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 1, 2026 | 4:38 pm
#2686
Join Date: Jan 2026
Location: UK
Programs: BA executive club bronze. Flying blue silver. Hotels.com/Expedia silver.
Posts: 4
(1) What is your home airport? BHX, although LHR is our preferred for long haul.
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Economy for short haul, PE for long.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? No more than 4,000 miles a year but this might be going up some what in the next couple of years.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? BA bronze and Flying blue Silver.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Points that don't expire, free seat selection (ideally) at the time of booking and lounge access.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Europe, North America.
(7) Preferred Airlines? None
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Fully leisure so I pay for all my flights either cash or points.
I've been doing research trying to figure out which *A scheme is right for me and could do with some help. I'm almost certain UA is the way to go for my situation but wanted to ask in case I've missed something?
Me and my partner are due to go to Frankfurt later this year with LH. Next year, we are going to Las Vegas followed by Toronto (BA going, Virgin return) maybe using Air Canada in between?
After that I hope to go to Chicago and then Indianapolis using LH for the former (return) to fly on a 747, a lifelong dream and again maybe another *A partner in between. We have plenty of ideas, it's just getting round to booking it and more importantly, funding it all. We always have a checked bag between us and our budget only allows up to PE for long haul unless I can find a really good deal otherwise for business class.
I don't have a problem with connecting flights, although I've never done one yet but my partner is very much against them where possible. She wants direct flights only unless the savings are substantial.
Points that don't expire is VERY important to me as I don't travel enough as I'd like to make use of them over the short term but having a pot for a little weekend break somewhere would be nice. Status would also be nice but not essential as I have a credit card that allows lounge access with PP attached to it.
I've looked at Aegean and I'm not sure what activity would keep the points alive, also, 4 flights (at least) with them to gain or maintain status isn't feasible for me.
Thank you all for any advice.
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Economy for short haul, PE for long.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? No more than 4,000 miles a year but this might be going up some what in the next couple of years.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? BA bronze and Flying blue Silver.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Points that don't expire, free seat selection (ideally) at the time of booking and lounge access.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Europe, North America.
(7) Preferred Airlines? None
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Fully leisure so I pay for all my flights either cash or points.
I've been doing research trying to figure out which *A scheme is right for me and could do with some help. I'm almost certain UA is the way to go for my situation but wanted to ask in case I've missed something?
Me and my partner are due to go to Frankfurt later this year with LH. Next year, we are going to Las Vegas followed by Toronto (BA going, Virgin return) maybe using Air Canada in between?
After that I hope to go to Chicago and then Indianapolis using LH for the former (return) to fly on a 747, a lifelong dream and again maybe another *A partner in between. We have plenty of ideas, it's just getting round to booking it and more importantly, funding it all. We always have a checked bag between us and our budget only allows up to PE for long haul unless I can find a really good deal otherwise for business class.
I don't have a problem with connecting flights, although I've never done one yet but my partner is very much against them where possible. She wants direct flights only unless the savings are substantial.
Points that don't expire is VERY important to me as I don't travel enough as I'd like to make use of them over the short term but having a pot for a little weekend break somewhere would be nice. Status would also be nice but not essential as I have a credit card that allows lounge access with PP attached to it.
I've looked at Aegean and I'm not sure what activity would keep the points alive, also, 4 flights (at least) with them to gain or maintain status isn't feasible for me.
Thank you all for any advice.
May 14, 2026 | 7:31 am
#2687
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Charm City!
Programs: Marriott LTP, Hilton Diamond, Accor Gold, Hyatt Globalist,, Delta Plat,
Posts: 2,242
Moved from Atlanta to Baltimore. Was Delta Plat, now will be flying American or Southwest (DCA or BWI) for my domestic travel, but going to Dulles for my INT'L trips. Would like non-expiring miles. Have an Amex Plat so being a transfer partner would be a plus but not a deal breaker. Would love someone I can status match into to get Star Gold. Flight patterns go between Economy, Premium Economy and Business. 4-6 flights per year - most in business or PE. For instance, this year:
2 Business flights to Middle East
1 PE flight to Europe
1 coach flight to Middle East
Thanks for any help.
2 Business flights to Middle East
1 PE flight to Europe
1 coach flight to Middle East
Thanks for any help.
May 14, 2026 | 9:43 am
#2688
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP Gold, MR LTT, HH Dia, IHG Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 37,455
(1) What is your home airport? BHX, although LHR is our preferred for long haul.
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Economy for short haul, PE for long.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? No more than 4,000 miles a year but this might be going up some what in the next couple of years.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? BA bronze and Flying blue Silver.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Points that don't expire, free seat selection (ideally) at the time of booking and lounge access.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Europe, North America.
(7) Preferred Airlines? None
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Fully leisure so I pay for all my flights either cash or points.
.
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Economy for short haul, PE for long.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? No more than 4,000 miles a year but this might be going up some what in the next couple of years.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? BA bronze and Flying blue Silver.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Points that don't expire, free seat selection (ideally) at the time of booking and lounge access.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Europe, North America.
(7) Preferred Airlines? None
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Fully leisure so I pay for all my flights either cash or points.
.
UA status earns per dollar spent and for Gold (which is the only meaningful status to shoot for) you will need $10k and segments or $12k. That's a lot of PE tickets to get there and you'll need 4 segments on UA, but that sounds doable for you. Yes, UA miles do not expire and they are a reasonable value compared to other programs.
So maybe report back on the 4k miles situation, else I am at a loss what to recommend here
May 14, 2026 | 9:47 am
#2689
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP Gold, MR LTT, HH Dia, IHG Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 37,455
Moved from Atlanta to Baltimore. Was Delta Plat, now will be flying American or Southwest (DCA or BWI) for my domestic travel, but going to Dulles for my INT'L trips. Would like non-expiring miles. Have an Amex Plat so being a transfer partner would be a plus but not a deal breaker. Would love someone I can status match into to get Star Gold. Flight patterns go between Economy, Premium Economy and Business. 4-6 flights per year - most in business or PE. For instance, this year:
2 Business flights to Middle East
1 PE flight to Europe
1 coach flight to Middle East
Thanks for any help.
2 Business flights to Middle East
1 PE flight to Europe
1 coach flight to Middle East
Thanks for any help.
May 20, 2026 | 3:42 pm
#2690
Join Date: Jan 2026
Location: UK
Programs: BA executive club bronze. Flying blue silver. Hotels.com/Expedia silver.
Posts: 4
This does not add up. BA and FB Silver and just 4k miles a year? Do you mean 40k miles?
UA status earns per dollar spent and for Gold (which is the only meaningful status to shoot for) you will need $10k and segments or $12k. That's a lot of PE tickets to get there and you'll need 4 segments on UA, but that sounds doable for you. Yes, UA miles do not expire and they are a reasonable value compared to other programs.
So maybe report back on the 4k miles situation, else I am at a loss what to recommend here
UA status earns per dollar spent and for Gold (which is the only meaningful status to shoot for) you will need $10k and segments or $12k. That's a lot of PE tickets to get there and you'll need 4 segments on UA, but that sounds doable for you. Yes, UA miles do not expire and they are a reasonable value compared to other programs.
So maybe report back on the 4k miles situation, else I am at a loss what to recommend here
Apologies, I was going by an average of miles since my first flight 11 years ago. If I look back over the last 4 years where my travel plans have increased significantly, I average around 8,000 miles a year. 1 trip to north America and a few trips to Europe either side of the former.
I gained BA silver status a couple of years ago, making use of the old system and double points for BA holidays with a small tier point run also. I matched this to FB gold last year but I have now soft landed to bronze and silver respectively as I haven't reached the requirements of either to maintain it.
I hope this clears things up and thank you for your advice.
May 22, 2026 | 4:15 pm
#2691
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP Gold, MR LTT, HH Dia, IHG Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 37,455
Apologies, I was going by an average of miles since my first flight 11 years ago. If I look back over the last 4 years where my travel plans have increased significantly, I average around 8,000 miles a year. 1 trip to north America and a few trips to Europe either side of the former.
I gained BA silver status a couple of years ago, making use of the old system and double points for BA holidays with a small tier point run also. I matched this to FB gold last year but I have now soft landed to bronze and silver respectively as I haven't reached the requirements of either to maintain it.
I hope this clears things up and thank you for your advice.
I gained BA silver status a couple of years ago, making use of the old system and double points for BA holidays with a small tier point run also. I matched this to FB gold last year but I have now soft landed to bronze and silver respectively as I haven't reached the requirements of either to maintain it.
I hope this clears things up and thank you for your advice.