ok thanks

Or you can stick to Oneworld and fly CX. It will add a stopover in HKG, but for a temporary assignment it might be bearable.

If you fly enough (50k per year) to earn SQ Gold then it may be worth switching to Krisflyer as it provides greater benefits flying from SIN:
- many regional flights are operated by Silkair, your SQ Gold will give you elite benefits (lounge, early boarding etc), other star alliance gold will not count.

Also earning on Krisflyer will open up better SQ award redemption options. Together with some credit card spend in Singapore you can earn enough relatively quickly for a nice J or F return in SQ to the US.

Also, you may end up staying in Singapore longer than the 2 years.

I moved here as OWE, but quickly found that SQ Gold was the most useful status to have here, to make regional Y flights a better experience.

Greetings! Long-time lurker, first post! Would appreciate some advice on whether status is worth it (criteria below) and if so, which FF program to pursue!

I'm rapidly approaching my vacation day cap, so I figured I should start traveling more!

1. What is your home airport?
   
   SNA/LAX/SAN. Note: it takes an 60-90 minutes + $70-90 to get to LAX/SAN (one-way), compared to 15 minutes + $15 to get to SNA.
   
   Secondary "home airport" is WAS (prefer DCA, as I can take the subway compared to sitting in traffic). I'm fine with paying an extra $350 or so since I can stopover at home for a few days and then continue to wherever.
   
   
2. What types of fares do you usually buy?
   
   Economy, especially for any flight shorter than 7 hours. For international flights, I'm willing to book into PE and upgrade into Business/First (or even booking Business/First if it's a good deal).
   
   
3. How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
   
   Currently ~12k miles flying domestic economy (3 roundtrips coast to coast, either nonstop or up to 1 stop). Looking to add two international roundtrips per year which will add ~25k miles to the above figure.
   
   
4. Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
   
   ~10k banked with SWA, ~2k with UA, so nothing special since I usually fly domestic. With planned international travel, I've been debating if going for status is worth it. I suspect I can hit Silver, or maybe Gold if I throw in a mileage run or two.
   
   I also hold Amex/Chase cards with access to both rewards programs, if that helps.
   
   
5. What is most important to you in a FFP?
   
   Upgrades > Good Redemption Rates > Award Access
   
   I never check bags, and fly with only a backpack, so baggage allowance and priority boarding are irrelevant to me. Similarly, I try to avoid (long) layovers in favor of stopovers or nonstops when available and arrive at the airport on time, so lounge access is of limited utility for me.
   
   
6. Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
   
   (annually)
   
   • 2x: SNA-BWI on SWA, though considering switching to nonstop red-eye LAX-IAD/BWI on UA
   • 1x: SNA/LAX-YYZ/YVR on UA/AC (generally alternate annually between YYZ/YVR)
   • 1x: SNA-SEA for work, usually on DL, or occasionally Alaska
   • 2x: looking to add two international roundtrips (1 Europe, 1 Asia)
   
   
7. Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
   
   I have choice of airline and class (though considering going mercenary at this point). Airlines most flown are SWA/UA for pleasure. Work usually puts me on DL Economy (infrequent).
   
   
8. Preferred Airlines?
   
   I've historically gone mercenary for cheapest fare. ❤SWA though sadly not really an option for international travel, and switching to overnight flights means I can save a vacation day by departing after work.

Right now considering sticking with MileagePlus, but I'm worried about meeting the PQD requirement. I was thinking maybe KrisFlyer instead (would love to book one of the fabled A380 suites someday ...) though the primary concern there would be three year mileage expiration.

Short of getting Platinum, how likely am I to get upgrades from status?

Alternately, does it make sense to suck it up and stay mercenary flying exclusively economy, or potentially go OW instead? For instance, OW operates nonstop LAX-HKG and LAX-DCA with somewhat better schedules than *A equivalents (e.g. SNA-SFO-HKG, SNA-SFO-IAD/BWI).

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
SFO

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Discounted J/F int'l fares i.e. P/Z/A. A few transcons in lowest Y fare.

(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 Premier, M&M Senator etc)
UA 1K and AA EXP expiring this year. AS 75K.


(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.)
I just want usable international upgrades.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
Mix of Europe and Asia, equal.

(7) Preferred Airlines
For F: AF + LX. For J: JL, NH, SQ, LX, AC

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Pretty much all work. I can pick airline and class of service depending on how early I book.

I was a loyal UA 1K for a while, but then spent some time just flying everybody to try out the different airlines. Flew F on pretty much everybody, and now I'd like a program that let's me get international upgrades on cheap economy fares. I've been looking into tons of programs and it seems like AA EXP is the best for that? I have enough spend to hit top-tier on pretty much any program (except M&M HON), so I'd like to now just pick a program that gives me the best chances of international upgrades. Any thoughts?

Define "international upgrades". If you are referring to op-ups, just remember that it's a US-only idea that people will be upgraded just to fill seats upfront.

If you are talking about paying for upgrades, UA remains your best bet since their upgrade instruments can be used on LH as well. You seem to fly in premium cabins a lot, so it's clearly not a matter of status. I'm not sure what the situation is for UA, but LH lets you upgrade on their metal also from lower economy classes. It's probably no use to you though.

I am talking about instrument supported upgrades. I can book premium cabins for work, but I would like to be able to use GPU-type things for personal travel. UA GPUs require W+ fare, and using them on LH requires Q+ fare. Those tend to be about $500 more than the cheaper economy buckets, and it's hard to find space with UA. I'm not sure how LH vouchers work but they look more flexible.

So basically I'm looking for a program that can offer GPU/SWU type certs that are easier to use on cheaper fares. If that's impossible, then I'll just credit to UA or OZ.

Realistically on cheapo fares the airline of your ffp is best hope for upgrades with ff miles/ff instrument/cash co pay.

On other airline ffps' unless there is specific agreement, like UA-LH, selecting a (new) ffp in the vain hope of getting upgrades on other airlines for long haul and/or international flights and/or non USA air lines is unlikely to happen.

Star alliance has a cross airline upgrade system, but you need expensive YB (and other?) booking class fares.

(1) What is your home airport?
All NYC airports (EWR preferred over JFK)

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Discounted business class when travelling internationally (P, Z), cheapest economy fares when travelling domestically.

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
BIS miles ~50k a year, but a good portion of that is international business class.

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)
UA Gold right now, will hit Plat with my next flight next month.

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Good redemption and earning rates. The main reason I'm posting here is due to the UA devaluation coming later this year, and I'm looking for a new home to earn/burn miles.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often
Domestically: I fly these routes each multiple times a year: NYC-SEA, NYC-SFO, NYC-LAX
Internationally: I will usually fly both of these routes at least once a year: NYC-SYD, NYC-ZRH

(7) Preferred Airlines
Domestically I have no choice. Internationally:
For going to Europe, I prefer lufthansa/SWISS.
For going to Australia, I prefer ANA.

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Both international trips are for work, I'm allowed to choose my airline, and the budget lets me comfortably book business class.
Domestic trips are a mix of work and pleasure. For work the budget isn't enough for domestic first, but usually high enough to book Y. For pleasure I book the lowest fares possible.

Other notes:
One of the draws for crediting to United was that flights on Lufthansa group flights & ANA gets a bonus based on my status (e.g. ANA P fares get 262.5% miles flown with UA Plat). My favorite redemption right now is bringing family members/friends with me to Australia whenever I travel there for work, via business class redemptions on ANA/Asiana. As that redemption rate is going up 10k each way on November 1st, I'm now looking for a better home to credit my flights to, since even with the premier bonus miles on certain partner flights it no longer outweighs the devaluation.

Not going to happen. The grass in not always greener on the other side

USA based airline ffp's tend to be more generous (status benefits/earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry/affiliated credit card ff mile earning/promotions) compared to non USA based airline ffp’s (even after the recent changes to some USA ffp’s).

The airline you fly most or an airline of the country you live is the best ffp for many people. Generally you are better earning on your primary airline due to greater recognition, better service when disruptions, ability to upgrade flights and possible operational upgrades.

If awards are your ffp objective earn to burn is what matters.
For award comparison look here (or a similar site) http://www.awardace.com/

The grass in not always greener on the other side

agreed. Based on the OPs travel pattern, UA MP is still the best option IMO.

That is a good point. Though with my current routes, would AS be a decent alternative? With them acquiring VX they now cover all 3 of NYC - SEA,SFO,LAX, and I can easily switch to CX/JL/KE for APAC travel & BA/AF for European travel.

Hi all, this is my first time posting in this forum. I would greatly appreciate your advice on which *A FF program to join. My issue is that the airline FF miles I currently have are all OneWorld miles, but my parents live in Taiwan and I would like to start visiting them more frequently. I have a toddler so direct flights would be much preferred, which limits me mainly to *A airlines like EVA or even Air Canada. What is the best way for me to earn *A miles for flights to Taiwan?

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
Usually LAX. However, I may fly to Vancouver sometimes and may plan a trip to TPE from there.

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Economy or premium economy.

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
<25K

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Silver, M&M Senator etc)
Not on any *A airlines. I only have AA miles which I could use for Cathay Pacific, but they don't have any direct flights to TPE.

(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.)
Good award redemption rates.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
LAX to TPE would be most often. Maybe YVR to TPE sometimes.

(7) Preferred Airlines
1. EVA Air (they are my parents' preferred airline).
2. Air Canada (for direct flights from YVR to TPE).
3. Asiana (they allow family pooling of miles, but no direct flights to TPE).

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you choose your airlines, class of service?)
Mainly to visit family, which are scattered around the U.S., Canada and Asia.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I'm shopping around for a *A program since all the US legacies are revenue based now.

(1) What is your home airport? SFO

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Whatever is the going rate in Y that gets me 100% RDM/EQM

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (50k-100k)

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? UA MM, AA Plat

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Priority service, upgrades if possible, lounge access (not that important since got *G via UA MM)

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (Transpacific, inter Asia, US Domestic)

(7) Preferred Airlines SQ, NH, OZ BR

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure I guess, since I don't fly on OPM.

I was a 1K flying on my own money for 7 years. When UA went revenue based (thus declaring my money wasn't worth flown status), I went to AA EXP for 3 years until they did the unoriginal thing this year, moving to revenue based, just like UA who copied DL. Innovation!

Most of my flights wind up in Singapore but with occasional trips ending in HKG, PVG or HND. I've done some research and uncovered the following: NH and BR are confusing, SQ Krisflyer doesn't have a wiki for its program (or I just couldn't find it), OZ has easier requirements (but what do you get with their top tier?) Basically, if I fly 100k on any of these programs, which one has the best perks and value?

The grass in not always greener on the other side

What is your criteria for "best perks and value"?
What do you use ff miles for?

By "Y" do you mean generic economy, so any fare bucket, or real Y booking class (often very expensive)?
Now days discount economy does not earn much (ff miles/status) with many ffp's. If flying a partner airline of your airline ffp the chances of good earning can be less. Extremely unlikely to earn, in a partner ffp, more than the airlines own ffp, but as is the way with ffps "never say never".
www.wheretocredit.com (is a general guide only:- check with the ffp)

Upgrades on an airlines, other on your own ffp airline, are a tough ask
While the thread linked for UA is typical for Star Airlines http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-carriers.html

The grass in not always greener on the other side