(1) What is your home airport? BHX, LON
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Business
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? <25K. Usually one long haul per year and one or two short haul.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? FlyingBlue Silver
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? good award redemption rates; intend to earn and burn
(6) Which routes do you fly most often ? Annually from UK to South-East Asia on business, which has been on KLM/AF in recent years. UK to Europe for pleasure.
(7) Preferred Airlines. Not worried
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both, as above

I have a collection of Avios and Flying Blue miles. However, have just booked (unusually), CDG-ZUR-HKG-AKL, ticleted by Swiss, all in P class. Wife and Mother-in-law also in tow. None of us have any *A status or points. Future earning may be sporadic; hard to tell. Sat on 50,000 Amex point, and wife approaching similar.
All advice gratefully received.

(1) What is your home airport? NYC (ALL)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)

W (premum economy), sometimes business

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

>50K, probably 75K or so

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Silver, M&M Senator etc).

Gold w. Delta

(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.)

- Frequent upgrades

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

New York - Stockholm
New York - Toronto
New York - Montreal

(7) Preferred Airlines
SAS

I love Delta but because there are no good direct Sky Team flights between NY and Stockholm so I need to switch to a FF program that let's me benefit from flying SAS a lot. However SAS doesn't have a US credit card, and I want to benefit from my spending too.

To Canada within Star Alliance I would use United or Air Canada

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
For work but I can choose.

Stick with TG Gold or Switch?
 

HI FT,

I'm TG *G and requalification is in April, and due to an aberration in my travel pattern this year it doesn't look like I'm going to make it (need 39,664 and have existing reservations on *A set to fly only ~27,000 by then). That, combined with the recent changes to TG ROP, and the airline's financial situation have me considering switching to another *A carrier and trying to establish myself as *G there. I mostly need that status to compliment my DL Plat as I need the additional free baggage allowances fairly often. My answers to the questions are mostly based on my objective of reaching or keeping *G in some form.

I currently have 3 one-way itineraries between US west coast and BKK before my *G ends in April. It's not too late for me to credit those to another *A member, but I need advice right away as one of those is departing tomorrow. My main dilemma is, stick with TG and try to requalify by April (would have to add a couple long haul flights in there before April) or join another *A member right now and start accruing toward Gold. I do have a bit of free time so could possibly come up with some trips to match my agenda.

Thanks for any advice.

(1) What is your home airport? BKK
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Premium Economy (EVA fare class P)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 30-60K on *A
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Thai Gold, Delta Plat
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Free baggage allowance, seat assignment, lounge access, priority boarding
(6) Which routes do you fly most often Transpac US West Coast to BKK, Thailand Domestic, Southeast Asia short haul.
(7) Preferred Airlines EVA (transpacific), Thai (domestic), Delta (US domestic)
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? mostly pleasure, choose based on price first and schedule second. Typically fly discounted Premium Economy transpacific, but could fly Business somewhere if it got me to tier qualification in this requalification crunch.

TIA FT Gurus and Gurettes!

Okay, no one's answered yet and today's the day I had to decide by, so after sleeping on it I've decided to bite the bullet and switch to OZ, get the card, etc etc. It's best for the long term, I just wish I'd started earlier toward that lifetime *G.

So my question remaining is how to handle the transition. Do I book flights using my TG *G, and go all the way through check-in at the airport to get my extra baggage allowance, better seat, etc. and then ask the gate agent to swap FF numbers for OZ for accrual? I'm sure there's a logical way to approach it, please let me know if I'm missing something about how to do it for the next several months here, until I reach OZ Diamond aka *G.

Thanks All.

Yes. And ask for a new boarding pass with the new ffn. But at times the change in ffp/ffn may not stick and/or print on the boarding pass and/or push back from the agent. Some ffp's do not like people cherry picking benefits and changing ffn. Keep the physical boarding pass/screen shots/what ever to show the new ffn.

Good luck with the new ffp

Most carriers would deny making the move of switching *A FFP due to cross-benefiting. You can technically change the FFP number on some airlines at the gate or after you have entered the lounge via an airport agent or the mobile app; however, on some airlines, you may risk not receiving miles on both Thai and Asiana or the gate agent may reject switching the FFP numbers as you have benefited from the advantages of the Thai *G.

It completely depends on the airline you're flying and the airport agent.

Hi all. I'm a soon to be United refugee. I have another year left of 1K status, but will definitely not requalify under the new rules. However, I have 480 plus points to burn through in the next year so I'll need to spend a decent amount of time on UA metal.

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.) YYC
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.) Usually Y, but will pay more for an upgradable fare class
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k) 100,000 to 170,000 physical miles
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Silver, M&M Senator etc) UA 1K
(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.) Upgrades and a useful points currency. I'm willing to add connections and be flexible to secure upgrades.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc) For work, I fly maybe 20,000 miles per year between YYC and TUL, DEN and IAH for around US$3,000 of spend (schedule usually means this is on UA metal). Personally I do two trips home YYC-SYD per year (AC/UA are the logical choices for routing and price, but I am open to other options via Asia or North America). I also do 3-4 long haul trips per year to anywhere in the world. Previously these were for mileage running purposes so I was UA loyal on these flights, but now it could be anywhere with any airline.
(7) Preferred Airlines To date it has been UA, but it seems they don't want me anymore
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) Answered above

I'm trying to decide between several options:

1. Stay with UA and see where I land
I will probably spend enough next year to get to UA gold. But gold is a big downgrade from where I'm at now

2. Defect to AC
I would certainly fly enough miles to reach E75 on AC. I could also spend C$9,000, but it would be a stretch to do this on AC ticket stock next year. Since I need to burn through all the plus points next year, I can't direct that spend towards AC tickets. Are there any loopholes for earning AQD on UA tickets?

3. Asiana
I would fly enough miles to get to Diamond within a few months, and then I could effectively be a star alliance free agent after that. I could also purchase an economy plus subscription from UA for 2021 after I lose my status with them

4. Free agency / split status / something else?
Open to suggestions

Getting upgrades (free or miles & cash) is a tough ask on an airline that is not the airline of your ffp.
Star Alliance does have a cross airline upgrade system, but has onerous t&c's

• UA https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...-carriers.html
• AC https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-...an-points.html

UA refugee thread https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...ou-switch.html

Would another alliance offer better, in part or all of your travels?
The grass in not always greener on the other side

If you're flying more than 100000 miles per year, start collecting miles at Asiana unless you really prioritize free domestic upgrades. But be aware that some fare classes would earn %50 or %75 on United rather than the current fixed %100 rate for MileagePlus. Also when collecting miles at OZ be aware that paid Business/First would usually give %125 rather than %200.

Air Canada would also be a good choice but the spending limit is too high.

By the way, when using your 480 Plus Points UA won't let you credit your miles elsewhere, and most *A airlines won't let you cross-benefiting ( using benefits of 2 or more FFP at the same time ). Also if you decide to take options 2 or 3, do not log in to your United account and do not enter your MP number when booking/viewing/checking-in for UA tickets both via the website and app, otherwise the miles would credit to UA MP rather than the FFP number you entered.

Well, I was able to switch my FFN at the gate. The agent didn't give any hassle but did warn me that it was possible that TG would revoke the miles I'd already earned on the outbound portion which was flown a couple months prior. I just checked today and the miles did indeed credit to OZ. Checked TG website and those miles she warned me about are still there (will check again later as I don't know how long it would take for them to claw them back).

So my next question is, which Asiana credit card should I apply for?

Asiana Airlines Visa Signature
30,000 Bonus Miles after $3,000 spend
10,000 Bonus Miles Certificate awarded annually*
$100 credit toward Asiana flights per year (I don't expect to make use of this often)
2 Asiana Airline lounge invitations (do I have to be flying OZ to use them?)
Mileage earning:
3 Miles on Asiana Airlines purchases (probably won't get to use much)
2 Miles on gas and at grocery stores
1 Mile on all other purchases
$99 Annual Fee

Asiana Visa Business Card
10,000 Bonus Asiana Club Miles after first purchase (seems like this just happens once, versus every year on the Signature)
$100 credit toward Asiana flights x2 per year
Mileage earning:
2 miles for every $1 spent on Asiana Airlines ticket purchases (don't expect to make use of this often)
1 mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
$80 Annual Fee

To me it seems the Visa Signature personal card is much better if my primary goal is to earn and maintain *G status for travel on other SA airlines. Does "10,000 Bonus Miles Certificate awarded annually" mean that the threshold for reaching and maintaining Diamond tier on OZ is reduced by 10,000 (or even 20,000 since it's 2 year intervals and I would get the certificate annually)? If so that would be fantastic, meaning it will only take 30,000 miles flown on SA to earn Diamond and 20,000 (or even just 10,000 if consecutive bonus certificates apply?!) every two years. This would be well worth the $99 AF even if I'm unable to make use of the offsetting annual credit toward OZ flights.

Am I dreaming that it's this friendly of a FF program? Someone pinch me if I am.

Questions better to be asked in the OZ Asiana forum
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asiana-asiana-club-614/

Need Advice!
 

(1) What is your home airport? - BOM
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? International C / Domestic C/Y (Depends on who's paying)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 100,000+ physical miles
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA 1K & AI Maharaja) - Once I complete 1K, I credit to AI since its my home airport airline and all my domestic flying.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Good Redemption rates & low taxes so I can take the family on trips with me
(6) Which routes do you fly most often India - Europe (Mostly LH/LX)
(7) Preferred Airlines - LH/LX/UA/AI
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Mostly for Work. Always International C out of India. Stayed away from Miles&More because of crazy high taxes.

More Info:
I think I might be able to maintain 1K on United even with the new requirements since LH/LX/AI spend will now count, but not sure how much I will get out of it yet till I start seeing the numbers. Also with dynamic pricing coming, little worried about redemptions, so I want to look at alternatives if I can get more value.

Would love input and insights!

A fairly specific question
i am eyeing off some TG F/J flights cos 747. I can’t credit those flights to any of my usual (specifically QF/VA). I have no plans for any further star alliance travel although I suppose changes in life happen. Is there any *A program that would allow me to collect the points and then donate them to charity?

https://www.wheretocredit.com/thai-airways/j
Not what you asked, but UA ff miles now do not expire

UA ff miles to charity https://donate.mileageplus.com/
Would expect to be others

Expiry Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire. Click to open the wiki.

Edit
Another TG https://www.thaiairways.com/en_CA/ne.../Siriraj.page?
But ended 31 Jul 2018

FFP's can have non alliance partners