Hi - my wife has started a new job that requires frequent trips to Stockholm, as well as (somewhat less frequently) to other European cities. We've been a United family for the last several years, since our home airport is EWR, and her trips to Europe over the last few months - many of them have been on SAS - have gotten her to Platinum on Mileageplus. She's likely to fly on SAS at least 10 times roundtrip to Stockholm next year, probably in business class every time, so I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense to stick with United (since we're already Platinum) or switch to Eurobonus to take full advantage of the SAS flights.
Any thoughts? Let me know if you need more info - I'm not a FF expert but I tried to answer the basic questions from the sticky.

You might find this review of elite-status qualifications of the various Star Alliance carriers helpful:

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/quick...liance-status/

("Which mileage program is best for getting Star Alliance status quickly?")

*A Status for 2023
 

Squeaked into UA Gold this year due to the lower thresholds. Seek advice on an airline for next year given the below:

(1) What is your home airport? CLE
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy/Discounted Prem Econ/Discounted Biz
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? About 35K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? UA Gold
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Upgrades. Baggage. Lounges. Ability to use the currency
(6) Which routes do you fly most often CLE-SOF twice a year with other Europe stops along the way. A couple of Domestic US routes. Something else if I get lucky.
(7) Preferred Airlines *A as they have the best access to SOF and UA, given CLE used to be a hub, has the best access from CLE.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Leisure/Personal Business/Business


Have full options on all the travel, but will consolidate with a single carrier where possible. Was looking at Aegean as it wouldn't be hard to do a side trip from SOF... I see it's not too hard to get status with A3, but not sure if the currency is the best. TK is of interest but hear horror stories on redemptions or when anything goes not to plan. Would not look to add a credit card unless absolutely necessary as I prefer to earn free agent cc points.

Also, can I leverage the UA Gold to a match to kickstart this for 2023? Thanks all.

Wrong thread, please delete.

Given the posts that have the same information above, where would an appropriate forum for this dialogue be?

I recently started a new job in sales after retiring from a long career with an airline. I've enjoyed standby tickets for as long as I can remember and I'll probably keep using these benefits for most personal travel.

I'll look at redeeming points for one or two long-haul trips in business class during the summer or the holidays.

I don't like AS' hard product and want to avoid flying too far south to connect to Europe (i.e. DFW, IAH) (most likely ruling out AS/AA/Oneworld). I am also focused on redeeming for business class award tickets (most likely ruling out DL/SkyTeam).
Would appreciate any tips on which *A airline makes the most sense for me to earn/burn with.

(1) What is your home airport? SEA
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Domestic Y, International C
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? >50k (probably closer to 75-100k butt in seat miles)
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? No
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? International business class award redemption rates
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Transpacific and transatlantic (most often), Transcon (least often)
(7) Preferred Airlines Of the *A carriers, I really enjoy business class on SQ, NH, BR, TK and don't mind AC, UA, TP, LX and the upcoming NZ and LH product.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Business class for work (I can choose the airline/routing), airline benefits for most personal travel.

if your TATL/TPAC trips are sufficiently $$$-heavy then UA makes the most sense for you. Still possible to book e.g. NH or LX or codeshare and 016 tickets to get the extra miles per $$$. UAs redemptions in C are good and there is no fuel surcharge. Finding C awards is NOT easy and you need a lot of flexibility. If you make Plat or higher (which you might depending on your $$$) then you get access to enhanced C award availability and that makes things easier. That said, TATL out of SFO/LAX is not easy on C awards either way; ORD tends to be o.k. which could work with SEA.

​​​​​​
Thanks, cfischer.

Annual spend is most likely north of $50k. Any idea of how Aeroplan compares to MileagePlus? YVR is an easy enough hub for TPAC and connecting over YYZ/YUL makes as much sense as ORD/EWR/IAD for TATL.

In place of premium cabin award tickets, I would also consider purchasing coach tickets and using recognition upgrades to upgrade to business class. Additionally, earn/burn rates are most important for me. Would AC or UA be a better fit for these needs?

Hi everyone,

2023 will see me getting back into the game after years of COVID hiatus. Some bigger trips planned so I may stand a chance at status and would like to choose wisely. I used to have status with UA, but that was pre-spend requirement for non-US citizens. Then COVID hit and status lapsed. I currently have a 25K-ish miles in the bank with both UA and AC, if that’s relevant. For all intents and purposes, I’m starting over in 2023.

(1) What is your home airport? YOW
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Mostly standard Y, occasional C for work trips > 9 hrs
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? Tough to say as I’ve been out for so long. But in 2023 I anticipate 1 TATL (France), 1 TPAC (India), and 4-6 TB (Can->US) minimum.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? No
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? priority services, upgrades, awards redemptions, lounge, in that order
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Transborder Can->US. YOW-Anywhere, USA for work typically on UA, YOW-FLL for personal
(7) Preferred Airlines UA/AC given my travel patterns
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both. 2023 will be mostly work for the first time in years

Would sincerely appreciate any advice you can provide.

I just qualified as Miles & More Senator in December 2022 (so will have status until February 2024). Currently based in the US for foreseeable future. With the Miles & More program changes, I'm wondering if I should be looking to earn on other programs (i e. United? Aegean?) in the 2023-24 period.

1) What is your home airport? JFK/EWR or DCA/IAD
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy/Premium Economy
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? M&M Senator
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? ​​​​​​ Award redemption, lounges, baggage.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Europe (3x; FRA/MUC, LON, BXL), US-South America (2x), US-Africa (2x), plus US-Canada and domestic US.
(7) Preferred Airlines *A
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Business/Leisure

If you just qualified you have status until February 2025.

You also can renew status in 2023 under the current program. If so, you would then have status until February 2027.

You would then have plenty of time to assess your options and start directing your earning elsewhere if desired

I'm moving from US to Sydney in January and will be traveling AUS-US 10-15 times a year on a mix of paid and award business class tickets. Some leisure travel AUS-Asia/Africa/Europe/NZ for family vacations and some domestic US travel (mainly from PHX, LAX, SFO, TPA). Current AA Exec Plat with a OneWorld lean, but I expect some of these flights will be on Star Alliance (UA, NZ, OZ - while still in the alliance), SQ) due to timing and/or price.

(1) What is your home airport? SYD
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Business for intercontinental
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? with back and forth, let's say 200k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? AA Exec Plat
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? ​​​​​​ IRROPS support, priority services, award redemption, lounges, baggage (in order of priority)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? AUS-US (direct & via Asia/NZ) and some domestic US
(7) Preferred Airlines: AA/QF/FJ/QR
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both; I book all my own travel

CC spend will be to AA to maintain EP status and generate FJ award tickets. So this exercise is to take advantage of traffic on the non-OW flights (maybe 3-5 round trips per year). I moved Star Alliance flight credits from UA to SQ a few years ago, but the traffic hasn't been sufficient to be worth anything of relevance. Have two SYD-ICN-LAX (OZ) round trips booked in the next 6 weeks that will generate 44k travel miles.

There have been a lot of changes across the *A landscape for 2023 so looking to identify the best foreign program for a US client trying to gain Gold status as fast as possible, and access United lounges when flying on domestic US trips. Miles that don't expire or take a long time to do so, plus lower priced redemptions would be key alongside a fast track to gaining *G.

(1) What is your home airport? NYC area - JFK preferred
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Always business or first
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? roughly 6 trips in business JFK-FRA on LH, plus a few UA domestic flights in F
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Nothing
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Priority services, redemption rates, lounge access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? TransAtlantic
(7) Preferred Airlines - none, although requiring "x" segments on an airline to retain status could be an issue if the best option is Aegean or similar
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both - but LH is a fixed option for those 6 trips

I think the two main choices to consider if trying to also redeem on the JFK-FRA route:

1) LH given the 6x JFK-FRA in J (assuming P fares). It's the only way to access LH premium cabin awards outside of the 14 day window. With the upcoming changes to Miles & More rewarding flying on LH metal, by my math, for the 2000 qualifying points required (with 50% LH metal requirement), your client would earn SEN (*G) after the 5th return (at 200 points per international biz segment).

2) SQ as the distance based option, with LH P fares earning 125% distance flown, and UA P fares at 100% of distance flown, and there's no metal requirement. The 7713mi JFK-FRA RT earns 9641mi, so Krisflyer Gold halfway through the 6th trip. Some upsides to this: access to SQ premium cabin award space, especially on the (relatively easy to book) JFK-FRA route. The dual-track PPS Club qualification is helpful considering the level of premium cabin spend (discount vouchers, etc.)

I wouldn't rule out UA on spend if you can ticket the LH segments on 016 stock though. Considering your average TATL JV ticket runs $3400ish, I think that'd be around 3250 PQP per roundtrip, so you could hit Gold on PQP alone within 4 trips. Add United Club membership (or credit card) for domestic lounge access if desired, but I think you already know the sorry state of UCs.