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
Apr 21, 2019 | 1:14 am
#2162
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: United Platinum, IHG Spire Ambassador, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 291
- LAS-SFO-ZRH-MAD and back on UA & LX (14,226 PQM, paid $415, booked on LX site - got $42 PQD)
- LAS-SFO-NRT and LAX-LAS on UA, CAN-NRT-OKA-HND-LAX on NH (17,317 PQM, paid $812, got $52 PQD)
- LAS-SFO on UA, SFO-AKL-WLG, AKL-LAX on NZ (14,020 PQM, paid $498, got $280 PQD)
- LAS-LAX-NRT, NRT-DEN-LAS on UA, NRT-KUL-NRT on NH (19,084 PQM, paid $469, got $350 PQD)
- HND-CTS-NRT on NH (1,535 PQM, paid $197, zero PQD - booked on ANA website)
- LAS-IAD-LAS on UA and IAD-ADD-CPT-ADD-IAD on ET (24,990 PQM, paid $923, booked on ET site - got $130 PQD)
Apr 21, 2019 | 1:11 pm
#2163
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: ZOA, SFO, HKG
Programs: UA 1K 0.9MM, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Hertz PC, SBux Gold, TSA Pre✓
Posts: 13,807
Apr 23, 2019 | 4:26 am
#2164
Join Date: Oct 2010
Programs: marriott,bmi,hhonors
Posts: 9
Hi there,
Bit of background, Im BA Silver and regularly fly to the US (SFO) and normally I can get a BA flight but they've recently become really expensive that they are almost always more expensive than *A. I used be to *A with BMI but all my points/status went to BA when they bought BMI out.
I have a ton of miles on BA and about 60k on Asiana but Im thinking of using someone else (like united) to offer me more flexibility on burning the miles, Any comments?
(1) What is your home airport? LHR
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Transatlantic Business (company bulk tickets) , Europe Economy
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 30-50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? BA Silver and Asiana Gold, Not flown *A for 2yrs, Marriott Titanium gives me UA Silver
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Earn/Burn ratios and secondly lounge access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often Transatlantic 2x/yr, European 10-20times
(7) Preferred Airlines BA,UA
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? business primarily
Im currently thinking of moving to UA as the earn burn rations appear better than OZ (UA give me approx 20k miles whereas OZ only 10k). OZ need 80k for a TransA Biz seat, whereas UA appear to be "in flux" at the moment..
Am i still better off with Asiana?
Any thoughts? thanks
Bit of background, Im BA Silver and regularly fly to the US (SFO) and normally I can get a BA flight but they've recently become really expensive that they are almost always more expensive than *A. I used be to *A with BMI but all my points/status went to BA when they bought BMI out.
I have a ton of miles on BA and about 60k on Asiana but Im thinking of using someone else (like united) to offer me more flexibility on burning the miles, Any comments?
(1) What is your home airport? LHR
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Transatlantic Business (company bulk tickets) , Europe Economy
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 30-50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? BA Silver and Asiana Gold, Not flown *A for 2yrs, Marriott Titanium gives me UA Silver
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Earn/Burn ratios and secondly lounge access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often Transatlantic 2x/yr, European 10-20times
(7) Preferred Airlines BA,UA
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? business primarily
Im currently thinking of moving to UA as the earn burn rations appear better than OZ (UA give me approx 20k miles whereas OZ only 10k). OZ need 80k for a TransA Biz seat, whereas UA appear to be "in flux" at the moment..
Am i still better off with Asiana?
Any thoughts? thanks
May 11, 2019 | 10:14 am
#2165
Join Date: May 2011
Programs: BA Gold, Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 14
Best A* FF for sharing
A Couple of family members are travelling soon from London to Sydney on A* (Lufthansa, Swiss, Singapore) in business class. Theyll rack up some miles but nothing huge.
I live in Australia and can convert MR points to Thai, New Zealand or Singapore FF schemes.
Would any of these programmes allow us to pool all our points together, similar to the BA household account?
I live in Australia and can convert MR points to Thai, New Zealand or Singapore FF schemes.
Would any of these programmes allow us to pool all our points together, similar to the BA household account?
May 11, 2019 | 7:49 pm
#2166
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: ZOA, SFO, HKG
Programs: UA 1K 0.9MM, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Hertz PC, SBux Gold, TSA Pre✓
Posts: 13,807
I will hold on for now.
It is unknown how UA dynamic award will look like. But it is presumed to harm those targeting long-haul business (as a countermeasure against Chase.
FWIW - what you have now is perfect. When you get the right staffs, you can get E+ and lounge access. So yes - I won't fully commit to UA at this moment.
Also - going with UA may create a negative impact to you. Because you have Premier Silver for no obligation, by attempting to earn Premier Gold, you forfeit your Silver benefit practically.
Having the pooling feature is good. But a generous expiration date policy is better, as it can keep the miles practically lifetime.
It is unknown how UA dynamic award will look like. But it is presumed to harm those targeting long-haul business (as a countermeasure against Chase.
FWIW - what you have now is perfect. When you get the right staffs, you can get E+ and lounge access. So yes - I won't fully commit to UA at this moment.
Also - going with UA may create a negative impact to you. Because you have Premier Silver for no obligation, by attempting to earn Premier Gold, you forfeit your Silver benefit practically.
Having the pooling feature is good. But a generous expiration date policy is better, as it can keep the miles practically lifetime.
May 14, 2019 | 3:53 pm
#2167
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2
(1) What is your home airport? IAH, AUS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy, occasionally Premium Economy/Business for long-haul international
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25-30k on average, varies from 10k-50k for specific years
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Checked baggage when flying economy, upgrades to business if possible, lounges
(6) Which routes do you fly most often US Domestic, US-Europe/India, US-Southeast Asia/Australia/New Zealand (less common than the others)
(7) Preferred Airlines Not exactly preferred but I usually take United for domestic, Lufthansa for transatlantic
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure, vacations and visiting family/friends who are all over the world
I have been a member of United MileagePlus for about 9 years now, but just emptied my mileage balance redeeming award tickets. Just as I started more regularly hitting 25k miles flown in a year they added the PQD spending requirement which I usually don't hit. So before I start earning miles again on revenue flights I wanted to check if there's a better option for me in terms of being able to get Star Alliance status. I am also worried about United switching to the dynamic award pricing as I rely on using my miles for long-haul international during peak period travel (mainly when I visit family in India during school holidays)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy, occasionally Premium Economy/Business for long-haul international
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25-30k on average, varies from 10k-50k for specific years
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Checked baggage when flying economy, upgrades to business if possible, lounges
(6) Which routes do you fly most often US Domestic, US-Europe/India, US-Southeast Asia/Australia/New Zealand (less common than the others)
(7) Preferred Airlines Not exactly preferred but I usually take United for domestic, Lufthansa for transatlantic
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure, vacations and visiting family/friends who are all over the world
I have been a member of United MileagePlus for about 9 years now, but just emptied my mileage balance redeeming award tickets. Just as I started more regularly hitting 25k miles flown in a year they added the PQD spending requirement which I usually don't hit. So before I start earning miles again on revenue flights I wanted to check if there's a better option for me in terms of being able to get Star Alliance status. I am also worried about United switching to the dynamic award pricing as I rely on using my miles for long-haul international during peak period travel (mainly when I visit family in India during school holidays)
May 14, 2019 | 4:05 pm
#2168
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 22,933
inputfail Welcome to FT
A recent thread that may be of interest--->Which program to credit to? *A
FF miles are not equal to earn or burn, but many credit cards transfer to different ffp's at the same rate.
Same ffp's have carrier imposed surcharges (=100% airline profit) for awards
Almost all frequent flyer programs are morphing into frequent spender programs.
The grass in not always greener on the other side
<snip>
I have been a member of United MileagePlus for about 9 years now, but just emptied my mileage balance redeeming award tickets. Just as I started more regularly hitting 25k miles flown in a year they added the PQD spending requirement which I usually don't hit. So before I start earning miles again on revenue flights I wanted to check if there's a better option for me in terms of being able to get Star Alliance status. I am also worried about United switching to the dynamic award pricing as I rely on using my miles for long-haul international during peak period travel (mainly when I visit family in India during school holidays)
I have been a member of United MileagePlus for about 9 years now, but just emptied my mileage balance redeeming award tickets. Just as I started more regularly hitting 25k miles flown in a year they added the PQD spending requirement which I usually don't hit. So before I start earning miles again on revenue flights I wanted to check if there's a better option for me in terms of being able to get Star Alliance status. I am also worried about United switching to the dynamic award pricing as I rely on using my miles for long-haul international during peak period travel (mainly when I visit family in India during school holidays)
FF miles are not equal to earn or burn, but many credit cards transfer to different ffp's at the same rate.
Same ffp's have carrier imposed surcharges (=100% airline profit) for awards
Almost all frequent flyer programs are morphing into frequent spender programs.
The grass in not always greener on the other side
May 14, 2019 | 4:25 pm
#2169
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2
inputfail Welcome to FT
A recent thread that may be of interest--->
FF miles are not equal to earn or burn, but many credit cards transfer to different ffp's at the same rate.
Same ffp's have carrier imposed surcharges (=100% airline profit) for awards
Almost all frequent flyer programs are morphing into frequent spender programs.
The grass in not always greener on the other side
A recent thread that may be of interest--->
FF miles are not equal to earn or burn, but many credit cards transfer to different ffp's at the same rate.
Same ffp's have carrier imposed surcharges (=100% airline profit) for awards
Almost all frequent flyer programs are morphing into frequent spender programs.
The grass in not always greener on the other side
May 14, 2019 | 4:32 pm
#2170
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 22,933
Earning ff status always goes alongside earning ff miles.
And yes airlines seem to consider low budget economy flyers of little value.
FFP's are good profit centres for airline. They make a lot of $$$ selling ff miles to credit cards, hotels, rental car business, airlines, etc. Who then award (bribe) their customers with ff miles.
And yes airlines seem to consider low budget economy flyers of little value.
FFP's are good profit centres for airline. They make a lot of $$$ selling ff miles to credit cards, hotels, rental car business, airlines, etc. Who then award (bribe) their customers with ff miles.
May 14, 2019 | 7:04 pm
#2171
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: ZOA, SFO, HKG
Programs: UA 1K 0.9MM, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Hertz PC, SBux Gold, TSA Pre✓
Posts: 13,807
May 17, 2019 | 10:18 pm
#2173
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 9
(1) What is your home airport? DPS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy & Business (flights longer than 4 hrs)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25-35k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? TK *G
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Redeeming my saved miles
(6) Which routes do you fly most often: DPS to multiple other cities in Asia (SIN, NRT, BOM, etc)
(7) Preferred Airlines: SQ, TG
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Work
I'm a *G with TK for 8 years I believe. Moved a few years ago to Asia. TK is a pain in the *ss redeeming miles for flights (need to visit local offices) so I'm looking for another *A to start saving my miles there and get a *G soon again. Which *A in Asia should I get, which ones are easy (online) to redeem miles for flights and also upgrades online on other *A flights from partner airlines?
Have still another 100k miles on TK to redeem and it's hard to buy anything online in their system or upgrade other partners...
Or are there any people here who want some miles in exchange for miles on another *A??
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy & Business (flights longer than 4 hrs)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25-35k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? TK *G
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Redeeming my saved miles
(6) Which routes do you fly most often: DPS to multiple other cities in Asia (SIN, NRT, BOM, etc)
(7) Preferred Airlines: SQ, TG
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Work
I'm a *G with TK for 8 years I believe. Moved a few years ago to Asia. TK is a pain in the *ss redeeming miles for flights (need to visit local offices) so I'm looking for another *A to start saving my miles there and get a *G soon again. Which *A in Asia should I get, which ones are easy (online) to redeem miles for flights and also upgrades online on other *A flights from partner airlines?
Have still another 100k miles on TK to redeem and it's hard to buy anything online in their system or upgrade other partners...
Or are there any people here who want some miles in exchange for miles on another *A??
Jun 7, 2019 | 7:25 am
#2175
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 106
Hello,
I currently have TK silver after being downgraded after a status match. I'm heading to Australia for Christmas and am struggling to get a good deal on OW, but *A is throwing up some good fares. At the moment I'm looking at the routing below in J:
Lufthansa: Milan > Frankfurt > Seoul
Asiana: Seoul > Syndey
ANA: Sydney > Tokyo
Swiss: Tokyo > Zurich > Milan
Where am I best to credit to to get as close as possible to *A Gold?
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.) LHR
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.) Y short haul and J when a good deal is on long haul
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k) <25k at the moment
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Silver, M&M Senator etc) BA silver - expiring March '20
(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.) Lounge access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc) Europe short haul and 1 or 2 long haul which could be anywhere
(7) Preferred Airlines On *A, not bothered
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) Just leisure now
I currently have TK silver after being downgraded after a status match. I'm heading to Australia for Christmas and am struggling to get a good deal on OW, but *A is throwing up some good fares. At the moment I'm looking at the routing below in J:
Lufthansa: Milan > Frankfurt > Seoul
Asiana: Seoul > Syndey
ANA: Sydney > Tokyo
Swiss: Tokyo > Zurich > Milan
Where am I best to credit to to get as close as possible to *A Gold?
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.) LHR
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.) Y short haul and J when a good deal is on long haul
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k) <25k at the moment
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Silver, M&M Senator etc) BA silver - expiring March '20
(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.) Lounge access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc) Europe short haul and 1 or 2 long haul which could be anywhere
(7) Preferred Airlines On *A, not bothered
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) Just leisure now
Last edited by JMS87; Jun 7, 2019 at 7:32 am