There is a selection criteria at https://www.staralliance.com/en/benefits-and-privileges that may help; however, Chrome is not letting the pulldowns work for me. If nothing else, it may give you an idea...

https://www.staralliance.com/en/benefits-and-privileges

So, is Aegean the answer?

It could be, particularly if you can fly some Aegean segments to lower the qualifying thresholds.

The other option is usually Turkish due to the value from the 2 year validity.

which airlines? Y or J or F ... all of that matters. SQ can be a good program, depending on the airlines you are flying. TK can be good.

Is there a minimum requirement to fly SQ flights to keep statuses on KrisFlyer?

No, there is not. Not for the regular Silver and Gold Status. PPS Club is a different matter of course.

WHat is the minimum flights with SQ for PPS Club?

(1) What is your home airport? EWR
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Cheapest available economy, sometimes basic economy of UA
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25-50K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? UA silver, expected gold this year
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? I would like to have access to UA lounge for domestic flights, so I'm seeking to switch to a non-UA star alliance gold next year. The easy use of mileage is also a consideration.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? US domestic, 1~2 round trips of trans-pacific every year
(7) Preferred Airlines: UA
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure

Thank you all in advance

That’s going to be near impossible to do. 25-50k on UA (mostly) BE and hitting SAG elsewhere. May I ask how you make Gold on UA? That requires $10-12k spent which with cheapest available/BE will be near impossible. Are you sure you are booking rock bottom fares? Can you post some common booking classes you fly?

Turkish is usually good for cheaper UA fare classes: https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-u...ited-airlines/
You’d still have to hit the thread hold for Elite Plus and if you are only buying 50% earning that’s not going to work.

1. ORD, LIS
2. J for international, Y domestic mainly
3. 25k-50k
4. UA 1k, AA EP
5. all of the above
6. ORD-BKK, JFK-LIS, ORD-ZRH, LIS-FRA
7. no preference
8. both

Im 19 :)

Central Europe (BUD / VIE) to SE Asia, USA & Middle East* (TLV, UAE )
 

Hi all, thanks for any possible info!
Also posted on the FF info desk questionnaire and other Alliances forums.

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?

Class & seat upgrades, mostly from Economy / PE to Business.
Easy status gain & maintenance.
Optional Status match with current LY Matmid gold,
and possible future status match options from New FFP to other FFP's if I decide to move .
Long term value for miles / points.

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?

70000+ Miles, 30+ flights/sectors

3. What fare class do you usually buy?

Business Flex / PE Flex on long haul, economy on short haul

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?

Yes. I choose my flights and airlines, can choose business on most long haul flights over 6 hours.

I travel mostly for work.
Some pleasure short haul flights & rail travel in Europe.
Will use rail & air tickets for the domestic leg of a long haul flight when possible.

5. Which routes do you fly most often?

5-6 Europe to SE Asia , varied, such as BKK, SIN, BLR, HKG, SZX Mostly Business class
1-2 Transatlantic Europe to East coast US - Boston / Washington DC Economy / PE
5-6 Central Europe to TLV : mostly BUD - TLV , Vienna - TLV. Low cost / Economy
1-2 Europe to UAE Business / Economy
1 TLV - UAE Low cost / Economy


6. What is your home airport?

BUD / VIE (Plus train)
I may relocate next year in southern / western Europe, and will keep similar international routes.
Some options are: MXP, LIN, AMS, BRU, BCN, MAD

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How many miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?

LY Matmid Gold ~80000 points , ~2900 / 5200 diamonds.
Miles & More member 31,059 Miles 366 Points.
Small amounts of :
Emirates & Etihad points and old United & Delta miles.

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?

KLM, Swiss, Emirates, Etihad, Hainan.
EL AL to TLV

9.
I will travel with / through:
UAE (Emirates, Fly Dubai, Etihad) , Singapore, Azerbaijan, Morocco.

I Avoid traveling with / through:
Qatar Airlines & Doha airport, Iran, Lebanon, Kuwait, Tunisia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Malesia, Indonesia.
Turkey & Turkish Airlines, Jordan, Egypt and Russia.

10.
I'm interested in matching credit card reward programs, can also be american based.

Thanks!

4x Business RT fares SFO-China
 

(1) What is your home airport? SFO
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? J
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 50K-70K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Comp upgrades - I get enough lounge access with paid J flights, don't care for checked baggage
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? A couple US Domestic or 1 international trip a year (Asia, Europe)
(7) Preferred Airlines: None
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure and Work (see below)

I have the opportunity to fly ~4x round trip flights in business every year SFO - SZX. Unclear what routing/airlines but likely SFO-PVG-SZX via United or China Eastern. Possibility of other routing (i.e. via HND with NH). But for now assuming it's strictly star alliance, and UA/CZ. This routing alone will net me close to 50k miles a year, all in paid J fare.

What *A program should I chase to get the best chance of comped upgrades? Lounge access isn't super relevant but a nice addition.

Is it really directly with UA? Looking at the general guidelines, I'm just around that 50K mark so it's difficult to assess

Thank you all in advance

The chances of a comped upgrade on long haul are very low ~ nil.
USA and non USA airlines operate a lot different when it it comes to upgrades. Non USA airlines will/do fly with unoccupied business-first seats.
Anyway nowadays are fewer airlines with aircraft/routes with international first class.
As a newbie to a ffp will be others with long term top status that will be way ahead of you on the pecking order.

And presuming comped upgrades is no longer the desire but rather a good overall program? Would it just be directly w/ UA?

(1) What is your home airport? YUL
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? AC Standard/Flex
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25-50K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? No
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Good redemption (price, partner availability)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often CA domestic, TPAC
(7) Preferred Airlines AC by necessity, other *A if available
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure

The main consideration is almost exclusively the ability to use points to book flights. Prior to 2026, we credit almost all our points to AC; after 2026, our TPAC flights via AC become almost worthless (10,000+ miles become ~1,000 miles post programme change) so there's no way we would continue our accrual in AC. P1 is already accruing in TK due to *G, but P2 flies less than *G requirement. We thought about family pooling in TK but from a cursory glance they require a marriage certificate which we don't have (we're common law). So, is there another programme not AC or TK that has mileage-based accrual for AC flights, also with good partner availability & rates? Bonus if points don't have hard expiry, but it's not a requirement.

TIA!