quite a bit, but if I would ever have to fly KLM/AF, I will not credit it to my FB card.

This is reassuring to read - I'd plumped for AS as a complementary FFP to DC after some half-assed researching (planning to get the Canadian AS MBNA card shortly)

BTW, MH017 - the OP *did* state it was an OT post, and in my experience, the DC forum regulars seem to be pretty good about such things. I, for one, have appreciated hearing others' views on a complementary non-*A FFP.. or am I in a minority here?

^ to the board regulars for another useful thread that's helped me broaden my understanding of making the most of FFPs

Ditto sofasurfer. I posted this question knowing with the 'OT' prefix for a reason - although this is the DC forum the knowledge, expertise and experience of the people here extends far beyond DC, and being in the completely blind situation of being able to choose any FF programme within SkyTeam, I was looking for suggestions from FFers within my primary programme...

And I found it ^ Thank you everyone...

Looks interesting as a catch-all FFP for my non-*A flights, when I'm pushed. I'd imagine most of them would end up being BA, or one of the American carriers. I guess there's no SkyTeam status attached? Though earning status should probably not be a priority of mine (always fly in Y, have a Priority Pass anyway).

Hmm...

Status thresholds are pretty low on AS (top tier is 50K MPM I think) and the bennies are pretty good (including upgrades on AS metal). If you fly them at all, it's a brilliant program. If not, it's still better than the alternatives I think.

BTW, any idea if they'll status match after you actually sign up with 'em?
(or, indeed, other FFPs in general?)

(depending on when DC-> M&M is going to eventually happen, there's a faint chance I could make *G - which would be all kinds of useful )

No status matches - the AS forum is full of active AS employees who are wise to that.

after some valuable input from the bmi forum, I'll move this over to Skyteam for further debate.

Oxon Flyer
bmi moderator team