Jan 20, 2016, 10:53 pm
Last edit by: jtet
A number of threads have been started with members asking for guidance on which mileage programme they should join. In order to help users I have started this thread to allow people to post their requests for information here and to allow people to offer assistance.
For members asking for information please help people to assist you, can you provide:
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Silver, M&M Senator etc)
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? (Frequent upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, good award redemption rates, free lounge access, etc.)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
(7) Preferred Airlines
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
GENERAL INFORMATION:
If you fly less than 50k miles per year: it is almost guaranteed that your choice will be between Aegean Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Asiana Airlines. Please look up these airlines' frequent flier programs, and make a decision as to which best suits your needs.
Some considerations to take into account:
Airlines tend to treat members of their own frequent flier program better than members of other frequent flier programs. If you fly one of these airlines, it is recommended that you choose that airline.
Some airlines have better earning/redemption charts for your pattern. For example, if you fly on cheap fares on a certain airline often, Turkish might give you miles for it, while Aegean might not. However, Turkish Airlines might charge much more for the redemption that you want to make than Aegean.
Asiana Airlines offers lifetime Star Alliance Gold for 500k miles over life. The other 2 airlines do not offer this benefit.
Asiana Airlines has a credit card in the USA and some other countries. If you are interested in credit cards, check to make sure that the program that you join has a credit card in your country.
If you still aren't sure which frequent flyer program is for you after looking these up, feel free to ask on this thread.
For members asking for information please help people to assist you, can you provide:
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Silver, M&M Senator etc)
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? (Frequent upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, good award redemption rates, free lounge access, etc.)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
(7) Preferred Airlines
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
GENERAL INFORMATION:
If you fly less than 50k miles per year: it is almost guaranteed that your choice will be between Aegean Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Asiana Airlines. Please look up these airlines' frequent flier programs, and make a decision as to which best suits your needs.
Some considerations to take into account:
Airlines tend to treat members of their own frequent flier program better than members of other frequent flier programs. If you fly one of these airlines, it is recommended that you choose that airline.
Some airlines have better earning/redemption charts for your pattern. For example, if you fly on cheap fares on a certain airline often, Turkish might give you miles for it, while Aegean might not. However, Turkish Airlines might charge much more for the redemption that you want to make than Aegean.
Asiana Airlines offers lifetime Star Alliance Gold for 500k miles over life. The other 2 airlines do not offer this benefit.
Asiana Airlines has a credit card in the USA and some other countries. If you are interested in credit cards, check to make sure that the program that you join has a credit card in your country.
If you still aren't sure which frequent flyer program is for you after looking these up, feel free to ask on this thread.
Need advice on which *A FF scheme to join? - please post here
Feb 11, 2011, 3:06 pm
#136
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: United 1K/*G, HHonors Platinum
Posts: 142
(1) What is your home airport? LAX
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Mostly C, some Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? Between 50K and 100K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Delta Platinum
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Priority services when flying, free lounge access, and frequent upgrades on travel
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? About 2-3 transpacific (and within East and Southeast Asia), 1-2 transatlantic, 2-3 domestic, 1 CZM and 1 HNL
(7) Preferred Airlines: ANA, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Asiana
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Mostly work, but I can choose to some degree
I am thinking of United Airlines Mileage Plus but UA does not credit C travel any more than 100% but ANA and TK and LH do. Any help is appreciated, thanks.
Markie - Co-Mod *A
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Mostly C, some Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? Between 50K and 100K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Delta Platinum
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Priority services when flying, free lounge access, and frequent upgrades on travel
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? About 2-3 transpacific (and within East and Southeast Asia), 1-2 transatlantic, 2-3 domestic, 1 CZM and 1 HNL
(7) Preferred Airlines: ANA, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Asiana
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Mostly work, but I can choose to some degree
I am thinking of United Airlines Mileage Plus but UA does not credit C travel any more than 100% but ANA and TK and LH do. Any help is appreciated, thanks.
Markie - Co-Mod *A
Feb 11, 2011, 10:27 pm
#137
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 1
best FF program for MEM?
(1) What is your home airport? MEM
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? cheapest available, via Travelocity, etc.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 15-25K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? top priority: Good award redemption rates; next priority: upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? US Domestic
(7) Preferred Airlines
None
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Half work, half pleasure
Thanks for any suggestions!
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? cheapest available, via Travelocity, etc.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 15-25K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? top priority: Good award redemption rates; next priority: upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? US Domestic
(7) Preferred Airlines
None
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Half work, half pleasure
Thanks for any suggestions!
Feb 13, 2011, 4:37 pm
#138
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 4
which *A FF scheme
I am now using Miles and More from LH and CSA OK Plus. I think LH has pretty hard elite status conditions and pretty bad earnings.
(1) What is your home airport?
VIE, BTS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
cheapest available
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
25-45k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present?
None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Good mile earnings and redemptions (for this OK Plus is much better than M&M). Possible upgrades.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? European Union
(7) Preferred Airlines
None
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Half work, half pleasure, but for work I buy my tickets and can choose everything.
I am starting to think, that LH M&M is not the best option for me. OK+ has worse availability and VIE is mainly *A domain anyway.
(1) What is your home airport?
VIE, BTS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
cheapest available
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
25-45k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present?
None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Good mile earnings and redemptions (for this OK Plus is much better than M&M). Possible upgrades.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? European Union
(7) Preferred Airlines
None
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Half work, half pleasure, but for work I buy my tickets and can choose everything.
I am starting to think, that LH M&M is not the best option for me. OK+ has worse availability and VIE is mainly *A domain anyway.
Feb 19, 2011, 10:01 pm
#139
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: AVV
Programs: QF, HH
Posts: 1,112
I've been thinking recently about joining a *A program due to the fact that, especially in Europe, I'll no doubt be flying here and there from time to time. To be honest, however, I'm not all that much of a frequent flyer at present, but do hope that to change!
1) What is your home airport? (MEL)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (Economy)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<20K)
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (No, only Bronze QFF)
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? (free lounge access, good award redemption rates, Frequent upgrades on travel)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (Australia domestic, hope to travel to NZ possibly a few times a year from 2012+)
(7) Preferred Airlines (Emirates, Singapore, European carriers, AirNZ)
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (pleasure)
While I'm more likely to be using AirNZ more often than other *A airlines, I mainly want to join this group because of the large amount of European airlines linked with *A. So, what would you suggest. Should I join a European airline or AirNZ?
1) What is your home airport? (MEL)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (Economy)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<20K)
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (No, only Bronze QFF)
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? (free lounge access, good award redemption rates, Frequent upgrades on travel)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (Australia domestic, hope to travel to NZ possibly a few times a year from 2012+)
(7) Preferred Airlines (Emirates, Singapore, European carriers, AirNZ)
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (pleasure)
While I'm more likely to be using AirNZ more often than other *A airlines, I mainly want to join this group because of the large amount of European airlines linked with *A. So, what would you suggest. Should I join a European airline or AirNZ?
Feb 20, 2011, 3:10 pm
#140
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: All of them
Posts: 214
Which *A FFP for me?
I'm considering a career move that would have me and my family flying back and forth between the Southeastern US and Southeast Asia. Our most common airports would be ATL and BHM on the US side and SIN and CGK on the SE Asia side.
Where should we bank our miles for *A flights? It doesn't necessarily have to be an American based carrier though that would be a plus due to the credit card sign up bonuses.
Where should we bank our miles for *A flights? It doesn't necessarily have to be an American based carrier though that would be a plus due to the credit card sign up bonuses.
Feb 21, 2011, 3:15 am
#141
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: GVA,OPO
Programs: BD the last decent FFP
Posts: 1,856
2 questions:
- Would you be travelling paid Y or C (or F)?
- What would you be wanting to get out of the status you'll earn (lounge access; upgrades; or access to redemption awards to burn the miles (and within redemption are you willing to pay to travel premium classes or you just want a Y seat for little cost?)
The easy answer to your question is usually join the FFP of the airline you'll use the most (guess UA?)
however:
If you fly paid C or F (or even Y with US carriers) you can consider bmi DC while they are still around (at least 2011 is secure).
- low Gold threshold at 38000 miles (2 Y returns would requalify for gold)
- lounge access even in the US (if 2 are Gold in the family that can put 4 of you in the longe)
- low redemption amounts needed, however with fuel surcharges which tend to pile up vs what you can get on US carriers.
- family account, good if you have kids to manage their miles in as a single bucket.
GBM
- Would you be travelling paid Y or C (or F)?
- What would you be wanting to get out of the status you'll earn (lounge access; upgrades; or access to redemption awards to burn the miles (and within redemption are you willing to pay to travel premium classes or you just want a Y seat for little cost?)
The easy answer to your question is usually join the FFP of the airline you'll use the most (guess UA?)
however:
If you fly paid C or F (or even Y with US carriers) you can consider bmi DC while they are still around (at least 2011 is secure).
- low Gold threshold at 38000 miles (2 Y returns would requalify for gold)
- lounge access even in the US (if 2 are Gold in the family that can put 4 of you in the longe)
- low redemption amounts needed, however with fuel surcharges which tend to pile up vs what you can get on US carriers.
- family account, good if you have kids to manage their miles in as a single bucket.
GBM
Feb 21, 2011, 5:21 am
#142
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: All of them
Posts: 214
We would definitely be using paid Y tickets. Given the fact that the flights are so long, the most important thing we're looking for is upgrades. Lounge access would be nice too. And when we use the miles to redeem flights we'll be redeeming C (maybe F) tickets.
The problem with selecting the airline that I fly most is there's not really an airline I fly most. In the past I've flown DL, SQ, MH, and CX. I've never flown the same airline twice, and I would have very little control over which airline we would fly with.
The problem with selecting the airline that I fly most is there's not really an airline I fly most. In the past I've flown DL, SQ, MH, and CX. I've never flown the same airline twice, and I would have very little control over which airline we would fly with.
Feb 21, 2011, 6:04 am
#143
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 1
Best Star Alliance program for Indian resident
Hi guys - appreciate if you could help me, i'm a bit of a weird flyer... and because I've just moved to India about a year ago, with a new travel schedule, I'm kind of starting from scratch!
(1) What is your home airport? DEL (Delhi)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Business Class, class D
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? actual flying: 3 RT to the US each year, plus a little more travel around, so around 50,000 miles per year, i think?
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Right now no status on non-Indian airlines (none are yet part of any alliance)
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1) Lounge access, 2) Upgrades on travel, 3) Priority service
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Usually India-US and back. I like star alliance because between Swiss & LH, I can have a 1-connection anywhere, and there's direct on CO for NYC.
(7) Preferred Airlines: outside of Indian airlines, LH, LX i suppose
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) Mix, but I can usually choose by airlines, usually fly business
(1) What is your home airport? DEL (Delhi)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Business Class, class D
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? actual flying: 3 RT to the US each year, plus a little more travel around, so around 50,000 miles per year, i think?
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Right now no status on non-Indian airlines (none are yet part of any alliance)
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1) Lounge access, 2) Upgrades on travel, 3) Priority service
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Usually India-US and back. I like star alliance because between Swiss & LH, I can have a 1-connection anywhere, and there's direct on CO for NYC.
(7) Preferred Airlines: outside of Indian airlines, LH, LX i suppose
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) Mix, but I can usually choose by airlines, usually fly business
Feb 21, 2011, 12:10 pm
#144
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,393
So if you can't control which airline you fly, how is attaining status (and planning your travel accordingly) that will allow you upgrades anything close to remotely possible? You're basically at the mercy of the luck of the draw, right?
For that matter, upgrades that are useful for longhaul are only going to show up if you fly a LOT within *A- 100,000 miles (and a lot of deep-discount Y fares by non-US carriers like LH or SQ won't help with those as much as UA's will- often those deep discount fares on a non-US carrier only credit at 50%, or even 0%). Do you project that you will be doing that much flying?
I'd probably be looking at programs that were most favorable in terms of mileage accumulation (credit card, RDM bonuses) first and foremost, because that's really the only thing you're likely to get out of the deal if you have no ability to preferentially choose a carrier to maximize status- large piles of miles that you can redeem to fly in something other than Y. That probably means that your choices are US and CO/UA, realistically. (The problem with BMI DC is that if it's assimilated into the LH Borg collective after 2011... well, LH M&M would be a terrible program for you. High award costs, fuel surcharges, high mileage thresholds to gain status unless you fly a lot, not much love for deep discount Y. The only upside I can think of to M&M is that if you were willing to pay a significant mileage premium, you'd have access to SQ award inventory nobody else in *A has, outside of SQ KF members, which would be handy flying out of SIN/CGK.)
For that matter, upgrades that are useful for longhaul are only going to show up if you fly a LOT within *A- 100,000 miles (and a lot of deep-discount Y fares by non-US carriers like LH or SQ won't help with those as much as UA's will- often those deep discount fares on a non-US carrier only credit at 50%, or even 0%). Do you project that you will be doing that much flying?
I'd probably be looking at programs that were most favorable in terms of mileage accumulation (credit card, RDM bonuses) first and foremost, because that's really the only thing you're likely to get out of the deal if you have no ability to preferentially choose a carrier to maximize status- large piles of miles that you can redeem to fly in something other than Y. That probably means that your choices are US and CO/UA, realistically. (The problem with BMI DC is that if it's assimilated into the LH Borg collective after 2011... well, LH M&M would be a terrible program for you. High award costs, fuel surcharges, high mileage thresholds to gain status unless you fly a lot, not much love for deep discount Y. The only upside I can think of to M&M is that if you were willing to pay a significant mileage premium, you'd have access to SQ award inventory nobody else in *A has, outside of SQ KF members, which would be handy flying out of SIN/CGK.)
Feb 23, 2011, 6:32 pm
#146
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: ORD
Programs: nobody
Posts: 1,837
Your choice seems pretty simple to me
Seriously, sign up both CO and UA, then sign up each of their credit card and get their sign up bonus. At the end of the year, both programs will merge so you get twice the sign up bonus.
One redeeming quality with US is they have some ridiculous miles purchase promotions which you can purchase enough miles for a biz award ticket for < $2000. Don't know how long this party will last though.
Feb 23, 2011, 6:45 pm
#147
Join Date: May 2010
Location: STL
Programs: UA 1K; WN A-List; HH Diamond; Marriott Gold; National EE
Posts: 194
Since you'll be flying in Y until you have the upgrades, having status on UA offers the additional benefit of E+ when you fly on UA metal. You cannot get the free bump to E+ even if you are Star Gold on any other airline.
All the more reason to focus your *A miles on UA.
All the more reason to focus your *A miles on UA.
Feb 24, 2011, 4:41 am
#148
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: US, CA, HK
Programs: UNITED 1P
Posts: 508
(1) What is your home airport? LHR, PEK or YYZ -- I go to school in LHR, family is in YYZ, bf in PEK!
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? discounted Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 30-60k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? *A silver
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? good award redemption rates, lounge access, maybe upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often LHR-PEK, or LHR - HKG, HKG/PEK - yyz, YYZ-LHR
(7) Preferred Airlines -- none right now
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? for pleasure...
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? discounted Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 30-60k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? *A silver
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? good award redemption rates, lounge access, maybe upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often LHR-PEK, or LHR - HKG, HKG/PEK - yyz, YYZ-LHR
(7) Preferred Airlines -- none right now
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? for pleasure...
Feb 24, 2011, 7:59 am
#149
Join Date: May 2007
Location: ORD, DEL
Programs: AA (Plt Pro; 1.5 MM)
Posts: 6,185
For example, let us say you are flying CX. You look it up and find that it is a member of OneWorld alliance. You have previously selected AA as your frequent flyer program in OneWorld. So you give your AA ff number to CX.
Feb 24, 2011, 1:44 pm
#150
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: All of them
Posts: 214
In this case you can't strategize too much. The best strategy would be (1) become familiar with all three major alliances, (2) join one airline in each alliance, and (3) credit your miles to this airline whenever you fly.
For example, let us say you are flying CX. You look it up and find that it is a member of OneWorld alliance. You have previously selected AA as your frequent flyer program in OneWorld. So you give your AA ff number to CX.
For example, let us say you are flying CX. You look it up and find that it is a member of OneWorld alliance. You have previously selected AA as your frequent flyer program in OneWorld. So you give your AA ff number to CX.
That's some great advice. I was thinking banking with AA for OneWorld since they allow lifetime status, DL for SkyTeam since I have about 50K banked with them already, and maybe UA/CO for *A.