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
May 16, 2011 | 4:05 pm
#241
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 14
Awesome thread - can't believe I didn't see it until now, and I don't think I've posted for over 3 years. PLEASE help me! 
I'm going nuts now trying to figure out my accrual strategy and have been doing some stupid things lately.
Background: I'm a US citizen living and working in JNB and I return regularly every 4-5 months to JFK and/or SFO for personal travel usually in DDE or reward fares (and occasionally on business). I previously was working in a consulting job with only intra-SA travel and flew mostly discount carriers, and have now taken a new position where I have almost intra-African travel, predominantly on SA and KQ, with at least one trip a quarter to Europe or the US, predominantly on SA, LH, and DL. I haven't been smart about my accrual in the last few years - I burned down all my balances I built up in the past to visit the US on reward tix.
I used to fly mostly UA and AA in the USA and have (multiple) mileage CC's for both programs that I still hold and use; hold SPG Amex, Amex Plat, and a dozen or so other CCs (no other mileage earning I don't think at this point.)
Current notable balances in FF programs:
UA: 45k (some BIS; rest CC)
LH: 16k (all BIS; probably should have accrued on a partner airline but it was booked 3 hours before I flew and I forgot)
DL: 25k (all BIS and last minute travel; will be transferring 70k via Amex MR soon and planning on using for a JNB-SFO redemption; am indifferent to earning any more on DL after that)
SA: 20k (all BIS; was originally thinking to start accruing SA but am not sure)
SPG: 15k (1/2 CC; 1/2 stays)
Have 20-40k hotel points each in a bunch of different programs and have no real loyalty for business travel but prefer redeeming SPG points for W stays for personal travel so try to accrue SPG when travelling in the US or Europe (also many cities for work I end up staying in a non-major program hotel or Southern Sun brand hotels, though would probably prefer Radisson for my DKR trips as it's a lot nicer than the Le Meridien there)
Current booked travel (both work and personal):
1) JNB-FRA-JFK-FRA-JNB in early June (DDE L-class on LH with one segment on UA)
2) JNB-LHR-EWR-LHR-EWR in late June/early July (JNB-LHR on BD operated by SA; LHR-EWR on CO. Booked in S-class as per CO website; earns at least 100% on each leg and CO tells me that the JNB-LHR leg earns 150%; BD website tells me that the outbound legs are S and the return in W though)
3) JNB-MPM-JNB (SA) next week
4) JNB-HRE-JNB (SA) in mid-June
5) JNB-NRO-JNB (KQ) late May
6) JNB-GBE-JNB (SA) late June
(1) What is your home airport? JNB
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? usually DDE for personal travel; Y (full-fare economy or at least a 100% earning class) for work usually as most trips are relatively last-minute (7-10 days notice max; many are same-day or day before - no business or first for work as per global company policy)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 75k-100k it looks like at this point; could be more
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1st - Earning economy reward tix from JNB to SFO and JFK; 2nd is lounge access in LHR/FRA/CDG where I can sleep where the lounges via PP (Amex Plat card holder) are crappy and don't have sleep rooms; 3rd - free upgrades on travel for long-haul overnights ex-JNB to DKR, JFK, FRA (which is mostly SAA at this point)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? 1st - intra-African (JNB-HRE, JNB-NRO, JNB-DKR, JNB-CPT, JNB-LOS, JNB-MPM, JNB-GBE) 2nd - Africa-USA (JNB-NYC, JNB-SFO) 3rd - Africa-Europe (JNB-ARN, JNB-BCN, JNB-FRA mostly)
(7) Preferred Airlines? Depends on where, but for personal travel it's whatever's cheapest; for work it depends on who has more shoulder and leg room and better planes, but it's been SA pretty much every flight for the last month. I often don't have choice in work travel - I get booked on whatever's cheapest and not many airlines fly to some of the smaller airports in Africa.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both - I have a significant amount of work travel and I do a lot of personal travel.
Thank you in advance FTers!
I'm going nuts now trying to figure out my accrual strategy and have been doing some stupid things lately.Background: I'm a US citizen living and working in JNB and I return regularly every 4-5 months to JFK and/or SFO for personal travel usually in DDE or reward fares (and occasionally on business). I previously was working in a consulting job with only intra-SA travel and flew mostly discount carriers, and have now taken a new position where I have almost intra-African travel, predominantly on SA and KQ, with at least one trip a quarter to Europe or the US, predominantly on SA, LH, and DL. I haven't been smart about my accrual in the last few years - I burned down all my balances I built up in the past to visit the US on reward tix.
I used to fly mostly UA and AA in the USA and have (multiple) mileage CC's for both programs that I still hold and use; hold SPG Amex, Amex Plat, and a dozen or so other CCs (no other mileage earning I don't think at this point.)
Current notable balances in FF programs:
UA: 45k (some BIS; rest CC)
LH: 16k (all BIS; probably should have accrued on a partner airline but it was booked 3 hours before I flew and I forgot)
DL: 25k (all BIS and last minute travel; will be transferring 70k via Amex MR soon and planning on using for a JNB-SFO redemption; am indifferent to earning any more on DL after that)
SA: 20k (all BIS; was originally thinking to start accruing SA but am not sure)
SPG: 15k (1/2 CC; 1/2 stays)
Have 20-40k hotel points each in a bunch of different programs and have no real loyalty for business travel but prefer redeeming SPG points for W stays for personal travel so try to accrue SPG when travelling in the US or Europe (also many cities for work I end up staying in a non-major program hotel or Southern Sun brand hotels, though would probably prefer Radisson for my DKR trips as it's a lot nicer than the Le Meridien there)
Current booked travel (both work and personal):
1) JNB-FRA-JFK-FRA-JNB in early June (DDE L-class on LH with one segment on UA)
2) JNB-LHR-EWR-LHR-EWR in late June/early July (JNB-LHR on BD operated by SA; LHR-EWR on CO. Booked in S-class as per CO website; earns at least 100% on each leg and CO tells me that the JNB-LHR leg earns 150%; BD website tells me that the outbound legs are S and the return in W though)
3) JNB-MPM-JNB (SA) next week
4) JNB-HRE-JNB (SA) in mid-June
5) JNB-NRO-JNB (KQ) late May
6) JNB-GBE-JNB (SA) late June
(1) What is your home airport? JNB
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? usually DDE for personal travel; Y (full-fare economy or at least a 100% earning class) for work usually as most trips are relatively last-minute (7-10 days notice max; many are same-day or day before - no business or first for work as per global company policy)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 75k-100k it looks like at this point; could be more
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1st - Earning economy reward tix from JNB to SFO and JFK; 2nd is lounge access in LHR/FRA/CDG where I can sleep where the lounges via PP (Amex Plat card holder) are crappy and don't have sleep rooms; 3rd - free upgrades on travel for long-haul overnights ex-JNB to DKR, JFK, FRA (which is mostly SAA at this point)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? 1st - intra-African (JNB-HRE, JNB-NRO, JNB-DKR, JNB-CPT, JNB-LOS, JNB-MPM, JNB-GBE) 2nd - Africa-USA (JNB-NYC, JNB-SFO) 3rd - Africa-Europe (JNB-ARN, JNB-BCN, JNB-FRA mostly)
(7) Preferred Airlines? Depends on where, but for personal travel it's whatever's cheapest; for work it depends on who has more shoulder and leg room and better planes, but it's been SA pretty much every flight for the last month. I often don't have choice in work travel - I get booked on whatever's cheapest and not many airlines fly to some of the smaller airports in Africa.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both - I have a significant amount of work travel and I do a lot of personal travel.
Thank you in advance FTers!
May 16, 2011 | 4:36 pm
#242
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SAT / MAA / BOM
Programs: CO Plat; UA 1K; EK Gold
Posts: 5,110
(1) What is your home airport? BOS/JFK and WAW
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? W/Q + Y if on full corporate expense (2-3x a year)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? ~40-50k, planning ~75k this year
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? *A MM FTL
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge access/op-ups/cheap awards (in that order)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? USA-EU
(7) Preferred Airlines? LX/LH ATM (generally LH-owned subsidiaries), can change if necessary
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? 70-30
After noticing recently that *A stopped being so competitive on my usual EUR-USA routes, I am considering moving to 1W, but I'd rather stay with *A -- I like the wide Asian and South American network, and simply the size of *A.
I have an upcoming trip WAW-LHR-SFO-BOS-FRA-WAW via LO/2xCO (UA metal)/LH which should net at the very least 12k QM and shortly after that will be flying at least one more WAW-BOS-WAW. (unclear on layover airport, probably ZRH, VIE or FRA) Definitely willing to put these to good use.
For some reason though I have a feeling LH M&M is one of the stingiest *A FF. Right?
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? W/Q + Y if on full corporate expense (2-3x a year)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? ~40-50k, planning ~75k this year
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? *A MM FTL
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge access/op-ups/cheap awards (in that order)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? USA-EU
(7) Preferred Airlines? LX/LH ATM (generally LH-owned subsidiaries), can change if necessary
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? 70-30
After noticing recently that *A stopped being so competitive on my usual EUR-USA routes, I am considering moving to 1W, but I'd rather stay with *A -- I like the wide Asian and South American network, and simply the size of *A.
I have an upcoming trip WAW-LHR-SFO-BOS-FRA-WAW via LO/2xCO (UA metal)/LH which should net at the very least 12k QM and shortly after that will be flying at least one more WAW-BOS-WAW. (unclear on layover airport, probably ZRH, VIE or FRA) Definitely willing to put these to good use.
For some reason though I have a feeling LH M&M is one of the stingiest *A FF. Right?
I suggest you consider either Air Canada or CO/UA.
With AC, Star Gold is easier to reach than CO/ UA.
(which ensures lounge access for international travel).
CO almost never does op-ups. UA rarely does do op-ups.
I dont about AC and op-ups.
But, my 2 cents: AC/CO/UA in that order...soon, CO/UA will be one.
May 16, 2011 | 4:45 pm
#243
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SAT / MAA / BOM
Programs: CO Plat; UA 1K; EK Gold
Posts: 5,110
Awesome thread - can't believe I didn't see it until now, and I don't think I've posted for over 3 years. PLEASE help me! I'm going nuts now trying to figure out my accrual strategy and have been doing some stupid things lately.
Background: I'm a US citizen living and working in JNB and I return regularly every 4-5 months to JFK and/or SFO for personal travel usually in DDE or reward fares (and occasionally on business). I previously was working in a consulting job with only intra-SA travel and flew mostly discount carriers, and have now taken a new position where I have almost intra-African travel, predominantly on SA and KQ, with at least one trip a quarter to Europe or the US, predominantly on SA, LH, and DL. I haven't been smart about my accrual in the last few years - I burned down all my balances I built up in the past to visit the US on reward tix.
I used to fly mostly UA and AA in the USA and have (multiple) mileage CC's for both programs that I still hold and use; hold SPG Amex, Amex Plat, and a dozen or so other CCs (no other mileage earning I don't think at this point.)
Current notable balances in FF programs:
UA: 45k (some BIS; rest CC)
LH: 16k (all BIS; probably should have accrued on a partner airline but it was booked 3 hours before I flew and I forgot)
DL: 25k (all BIS and last minute travel; will be transferring 70k via Amex MR soon and planning on using for a JNB-SFO redemption; am indifferent to earning any more on DL after that)
SA: 20k (all BIS; was originally thinking to start accruing SA but am not sure)
SPG: 15k (1/2 CC; 1/2 stays)
Have 20-40k hotel points each in a bunch of different programs and have no real loyalty for business travel but prefer redeeming SPG points for W stays for personal travel so try to accrue SPG when travelling in the US or Europe (also many cities for work I end up staying in a non-major program hotel or Southern Sun brand hotels, though would probably prefer Radisson for my DKR trips as it's a lot nicer than the Le Meridien there)
Current booked travel (both work and personal):
1) JNB-FRA-JFK-FRA-JNB in early June (DDE L-class on LH with one segment on UA)
2) JNB-LHR-EWR-LHR-EWR in late June/early July (JNB-LHR on BD operated by SA; LHR-EWR on CO. Booked in S-class as per CO website; earns at least 100% on each leg and CO tells me that the JNB-LHR leg earns 150%; BD website tells me that the outbound legs are S and the return in W though)
3) JNB-MPM-JNB (SA) next week
4) JNB-HRE-JNB (SA) in mid-June
5) JNB-NRO-JNB (KQ) late May
6) JNB-GBE-JNB (SA) late June
(1) What is your home airport? JNB
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? usually DDE for personal travel; Y (full-fare economy or at least a 100% earning class) for work usually as most trips are relatively last-minute (7-10 days notice max; many are same-day or day before - no business or first for work as per global company policy)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 75k-100k it looks like at this point; could be more
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1st - Earning economy reward tix from JNB to SFO and JFK; 2nd is lounge access in LHR/FRA/CDG where I can sleep where the lounges via PP (Amex Plat card holder) are crappy and don't have sleep rooms; 3rd - free upgrades on travel for long-haul overnights ex-JNB to DKR, JFK, FRA (which is mostly SAA at this point)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? 1st - intra-African (JNB-HRE, JNB-NRO, JNB-DKR, JNB-CPT, JNB-LOS, JNB-MPM, JNB-GBE) 2nd - Africa-USA (JNB-NYC, JNB-SFO) 3rd - Africa-Europe (JNB-ARN, JNB-BCN, JNB-FRA mostly)
(7) Preferred Airlines? Depends on where, but for personal travel it's whatever's cheapest; for work it depends on who has more shoulder and leg room and better planes, but it's been SA pretty much every flight for the last month. I often don't have choice in work travel - I get booked on whatever's cheapest and not many airlines fly to some of the smaller airports in Africa.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both - I have a significant amount of work travel and I do a lot of personal travel.
Thank you in advance FTers!
I'm going nuts now trying to figure out my accrual strategy and have been doing some stupid things lately.Background: I'm a US citizen living and working in JNB and I return regularly every 4-5 months to JFK and/or SFO for personal travel usually in DDE or reward fares (and occasionally on business). I previously was working in a consulting job with only intra-SA travel and flew mostly discount carriers, and have now taken a new position where I have almost intra-African travel, predominantly on SA and KQ, with at least one trip a quarter to Europe or the US, predominantly on SA, LH, and DL. I haven't been smart about my accrual in the last few years - I burned down all my balances I built up in the past to visit the US on reward tix.
I used to fly mostly UA and AA in the USA and have (multiple) mileage CC's for both programs that I still hold and use; hold SPG Amex, Amex Plat, and a dozen or so other CCs (no other mileage earning I don't think at this point.)
Current notable balances in FF programs:
UA: 45k (some BIS; rest CC)
LH: 16k (all BIS; probably should have accrued on a partner airline but it was booked 3 hours before I flew and I forgot)
DL: 25k (all BIS and last minute travel; will be transferring 70k via Amex MR soon and planning on using for a JNB-SFO redemption; am indifferent to earning any more on DL after that)
SA: 20k (all BIS; was originally thinking to start accruing SA but am not sure)
SPG: 15k (1/2 CC; 1/2 stays)
Have 20-40k hotel points each in a bunch of different programs and have no real loyalty for business travel but prefer redeeming SPG points for W stays for personal travel so try to accrue SPG when travelling in the US or Europe (also many cities for work I end up staying in a non-major program hotel or Southern Sun brand hotels, though would probably prefer Radisson for my DKR trips as it's a lot nicer than the Le Meridien there)
Current booked travel (both work and personal):
1) JNB-FRA-JFK-FRA-JNB in early June (DDE L-class on LH with one segment on UA)
2) JNB-LHR-EWR-LHR-EWR in late June/early July (JNB-LHR on BD operated by SA; LHR-EWR on CO. Booked in S-class as per CO website; earns at least 100% on each leg and CO tells me that the JNB-LHR leg earns 150%; BD website tells me that the outbound legs are S and the return in W though)
3) JNB-MPM-JNB (SA) next week
4) JNB-HRE-JNB (SA) in mid-June
5) JNB-NRO-JNB (KQ) late May
6) JNB-GBE-JNB (SA) late June
(1) What is your home airport? JNB
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? usually DDE for personal travel; Y (full-fare economy or at least a 100% earning class) for work usually as most trips are relatively last-minute (7-10 days notice max; many are same-day or day before - no business or first for work as per global company policy)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 75k-100k it looks like at this point; could be more
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1st - Earning economy reward tix from JNB to SFO and JFK; 2nd is lounge access in LHR/FRA/CDG where I can sleep where the lounges via PP (Amex Plat card holder) are crappy and don't have sleep rooms; 3rd - free upgrades on travel for long-haul overnights ex-JNB to DKR, JFK, FRA (which is mostly SAA at this point)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? 1st - intra-African (JNB-HRE, JNB-NRO, JNB-DKR, JNB-CPT, JNB-LOS, JNB-MPM, JNB-GBE) 2nd - Africa-USA (JNB-NYC, JNB-SFO) 3rd - Africa-Europe (JNB-ARN, JNB-BCN, JNB-FRA mostly)
(7) Preferred Airlines? Depends on where, but for personal travel it's whatever's cheapest; for work it depends on who has more shoulder and leg room and better planes, but it's been SA pretty much every flight for the last month. I often don't have choice in work travel - I get booked on whatever's cheapest and not many airlines fly to some of the smaller airports in Africa.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both - I have a significant amount of work travel and I do a lot of personal travel.
Thank you in advance FTers!
LH M&M is becoming somewhat worse for redeeming miles (i am no expert, but this is the generalized idea I have).
LH M&M has access to SQ's premier upper class reward seats. Thats a plus.
One big downside for LH program (for you) is that those Deep discount fares may only earn 50% miles.
Another option to consider is CO/UA....fares on CO/UA metal are always 100% earning. (However, those cheapo LH fares may earn only 50%).
With CO/UA you get systemwide upgrades. UA SWU's can be printed and used on LH flights as well (this is done at airport before flight).
these are my thoughts.
i dont know much about SAs program.
May 16, 2011 | 5:43 pm
#244
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: WAW
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 13
Reading Aeroplan requirements for their version of *G, it seems that I'll need to make 5 trips or 10k exclusively on AC or AC-affiliate metal to qualify within a fairly low 35k ceiling for *G. Do I understand it right?
One new thing that came up today is that I might be running a bi- or tri-weekly PWM/BOS-SFO commute starting September and lasting about nine months. (for the total of 15-18 roundtrips) I saw you mentioning that CO/UA earn 100% mileage regardless of travel class (these trips would probably often be in (D)DE, rarer in Y). Would CO/UA make more sense then? Can I still use my existing MM FTL perks when earning for AC/CO/UA?
Last edited by promethe; May 16, 2011 at 5:53 pm
May 17, 2011 | 4:53 am
#245
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SAT / MAA / BOM
Programs: CO Plat; UA 1K; EK Gold
Posts: 5,110
Thanks for your advice!
Reading Aeroplan requirements for their version of *G, it seems that I'll need to make 5 trips or 10k exclusively on AC or AC-affiliate metal to qualify within a fairly low 35k ceiling for *G. Do I understand it right?
One new thing that came up today is that I might be running a bi- or tri-weekly PWM/BOS-SFO commute starting September and lasting about nine months. (for the total of 15-18 roundtrips) I saw you mentioning that CO/UA earn 100% mileage regardless of travel class (these trips would probably often be in (D)DE, rarer in Y). Would CO/UA make more sense then? Can I still use my existing MM FTL perks when earning for AC/CO/UA?
Reading Aeroplan requirements for their version of *G, it seems that I'll need to make 5 trips or 10k exclusively on AC or AC-affiliate metal to qualify within a fairly low 35k ceiling for *G. Do I understand it right?
One new thing that came up today is that I might be running a bi- or tri-weekly PWM/BOS-SFO commute starting September and lasting about nine months. (for the total of 15-18 roundtrips) I saw you mentioning that CO/UA earn 100% mileage regardless of travel class (these trips would probably often be in (D)DE, rarer in Y). Would CO/UA make more sense then? Can I still use my existing MM FTL perks when earning for AC/CO/UA?
Very good questions.
For Aeroplan, you can earn status by flying partners such as CO, UA.
And you need 35K in first year;
Only downside...if you fly AC itself, some fares dont earn 100% miles. But all UA/CO/ US fares do earn 100%
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...e-gold-status/
For your new potential PWM/BOS-SFO trips...definitely consider AC or CO/UA
They will all earn 100%.
Yes, you can use your LH status for baggage, priority boarding.
No lounge access unless you are LH SEN.
May 18, 2011 | 9:50 am
#246
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: WAW
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 13
Air Canada's 35K limit for *G does sound pretty amazing. Is then Aeroplan any different from AC Top Tier? The wording on the website is fairly unclear:
I understand it as meaning that within these 35K on *A partners, I have to fly 10K or 5 segments on AC. Am I reading it wrong? This does not sound unreasonable, as routing there and back on WAW-SFO is 6 segments, but always two of them are operated by LO or LH. Oh well.
UA Premier Exec, while requires 15K more to qualify for *G then AC, does have the advantage of free upgrades to Economy Plus, and does provide 100% mileage on nearly all LH, OU, and LX bookings and on all UA/CA. (which are respectively the airlines I fly most out of EU, and most in the US) But then - from what I have heard, and I might have heard wrong - it has a constricted award availability, and they are pretty expensive.
No silver bullet I guess. Thank you for your help so far!
In order to qualify for 2012 Top Tier status, these qualification criteria will not change. However. as part of this, you must earn at least 5 Air Canada Status Flight Segments or 10,000 Air Canada Status Miles on eligible flights operated by Air Canada, or on behalf of Air Canada by Jazz, Air Georgian (doing business as Air Alliance), Exploits Valley Air Services LTD, Central Mountain Air and Sky Regional Airlines.
UA Premier Exec, while requires 15K more to qualify for *G then AC, does have the advantage of free upgrades to Economy Plus, and does provide 100% mileage on nearly all LH, OU, and LX bookings and on all UA/CA. (which are respectively the airlines I fly most out of EU, and most in the US) But then - from what I have heard, and I might have heard wrong - it has a constricted award availability, and they are pretty expensive.
No silver bullet I guess. Thank you for your help so far!
May 19, 2011 | 11:03 am
#247
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Programs: Delta Skymiles
Posts: 2
Need help with figuring out the best airline option.
(1) What is your home airport? SBA)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? L, T, U
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? >100K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? SKYMILES PLATINUM - WILL BE DIAMOND IN 3-4 MONTHS
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1)Frequent upgrades on travel, 2)Good award redemption rates & 3) Free lounge access IN THAT ORDER
(6) Which routes do you fly most often?- SBA-MSP TWICE A MONTH. MSP TO PWM ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR. LAX TO BOM ONCE A YEAR (USUALLY ON BUSINESS CLASS USING MILES).
(7) Preferred Airlines - CURRENTLY DELTA. HOWEVER, I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF THAT IS THE BEST OPTION.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? MOSTLY BUSINESS (HOWEVER, IT IS ON MY OWN DIME AS I AM SELF EMPLOYED)
Thank you very much for starting this thread. Any help is deeply appreciated. I am new to this site and not sure if I am doing the right thing.
Gautam
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? L, T, U
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? >100K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? SKYMILES PLATINUM - WILL BE DIAMOND IN 3-4 MONTHS
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1)Frequent upgrades on travel, 2)Good award redemption rates & 3) Free lounge access IN THAT ORDER
(6) Which routes do you fly most often?- SBA-MSP TWICE A MONTH. MSP TO PWM ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR. LAX TO BOM ONCE A YEAR (USUALLY ON BUSINESS CLASS USING MILES).
(7) Preferred Airlines - CURRENTLY DELTA. HOWEVER, I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF THAT IS THE BEST OPTION.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? MOSTLY BUSINESS (HOWEVER, IT IS ON MY OWN DIME AS I AM SELF EMPLOYED)
Thank you very much for starting this thread. Any help is deeply appreciated. I am new to this site and not sure if I am doing the right thing.
Gautam
May 19, 2011 | 12:21 pm
#248
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SAT / MAA / BOM
Programs: CO Plat; UA 1K; EK Gold
Posts: 5,110
Air Canada's 35K limit for *G does sound pretty amazing. Is then Aeroplan any different from AC Top Tier? The wording on the website is fairly unclear:
I understand it as meaning that within these 35K on *A partners, I have to fly 10K or 5 segments on AC. Am I reading it wrong? This does not sound unreasonable, as routing there and back on WAW-SFO is 6 segments, but always two of them are operated by LO or LH. Oh well.
UA Premier Exec, while requires 15K more to qualify for *G then AC, does have the advantage of free upgrades to Economy Plus, and does provide 100% mileage on nearly all LH, OU, and LX bookings and on all UA/CA. (which are respectively the airlines I fly most out of EU, and most in the US) But then - from what I have heard, and I might have heard wrong - it has a constricted award availability, and they are pretty expensive.
No silver bullet I guess. Thank you for your help so far!
I understand it as meaning that within these 35K on *A partners, I have to fly 10K or 5 segments on AC. Am I reading it wrong? This does not sound unreasonable, as routing there and back on WAW-SFO is 6 segments, but always two of them are operated by LO or LH. Oh well.
UA Premier Exec, while requires 15K more to qualify for *G then AC, does have the advantage of free upgrades to Economy Plus, and does provide 100% mileage on nearly all LH, OU, and LX bookings and on all UA/CA. (which are respectively the airlines I fly most out of EU, and most in the US) But then - from what I have heard, and I might have heard wrong - it has a constricted award availability, and they are pretty expensive.
No silver bullet I guess. Thank you for your help so far!
However, its not necessary that UA/CO has poor award availability. But AC traditionally does have some cheaper award deals.
Also, yes, with UA/CO elite, you get E+ always. This is a big plus if thats who you fly the most.
May 19, 2011 | 12:27 pm
#249
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SAT / MAA / BOM
Programs: CO Plat; UA 1K; EK Gold
Posts: 5,110
(1) What is your home airport? SBA)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? L, T, U
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? >100K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? SKYMILES PLATINUM - WILL BE DIAMOND IN 3-4 MONTHS
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1)Frequent upgrades on travel, 2)Good award redemption rates & 3) Free lounge access IN THAT ORDER
(6) Which routes do you fly most often?- SBA-MSP TWICE A MONTH. MSP TO PWM ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR. LAX TO BOM ONCE A YEAR (USUALLY ON BUSINESS CLASS USING MILES).
(7) Preferred Airlines - CURRENTLY DELTA. HOWEVER, I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF THAT IS THE BEST OPTION.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? MOSTLY BUSINESS (HOWEVER, IT IS ON MY OWN DIME AS I AM SELF EMPLOYED)
Thank you very much for starting this thread. Any help is deeply appreciated. I am new to this site and not sure if I am doing the right thing.
Gautam
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? L, T, U
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? >100K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? SKYMILES PLATINUM - WILL BE DIAMOND IN 3-4 MONTHS
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1)Frequent upgrades on travel, 2)Good award redemption rates & 3) Free lounge access IN THAT ORDER
(6) Which routes do you fly most often?- SBA-MSP TWICE A MONTH. MSP TO PWM ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR. LAX TO BOM ONCE A YEAR (USUALLY ON BUSINESS CLASS USING MILES).
(7) Preferred Airlines - CURRENTLY DELTA. HOWEVER, I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF THAT IS THE BEST OPTION.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? MOSTLY BUSINESS (HOWEVER, IT IS ON MY OWN DIME AS I AM SELF EMPLOYED)
Thank you very much for starting this thread. Any help is deeply appreciated. I am new to this site and not sure if I am doing the right thing.
Gautam
Every FF program has good and bad.
DL has been known to have very poor award availability in the "low levels".
If you fly 100K largely domestic USA miles, consider UA/CO or AA.
With UA/CO , you get CR-1's (can be used for domestic upgrades); and SWU's (with fare-class restrictions).
With AA, you get those SWU's (or EVIP's as they call it I guess), that have no fare-class restriction.
CO has a non-stop EWR-BOM
AA has non-stop ORD-BOM
(for your annual trips).
As you know, UA/CO is going through a merger. And there are some merger related pains that are happening.
It is reported in these boards that AA EXecPlat gets a very high percentage of domestic upgrades (free). UA 1K also seems to have a high upgrade percentage but not as high as AA EXP.
You will earn 100% mileage on low economy fares on UA/CO or AA, as long as purchased through published means (no opaque priceline fares).
I would say, pick the airline that has the most service to your home airport. That will make your life easy overall.
May 20, 2011 | 2:31 pm
#250
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 4
First of all, great thread! I'm new to this forum but I'm spending more and more time on it to learn more.
I'm not sure if this is the right thread for my question, but here goes:
(1) What is your home airport? AMS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? C for work, discounted economy for private travel.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 100K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? M&M Senator, Flying Blue Silver
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1. lounge access/2. upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Mostly within Europe and occasional flights to US
(7) Preferred Airlines: none really, but have spent most time on LH and LX
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) 80% work, 20% pleasure - can choose airline and class (except F)
Right now, I'm thinking of trying to maintain my M&M status as I mostly fly LH and LX, but is it worth trying to get *G status on a different program? Or should I place more flights/miles on a different alliance?
I'm not sure if this is the right thread for my question, but here goes:
(1) What is your home airport? AMS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? C for work, discounted economy for private travel.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 100K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? M&M Senator, Flying Blue Silver
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1. lounge access/2. upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Mostly within Europe and occasional flights to US
(7) Preferred Airlines: none really, but have spent most time on LH and LX
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) 80% work, 20% pleasure - can choose airline and class (except F)
Right now, I'm thinking of trying to maintain my M&M status as I mostly fly LH and LX, but is it worth trying to get *G status on a different program? Or should I place more flights/miles on a different alliance?
May 20, 2011 | 3:51 pm
#251
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SAT / MAA / BOM
Programs: CO Plat; UA 1K; EK Gold
Posts: 5,110
First of all, great thread! I'm new to this forum but I'm spending more and more time on it to learn more.
I'm not sure if this is the right thread for my question, but here goes:
(1) What is your home airport? AMS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? C for work, discounted economy for private travel.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 100K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? M&M Senator, Flying Blue Silver
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1. lounge access/2. upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Mostly within Europe and occasional flights to US
(7) Preferred Airlines: none really, but have spent most time on LH and LX
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) 80% work, 20% pleasure - can choose airline and class (except F)
Right now, I'm thinking of trying to maintain my M&M status as I mostly fly LH and LX, but is it worth trying to get *G status on a different program? Or should I place more flights/miles on a different alliance?
I'm not sure if this is the right thread for my question, but here goes:
(1) What is your home airport? AMS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? C for work, discounted economy for private travel.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 100K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? M&M Senator, Flying Blue Silver
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1. lounge access/2. upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Mostly within Europe and occasional flights to US
(7) Preferred Airlines: none really, but have spent most time on LH and LX
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) 80% work, 20% pleasure - can choose airline and class (except F)
Right now, I'm thinking of trying to maintain my M&M status as I mostly fly LH and LX, but is it worth trying to get *G status on a different program? Or should I place more flights/miles on a different alliance?
Your LHSEN will get you lounge access with Star, everywhere including the US.
FlyingBlue program seems to be very restrictive in terms of the miles earned on cheaper fares.
May 23, 2011 | 5:10 pm
#252
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: OZ *G
Posts: 29
I'm posting this on behalf of a buddy of mine, as I couldn't provide a solid advice to him based on my limited experience (even though I fly slightly more):
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
YEG
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
Flies only once per year, round-trip to SIN. So I would say 15-20K annually maybe? Depending on routing.
(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.)
Ease of upgrades (i.e. best earn/burn ratio) to C/J would be the most important.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
TPAC/TATL. I believe routing does not matter to him as he just wants to get from YEG to SIN annually in a reasonable timeframe and cost.
(7) Preferred Airlines
I don't think he has a preference, but he does not want to fly US carriers on long haul.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
For leisure.
Note that he is also open to OneWorld if that matters. CX is the only one that comes to my mind given his homebase and destinations. But with his low # of miles flown per year, I couldn't really advise him on CX.
Given his location (YEG) and final destination (SIN), I mentioned in passing that one possible way to maximize his mileage and still have it at a reasonable price and timeframe is to do a YEG-IAH on CO, and IAH-DME-SIN, on SQ metal (unfortunately SQ is the primary airline I fly with so my experience is limited to that). However even on that route, he's not going to get KF Silver for the additional 25% miles benefit, just by flying that route once a year, so I can't recommend that to him.
Thanks for any advice in advance
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
YEG
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
Flies only once per year, round-trip to SIN. So I would say 15-20K annually maybe? Depending on routing.
(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.)
Ease of upgrades (i.e. best earn/burn ratio) to C/J would be the most important.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
TPAC/TATL. I believe routing does not matter to him as he just wants to get from YEG to SIN annually in a reasonable timeframe and cost.
(7) Preferred Airlines
I don't think he has a preference, but he does not want to fly US carriers on long haul.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
For leisure.
Note that he is also open to OneWorld if that matters. CX is the only one that comes to my mind given his homebase and destinations. But with his low # of miles flown per year, I couldn't really advise him on CX.
Given his location (YEG) and final destination (SIN), I mentioned in passing that one possible way to maximize his mileage and still have it at a reasonable price and timeframe is to do a YEG-IAH on CO, and IAH-DME-SIN, on SQ metal (unfortunately SQ is the primary airline I fly with so my experience is limited to that). However even on that route, he's not going to get KF Silver for the additional 25% miles benefit, just by flying that route once a year, so I can't recommend that to him.
Thanks for any advice in advance
Last edited by prototypev; May 23, 2011 at 5:19 pm
May 23, 2011 | 7:33 pm
#253
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SEA/ORD/ADB
Programs: TK ELPL (*G), AS 100K (OWE), BA Gold (OWE), Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 7,774
I'm posting this on behalf of a buddy of mine, as I couldn't provide a solid advice to him based on my limited experience (even though I fly slightly more):
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
YEG
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
Flies only once per year, round-trip to SIN. So I would say 15-20K annually maybe? Depending on routing.
(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.)
Ease of upgrades (i.e. best earn/burn ratio) to C/J would be the most important.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
TPAC/TATL. I believe routing does not matter to him as he just wants to get from YEG to SIN annually in a reasonable timeframe and cost.
(7) Preferred Airlines
I don't think he has a preference, but he does not want to fly US carriers on long haul.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
For leisure.
Note that he is also open to OneWorld if that matters. CX is the only one that comes to my mind given his homebase and destinations. But with his low # of miles flown per year, I couldn't really advise him on CX.
Given his location (YEG) and final destination (SIN), I mentioned in passing that one possible way to maximize his mileage and still have it at a reasonable price and timeframe is to do a YEG-IAH on CO, and IAH-DME-SIN, on SQ metal (unfortunately SQ is the primary airline I fly with so my experience is limited to that). However even on that route, he's not going to get KF Silver for the additional 25% miles benefit, just by flying that route once a year, so I can't recommend that to him.
Thanks for any advice in advance
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
YEG
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
Flies only once per year, round-trip to SIN. So I would say 15-20K annually maybe? Depending on routing.
(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.)
Ease of upgrades (i.e. best earn/burn ratio) to C/J would be the most important.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
TPAC/TATL. I believe routing does not matter to him as he just wants to get from YEG to SIN annually in a reasonable timeframe and cost.
(7) Preferred Airlines
I don't think he has a preference, but he does not want to fly US carriers on long haul.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
For leisure.
Note that he is also open to OneWorld if that matters. CX is the only one that comes to my mind given his homebase and destinations. But with his low # of miles flown per year, I couldn't really advise him on CX.
Given his location (YEG) and final destination (SIN), I mentioned in passing that one possible way to maximize his mileage and still have it at a reasonable price and timeframe is to do a YEG-IAH on CO, and IAH-DME-SIN, on SQ metal (unfortunately SQ is the primary airline I fly with so my experience is limited to that). However even on that route, he's not going to get KF Silver for the additional 25% miles benefit, just by flying that route once a year, so I can't recommend that to him.
Thanks for any advice in advance
May 23, 2011 | 7:58 pm
#254
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SAT / MAA / BOM
Programs: CO Plat; UA 1K; EK Gold
Posts: 5,110
May 23, 2011 | 8:42 pm
#255
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: GRR, USA
Posts: 3,298
Awesome thread - can't believe I didn't see it until now, and I don't think I've posted for over 3 years. PLEASE help me! I'm going nuts now trying to figure out my accrual strategy and have been doing some stupid things lately.
Background: I'm a US citizen living and working in JNB and I return regularly every 4-5 months to JFK and/or SFO for personal travel usually in DDE or reward fares (and occasionally on business). I previously was working in a consulting job with only intra-SA travel and flew mostly discount carriers, and have now taken a new position where I have almost intra-African travel, predominantly on SA and KQ, with at least one trip a quarter to Europe or the US, predominantly on SA, LH, and DL. I haven't been smart about my accrual in the last few years - I burned down all my balances I built up in the past to visit the US on reward tix.
I used to fly mostly UA and AA in the USA and have (multiple) mileage CC's for both programs that I still hold and use; hold SPG Amex, Amex Plat, and a dozen or so other CCs (no other mileage earning I don't think at this point.)
Current notable balances in FF programs:
UA: 45k (some BIS; rest CC)
LH: 16k (all BIS; probably should have accrued on a partner airline but it was booked 3 hours before I flew and I forgot)
DL: 25k (all BIS and last minute travel; will be transferring 70k via Amex MR soon and planning on using for a JNB-SFO redemption; am indifferent to earning any more on DL after that)
SA: 20k (all BIS; was originally thinking to start accruing SA but am not sure)
SPG: 15k (1/2 CC; 1/2 stays)
Have 20-40k hotel points each in a bunch of different programs and have no real loyalty for business travel but prefer redeeming SPG points for W stays for personal travel so try to accrue SPG when travelling in the US or Europe (also many cities for work I end up staying in a non-major program hotel or Southern Sun brand hotels, though would probably prefer Radisson for my DKR trips as it's a lot nicer than the Le Meridien there)
Current booked travel (both work and personal):
1) JNB-FRA-JFK-FRA-JNB in early June (DDE L-class on LH with one segment on UA)
2) JNB-LHR-EWR-LHR-EWR in late June/early July (JNB-LHR on BD operated by SA; LHR-EWR on CO. Booked in S-class as per CO website; earns at least 100% on each leg and CO tells me that the JNB-LHR leg earns 150%; BD website tells me that the outbound legs are S and the return in W though)
3) JNB-MPM-JNB (SA) next week
4) JNB-HRE-JNB (SA) in mid-June
5) JNB-NRO-JNB (KQ) late May
6) JNB-GBE-JNB (SA) late June
(1) What is your home airport? JNB
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? usually DDE for personal travel; Y (full-fare economy or at least a 100% earning class) for work usually as most trips are relatively last-minute (7-10 days notice max; many are same-day or day before - no business or first for work as per global company policy)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 75k-100k it looks like at this point; could be more
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1st - Earning economy reward tix from JNB to SFO and JFK; 2nd is lounge access in LHR/FRA/CDG where I can sleep where the lounges via PP (Amex Plat card holder) are crappy and don't have sleep rooms; 3rd - free upgrades on travel for long-haul overnights ex-JNB to DKR, JFK, FRA (which is mostly SAA at this point)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? 1st - intra-African (JNB-HRE, JNB-NRO, JNB-DKR, JNB-CPT, JNB-LOS, JNB-MPM, JNB-GBE) 2nd - Africa-USA (JNB-NYC, JNB-SFO) 3rd - Africa-Europe (JNB-ARN, JNB-BCN, JNB-FRA mostly)
(7) Preferred Airlines? Depends on where, but for personal travel it's whatever's cheapest; for work it depends on who has more shoulder and leg room and better planes, but it's been SA pretty much every flight for the last month. I often don't have choice in work travel - I get booked on whatever's cheapest and not many airlines fly to some of the smaller airports in Africa.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both - I have a significant amount of work travel and I do a lot of personal travel.
Thank you in advance FTers!
I'm going nuts now trying to figure out my accrual strategy and have been doing some stupid things lately.Background: I'm a US citizen living and working in JNB and I return regularly every 4-5 months to JFK and/or SFO for personal travel usually in DDE or reward fares (and occasionally on business). I previously was working in a consulting job with only intra-SA travel and flew mostly discount carriers, and have now taken a new position where I have almost intra-African travel, predominantly on SA and KQ, with at least one trip a quarter to Europe or the US, predominantly on SA, LH, and DL. I haven't been smart about my accrual in the last few years - I burned down all my balances I built up in the past to visit the US on reward tix.
I used to fly mostly UA and AA in the USA and have (multiple) mileage CC's for both programs that I still hold and use; hold SPG Amex, Amex Plat, and a dozen or so other CCs (no other mileage earning I don't think at this point.)
Current notable balances in FF programs:
UA: 45k (some BIS; rest CC)
LH: 16k (all BIS; probably should have accrued on a partner airline but it was booked 3 hours before I flew and I forgot)
DL: 25k (all BIS and last minute travel; will be transferring 70k via Amex MR soon and planning on using for a JNB-SFO redemption; am indifferent to earning any more on DL after that)
SA: 20k (all BIS; was originally thinking to start accruing SA but am not sure)
SPG: 15k (1/2 CC; 1/2 stays)
Have 20-40k hotel points each in a bunch of different programs and have no real loyalty for business travel but prefer redeeming SPG points for W stays for personal travel so try to accrue SPG when travelling in the US or Europe (also many cities for work I end up staying in a non-major program hotel or Southern Sun brand hotels, though would probably prefer Radisson for my DKR trips as it's a lot nicer than the Le Meridien there)
Current booked travel (both work and personal):
1) JNB-FRA-JFK-FRA-JNB in early June (DDE L-class on LH with one segment on UA)
2) JNB-LHR-EWR-LHR-EWR in late June/early July (JNB-LHR on BD operated by SA; LHR-EWR on CO. Booked in S-class as per CO website; earns at least 100% on each leg and CO tells me that the JNB-LHR leg earns 150%; BD website tells me that the outbound legs are S and the return in W though)
3) JNB-MPM-JNB (SA) next week
4) JNB-HRE-JNB (SA) in mid-June
5) JNB-NRO-JNB (KQ) late May
6) JNB-GBE-JNB (SA) late June
(1) What is your home airport? JNB
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? usually DDE for personal travel; Y (full-fare economy or at least a 100% earning class) for work usually as most trips are relatively last-minute (7-10 days notice max; many are same-day or day before - no business or first for work as per global company policy)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 75k-100k it looks like at this point; could be more
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1st - Earning economy reward tix from JNB to SFO and JFK; 2nd is lounge access in LHR/FRA/CDG where I can sleep where the lounges via PP (Amex Plat card holder) are crappy and don't have sleep rooms; 3rd - free upgrades on travel for long-haul overnights ex-JNB to DKR, JFK, FRA (which is mostly SAA at this point)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? 1st - intra-African (JNB-HRE, JNB-NRO, JNB-DKR, JNB-CPT, JNB-LOS, JNB-MPM, JNB-GBE) 2nd - Africa-USA (JNB-NYC, JNB-SFO) 3rd - Africa-Europe (JNB-ARN, JNB-BCN, JNB-FRA mostly)
(7) Preferred Airlines? Depends on where, but for personal travel it's whatever's cheapest; for work it depends on who has more shoulder and leg room and better planes, but it's been SA pretty much every flight for the last month. I often don't have choice in work travel - I get booked on whatever's cheapest and not many airlines fly to some of the smaller airports in Africa.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both - I have a significant amount of work travel and I do a lot of personal travel.
Thank you in advance FTers!
Have you thought of using BD's diamond club? Considering you're flying Star Alliance airlines, BD gives you one of the best earnings/redemption programs out there. Easy to get gold, and with *A Gold, you can access most *A Gold/Senator lounges in the world regardless of class of travel. Other perks include a family plan for pooling miles, and occassional miles sales on BD.Com that let you buy miles for 1.5-2.0 cpm which makes it an attractive proposition. With Diamond club, I have found it very easy to find redemption availability as well (especially on LH flights in Biz and First).
LH Miles/More is another option but you need nearly twice the miles to get to *A gold