Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Global Airline Alliances > Star Alliance
Reload this Page >

Need advice on which *A FF scheme to join? - please post here

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
Old Jan 20, 2016, 10:53 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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.
Print Wikipost

Need advice on which *A FF scheme to join? - please post here

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Apr 27, 2023 | 4:06 pm
  #2461  
All eyes on you!
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 194
I am looking to join *A frequent flyer club and was hoping someone here could advise me on what the best one to join is
(1) What is your home airport? DUB

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Y short haul. Premium economy long haul sometimes J and on vary rare occasions I fly First class.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
42K, I fly transatlantic monthly but also have status in oneworld and dont want to lose that so will be flying *A every other month.


(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? Not in *A but am oneworld silver BA executive club.

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge access followed by priority treatment and lastly reward availability.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often? DUB-NYC, DUB-LGW(on FR) I usually take a flight from mainland Europe to North America once a year typically this connects through FRA or MUC on LH.

(7) Preferred Airlines: As there is no *A airline in Ireland I typically fly LH to Europe and UA to EWR though I sometimes fly LH transatlantic as I prefer them to UA.

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Mainly Pleasure Im a restless person who likes to see new places and can work remotely.

[/QUOTE]
Irishtraveler is offline  
Old Apr 29, 2023 | 11:10 am
  #2462  
50 Countries Visited80 Nights5M10 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: MIA, VIE and DPS
Programs: DL Plat 1MM, AA EXP 3MM, SQ Krisflyer Gold, UA Silver, Marriott LTT, HH Gold
Posts: 1,143
Hi all,

I am moving to Bali for a year or probably two changing my flying patters and needs significantly compared to being based in MIA

(1) What is your home airport? DPS (though flights to SIN or KUL are easy and cheap)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? I am cost conscious - meaning I care for the value I get. I have bought international F when cheap - but I also have bought economy light fares (though rarely). The majority of travel from Bali will be my own money. I am not a big fan of economy on those distances - but suspect that on 25% of the time higher classes might be cost prohibitive. Upgrades or lower priced premium products matter
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? Last year >140K - but with the distances from DPS - probably a lot more during those two years
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? UA Silver, Delta Plat, AA EXP
(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 need *Gold - care about seat selection, lounge access, upgrades)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Will be DPS-Europe (mainly MUC and VIE), DPS-US (mainly MIA) - there will be some regional travel but for 3 hours or less I am fine with AirAsia or similar
(7) Preferred Airlines - Don't have any in *Alliance - I have done a lot of LH, LX, OS and UA - but that doesn't make them preferred. When looking at the routes I am likely to fly, I see a lot of TK, SQ, some TQ and Eva (don't even know the 2 letter code)
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) Yes, totally - mainly personal travel this year

I did the AC status match for 2022 - so that is out - still use it for CC transfers and have a couple hundred K miles there since decent award redemption options

Last edited by flying_geek; Apr 29, 2023 at 11:19 am
flying_geek is offline  
Old Apr 30, 2023 | 6:19 am
  #2463  
All eyes on you!
 
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: LAX
Programs: UA
Posts: 2,212
Originally Posted by flying_geek
Hi all,

I am moving to Bali for a year or probably two changing my flying patters and needs significantly compared to being based in MIA

(1) What is your home airport? DPS (though flights to SIN or KUL are easy and cheap)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? I am cost conscious - meaning I care for the value I get. I have bought international F when cheap - but I also have bought economy light fares (though rarely). The majority of travel from Bali will be my own money. I am not a big fan of economy on those distances - but suspect that on 25% of the time higher classes might be cost prohibitive. Upgrades or lower priced premium products matter
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? Last year >140K - but with the distances from DPS - probably a lot more during those two years
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? UA Silver, Delta Plat, AA EXP
(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 need *Gold - care about seat selection, lounge access, upgrades)

*Gold does not come with published seat selection benefits. Complimentary upgrades are generally a US phenomenon and on most airlines you should expect to fly in the cabin that you buy.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Will be DPS-Europe (mainly MUC and VIE), DPS-US (mainly MIA) - there will be some regional travel but for 3 hours or less I am fine with AirAsia or similar
(7) Preferred Airlines - Don't have any in *Alliance - I have done a lot of LH, LX, OS and UA - but that doesn't make them preferred. When looking at the routes I am likely to fly, I see a lot of TK, SQ, some TQ and Eva (don't even know the 2 letter code)

EVA's code is BR. Be aware that SQ makes it fairly difficult to earn *G.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) Yes, totally - mainly personal travel this year

I did the AC status match for 2022 - so that is out - still use it for CC transfers and have a couple hundred K miles there since decent award redemption options
Traditionally, the easiest programs to earn *G with have been Aegean, Turkish, and SAS. Aegean has recently changed their program so that it's still very easy if you can fly with them a few times a year, will you be doing an intra-Europe flying? Also, if you're very value focused, you may end up booked into LH P class business fares which have are notoriously difficult to credit, earning 0% with many programs. There is a thread in this subforum about easy programs to earn *G with, have you looked through that?
angetenar is offline  
Old Apr 30, 2023 | 6:54 am
  #2464  
50 Countries Visited80 Nights5M10 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: MIA, VIE and DPS
Programs: DL Plat 1MM, AA EXP 3MM, SQ Krisflyer Gold, UA Silver, Marriott LTT, HH Gold
Posts: 1,143
Originally Posted by angetenar
*Gold does not come with published seat selection benefits. Complimentary upgrades are generally a US phenomenon and on most airlines you should expect to fly in the cabin that you buy.
Hmm, is it fair to assume that Gold - published benefit or not - typically does allow seat selection? In particular when it comes to TK, TQ, SQ and I guess BR?
As far as upgrades are concerned - while free upgrades might be a NA thing (AC certainly has some) - are there no miles for upgrades options? Do none of them earn some upgrades over time? And if so, I would imagine availability greatly varies by airline/program?
flying_geek is offline  
Old Apr 30, 2023 | 7:07 am
  #2465  
All eyes on you!
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: FRA
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 1,937
Originally Posted by flying_geek
Hmm, is it fair to assume that Gold - published benefit or not - typically does allow seat selection? In particular when it comes to TK, TQ, SQ and I guess BR?
You can ask and you might get lucky but, if they are following the rules, the answer is usually no.

Seating benefit is usually only when flying the metal of who you hold status with.

As far as upgrades are concerned - while free upgrades might be a NA thing (AC certainly has some) - are there no miles for upgrades options? Do none of them earn some upgrades over time? And if so, I would imagine availability greatly varies by airline/program?
You can apply for an upgrade with miles and some programs also offer upgrade vouchers of some sort.

Just don't expect complimentary upgrades, they are happy to let premium seats fly empty.

If lower cabins are over-sold you might have an increased chance of an op-up, but it depends what other elites are in the same cabin as you.
supine is offline  
Old Apr 30, 2023 | 7:18 am
  #2466  
50 Countries Visited80 Nights5M10 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: MIA, VIE and DPS
Programs: DL Plat 1MM, AA EXP 3MM, SQ Krisflyer Gold, UA Silver, Marriott LTT, HH Gold
Posts: 1,143
Actually that somewhat leads to another questions - out of TK, SQ, TQ - and BR - are any of them likely to sell/do bidding upgrades?

If I buy the cheapest Y ticket on IB and there is space, I can usually buy an upgrade to J for $535 on the MIA-MAD segment - so if expert flyer tells me there is enough space - I might buy Y and almost count on getting a cheap paid upgrade. American MUC-CLT - pretty much always available for $595 even from basic eco etc.
flying_geek is offline  
Old Apr 30, 2023 | 7:22 am
  #2467  
All eyes on you!
 
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: LAX
Programs: UA
Posts: 2,212
Also, Thai's code is TG not TQ which is what I assume you are referring to and not Tandem Aero.
SPN Lifer likes this.
angetenar is offline  
Old Apr 30, 2023 | 7:24 am
  #2468  
50 Countries Visited80 Nights5M10 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: MIA, VIE and DPS
Programs: DL Plat 1MM, AA EXP 3MM, SQ Krisflyer Gold, UA Silver, Marriott LTT, HH Gold
Posts: 1,143
Originally Posted by angetenar
Also, Thai's code is TG not TQ which is what I assume you are referring to and not Tandem Aero.
you assume correctly
flying_geek is offline  
Old Jun 7, 2023 | 9:34 pm
  #2469  
 
Join Date: Jan 2023
Location: Shanghai / London / Yorkshire
Programs: Delta SkyMiles Gold / TAP Miles&Go Gold / IHG Diamond
Posts: 3
Royal Orchid Plus (Thai Airways) or Asiana Club (Asiana Airlines)

I am about to switch my Star Alliance program from TAP to either Asiana or Thai Airways since I recently lost status with TAP. The reason I am keen on Asiana or Thai is the qualification period is 2 years rather than Gold which makes it a no brainer. It would be a second no brainer to go with Asiana over Thai (lower Gold qualification requirement) if it wasn't for the potential takeover by Korean Air (which may or may not succeed). My next Star Alliance flight is this Saturday with Air China. I will register for both Asiana and Thai Airways programs on Friday.

My question is: If I don't record my program number (neither Asiana or Thai) on the boarding pass, can I still claim under either Asiana's or Thai Airways' programs after the fact? The timeline for both for claiming missing miles is clear (Asiana is 1 year, Thai is 180 days, but what if my boarding pass doesn't show the program nunber?

In short, I am looking to keep my options open for a long as possible as to which program I credit my upcoming flights to. If it becomes clear that the Korean Air takeover of Asiana will go ahead, I'll go with Thai. Otherwise, I'll go with Asiana.
mjipennington is offline  
Old Jun 8, 2023 | 12:23 am
  #2470  
500k
40 Nights
40 Countries Visited
10 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: CDG
Programs: AF/KL Plat, Marriott Plat
Posts: 4,552
Originally Posted by mjipennington
but what if my boarding pass doesn't show the program nunber?
This makes no material difference. You can retrocredit the flight with either airline.
gojko88 is offline  
Old Jun 8, 2023 | 3:43 am
  #2471  
All eyes on you!
5 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Saarbruecken, Germany
Programs: AY, AS, BA, OZ, SK
Posts: 233
Originally Posted by mjipennington
I am about to switch my Star Alliance program from TAP to either Asiana or Thai Airways since I recently lost status with TAP. The reason I am keen on Asiana or Thai is the qualification period is 2 years rather than Gold which makes it a no brainer. It would be a second no brainer to go with Asiana over Thai (lower Gold qualification requirement) if it wasn't for the potential takeover by Korean Air (which may or may not succeed). My next Star Alliance flight is this Saturday with Air China. I will register for both Asiana and Thai Airways programs on Friday.

My question is: If I don't record my program number (neither Asiana or Thai) on the boarding pass, can I still claim under either Asiana's or Thai Airways' programs after the fact? The timeline for both for claiming missing miles is clear (Asiana is 1 year, Thai is 180 days, but what if my boarding pass doesn't show the program nunber?

In short, I am looking to keep my options open for a long as possible as to which program I credit my upcoming flights to. If it becomes clear that the Korean Air takeover of Asiana will go ahead, I'll go with Thai. Otherwise, I'll go with Asiana.
FYI, I'm not sure if you're aware. As of some date in 2019, Star Alliance awards with Thai Royal Orchid Plus program are only limited to one-way or round-trip tickets from Bangkok due to currency restriction (or whatever). Not sure when this will be lifted, but I recently helped a family member redeem some award tickets and saw this notice: (https://www.thaiairways.com/en_TH/ro...rAlliance.page) If you regularly have flights ex-Bangkok, this shouldn't be an issue. I think this is only for online redemptions, so phone booking should be ok.
Also, their miles do expire, even with activities and their redemption fees are quite high, even for Y redemptions (e.g. 200+ USD for a BKK-FRA single segment award). If you're considering it simply for Gold benefits, these things probably don't matter as much I suppose.
pdxerinsaarland is offline  
Old Jun 12, 2023 | 4:17 pm
  #2472  
 
Join Date: May 2023
Posts: 12
(1) What is your home airport? YVR
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Y and C
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25k-50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Aeroplan, working towards 25K
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Frequent upgrades on travel and priority services when flying the airline
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? YVR to AUH
(7) Preferred Airlines? Etihad or KLM
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure
Jackib is offline  
Old Jun 19, 2023 | 3:14 am
  #2473  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
60 Nights
50 Countries Visited
3M
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: HH Diamond, Marriott, IHG, Hyatt something
Posts: 34,519
Which * Airline to join for my MIL?

My MIL recently just got her US visa in CGK. We already had BR award tickets to LAX, but another was not available on our date. So, I bit the bullet, and bought a pricey Y ticket outbound. Her return ticket was only $35 extra for one premium economy seat on the LAX-TPE segment. Only Y seating available on TPE-CGK.

Im trying to figure which FF program to sign her up with. Shes in her late 60s, and healthy. Looking for something that might earn her some sort of status, plus mileage that she could use for a free OW or RT flight. Id guess 17k a year of flying, possibly 34-35k in a 12 month period. Her first flight is this month, as is her birthday.

Generally flights would be Y or PE. Her upcoming flights are B and P fare class on BR, which seem to credit at 100%.

(1) What is your home airport? CGK/SIN
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Y and PE
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 17-35k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Usable mileage for awards, some sort of status perks.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? CGK-PHX (or West coast US)
(7) Preferred Airlines? BR, NH, SQ
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure
Jaimito Cartero is offline  
Old Jul 5, 2023 | 7:33 am
  #2474  
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 2,086
FFP for kids

Now that Covid is over we are travelling a bit more.

Wife and me on A3, previously Gold but presently silver. Unlikely to get Gold again so really collecting for miles redemption. Want to get the kids on an FFP to start collecting miles for them.

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.) HKG
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.) Normally Y, sometimes PE
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k) 25-50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Silver, M&M Senator etc) Nothing
(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.) Redemption
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc) Mainly Asia, but once a year to either Canada or the UK
(7) Preferred Airlines: No preference
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) For the kids, all pleasure
theworld is offline  
Old Jul 15, 2023 | 8:31 pm
  #2475  
All eyes on you!
15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: Sometimes BA, sometimes AA
Posts: 663
Never had useful amounts of travel on *A before, favoring Oneworld for the routes I've usually taken. Recently spent the last of my Avios and not many AA miles left. I do have 90k Amex Membership Rewards for which I have no particular plans.

I have a flight booked BOS-SFO-TPE,TPE-LAX-BOS in early August. The US domestic legs are JetBlue Mint (irrelevant here I suppose) and the trans-Pacific legs are on EVA Air in premium economy (P and K buckets).

I have long-dormant accounts at Asiana with 20k miles and EVA with zero. Wondering which of those I should credit the EVA flight sectors to.

We are tentatively looking at a RTW in the next year or two and were intending Oneworld DONEx i.e. business class. No reason we need this to be on Oneworld if I'm starting to get status elsewhere, but with business class we'd get most of the same benefits as status anyway.

Would appreciate any insight! Thanks.

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.) BOS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.) economy for personal, premium economy for work
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k) likely to be 2-3 return trips to TPE in the next 12 months. otherwise 1-2 transatlantic per year. I guess that'd be 25k-50k for sure, or >50k if I really prioritize *A.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc) none
(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, priority services. I often struggle to find good uses for miles I accumulate.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc) very little US domestic. will be transpacific for work and transatlantic for pleasure
(7) Preferred Airlines no experience with any *A airlines in last 10+ years
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) for work I can choose my own itinerary but limited to premium economy unless exceptional circumstances

Last edited by potfish; Jul 15, 2023 at 8:36 pm
potfish is offline  


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.