closer to 50k this year, previous was like 85k miles, mostly economy and economy flexible tarrif (lot of segments thou)

I usually fly Brussels, Paris, London and Athens. Was flying via Prague all the time, but they changed the timeline now I need to use Vienna each time.

Economy + I meant M or Y, as a economy flexible tarif

if you need more information please let me know and thank you!

btw if you know about any reasonable card match, I'm on skyteam elite+ now, trying to match anything from star alliance, tried miles and more (seem very very unlikely)

If the DJ / NZ agreement goes ahead this could work for you, however since you travel throughout Aus i reckon you are best to stick with QF for another 12 months and see what happens.

Home base SIN - which *A?
 

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
SIN
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
C for long haul international
Y for <5 hours international

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
>50k

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)
DL gold

(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)
Intra-Asia
2 x Asia-USA in C

(7) Preferred Airlines
SQ probably, given that i will be based out of SIN

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Work. Limited flexibility in choice.

Most important aspect for me is ability to use miles to upgrade Y fares to C for personal travel.

Thanks

The choice would depend on how much travel your going to do in each country for the future....Qatar is a brilliant airline but not a member of any alliance so getting status with them will only benefit if you live and stay in Doha.......but... they do have a codeshare agreement with US Airways which as you probably know has a hub at Pheonix. US Airways has a generous upgrade program for its FF's on domestic flights, its membership in the Star Alliance means you could get international upgrade vouchers if you accrue in excess of 100k miles a year. You'll also get access to reward tickets on United, Lufthansa etc and more importantly for the middle east Thai and Singapore airlines. Unless you don't plan on coming back to the US in the future I would suggest US Airways.

I may sound like an employee of BMI Diamond club with me recommending it so much, but in this case Qatar is an airline partner (though non-*A) of BMI. ESPECIALLY if the bulk of your flying will occur outside the USA. To me, BMI presents one of the best programs for ease of use and integration into star alliance. If you are going to put on a lot of miles, go with Diamond Club. Even with a merger into LH miles and more (slated for next year), if you fly substantial miles, LH will take care of you nicely with Senator status and LH's reach into europe and the mid east in my opinion is about the best there is. But to make the best of it, especially with Miles and More taking Diamond Club into its fold, you need to be flying a considerable amount.

Another option maybe air canada's AeroPlan. Its been reviewed favorably as another star alliance options for FF'ers. On knock that I've observed on US is that redemptions for non US metal can be a challenge sometimes.

joining UA/CO FF is almost certainly going to guarantee you will be visiting ORD against your will!

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.) LEX, CVG, SDF
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.) Economy
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k) 10K but increasing
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc) NADA
(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.)
Good Award Redemption Rates and availability
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc) Mostly leisure, so none
(7) Preferred Airlines- None but have 75K on AA and 68K on Continental
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) 90% Pleasure Travel

Montreal (YUL)
 

Can somebody help me? I'm a complete Noob at Frequent Flying, I've only recently been fortunate to start travelling with work, so I'd like to take advantage of it. FYI I have already booked tickets home to the UK for Christmas, it's YUL-ORD-LHR-IAD-YUL on a mixture of Air Canada for the Montreal flights and United for the Transatlantic Legs (I booked a package which gave me Code W flights, which I believe go towards miles).

I registered for United Mileage Plus and A/C Aeroplan and when I booked the flights above I had to enter both mileage numbers. I don't know where my miles are going! Are they going to be split up amongst the different plans based on the mileage? Or do I choose when I check in or board at the gate??? (Like I said, NOOB!)

I'm also travelling to NYC with American this Sunday, I also registered for AAdvantage to get these miles. In terms of business stays, I am usually fortunate enough to be able to choose hotels such as Hilton Garden, Marriotts etc which are partners of pretty much all the big airlines. Unfortunately as I booked through Orbitz I don't think I can link my HHonors points to any of them as they're classed as special rates. From now on I'm only going to book packages if they are available on aa.com or united.com or aircanada.com (unless you advise against it).

(1) What is your home airport? Montreal YUL
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Y,Q,W (the cheapies)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? Less than 25k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? No status
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Probably Upgrades, it would be a bonus if I could fly premium economy or business when flying to London and back
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Montreal to U.S probably once a month on business, but also do YUL-LHR twice yearly, to visit family. I may accrue over 25k next year, but to be safe I put less than 25k miles on.
(7) Preferred Airlines. Well I kinda always like the service on American, but their flights are always more expensive and their alliance is small and therefore doesn't give me many options. Plus, my employer usually wants me to go for the cheapest option when travelling so I can't usually choose american, unless it's to NYC, in which case bizarrely it usually works out to be cheapest.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both. Travel on a monthly basis from Montreal to the Eastern half of U.S, mostly NYC, Boston etc, usually short hops. Also travel to London twice a year to visit family.

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated. I'm firing in the dark at the moment :)

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)

Singapore

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)

Economy class with element of flexibility. Depending on fare, Business as well, but sometimes I buy from Manila as it's cheaper in Business. This is all to Vancouver.

To Delhi my only other destination is Business (cheapest in any airline, so never SQ, AI or TG)

To other destination depends on duration and fare available on the cheapest Business Class unless its overly priced where then we take economy. Last year it was Bangkok with Cathay, this year who knows

Since the US Airways promotion, I am using that, but I am still purchasing one ticket in J from Manila - YVR with SIN-MNL in Y on my own pocket. So need to credit those miles somewhere. In the future if same fare remains, it's likely to happen again

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)

Singapore - Vancouver - SIngapore 2x year (34,000)
Singapore - Delhi - Singapore 1x year (5,000)
(Singapore - XXX - Singapore 1x year 1600 - XXX)

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)

No

(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.)

Upgrades when purchasing Economy or Business award redemption. All on INTL flights, and more important to Vancouver than anything else

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)

Singapore - Vancouver

(7) Preferred Airlines

In Economy, any airline with power ports
In Business, no preference.

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
I can choose all airlines and cos, but it all depends on the fare. Right now these are our limits

1,200 for Business to Delhi - we generally get it discounted from TA
5,000 for Business to Vancouver

Getting a status match isn´t easy with most *A carriers. You could try to match to BMI Gold status (= *G), their FFP will be integrated into M&M sometime next year, so you could hope that you become a SEN as part of the transition.

Regarding which FFP to choose:
The great advantage of BMI DC and and LH M&M is that you earn 200% miles on business class fares and 150% miles on full-fare economy class fares. (at least most of the time)

You should be able to make SEN status with your RTW in C and a few other flights, also SEN status would be valid for the year you qualify in + 2 years +Jan./Feb. of the year after (whereas status with most FFPs is only valid for one year).

Another interesting program may be UA MP:
- 50k miles for 1P status (= *G status)
- if you earn more like 100k status miles, you´ll get 6 SWUs which you can use for your flights from SYD to the US or Europe: upgrades on UA metal (e.g. SYD-LAX/SFO-LHR/FRA) can be confirmed at time of booking, SWUs can also be used standby at the airport on LH operated flights
- you get a 100% mileage bonus (award miles, not status miles) on UA/CO/AC operated flights
- bonus for full fare economy and business class is not as generous as DC/M&M

Alternatively AC Aeroplan always is a good program to easily earn *G status (35k status miles), you´d get all the privileges associated with *G status and a bunch of upgrade certs which can be confirmed on AC operated flights at time of booking if you book full fare tickets.

UA would be a good choice for upgrades if you were able to earn 100k miles as you´d be able to use the SWUs for upgrades on the SIN-NRT-LAX/SFO flight (operated by UA), but with 40k+ miles you´d only be able to upgrade using miles.

I guess your choice will mostly depend on what sort of fares you can get from SIN to YVR.

IMO your best choice would be to try to book flights that connect to a TPAC flight operated by AC in NRT/HKG/PEK/any other Asian gateway. You could earn AC Elite status (35k miles required, Elite status = *G status)

AC has a pretty generous upgrade program (most beneficial if you can book the more expensive economy fares, as you can upgrade at time of booking while discounted economy fares can only be upgraded a few days before the flight), their award redemption chart is excellent and their Y product is pretty good (IFE, in-seat power, free beverages)

Best *AA to join?
 

Hello,

I've been collecting miles on Krisflyer and have come to realise that it is quite useless for getting upgrades on the flights that matter to me which tend to be KUL or SIN to somewhere in the US. Starting to feel that I should have collected miles on UA instead, however, I'm already on Krisflyer silver and will probably hit Gold this year.

Would appreciate any input at all so that I can decide before my next long flight which is in mid December.

(1) What is your home airport?
KUL which is not great, so I don't mind using SIN as an alternative

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
mostly discounted business (>4 hours) and economy (<4 hours) fares due to firm policy to always try and get the cheapest fare.

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
about 50k

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it?
Krisflyer Silver, though this has been quite crappy. Kinda wish I had gone United instead. Seems like I would have gotten quite a few upgrades to First class and easily upgraded to Business on the personal trip I'm currently on - XF, NF and XC seats available on United.com are not always available to Krisflyer :(

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Good redemption rates (which are actually available.. unlike SQ's very limited upgrade/redemption availability) and lounge access are most important.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
a lot within South East Asia
1-2x a year KUL or SIN to the US
1x a year KUL or SIN to Europe

(7) Preferred Airlines
Not particular, but lowest fare tends to be MH (probably not relevant to this discussion)

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure?
Both. For business travel, I have to pick the cheapest fare that is reasonable (+/- 2 hours of desired travel time). For personal travel, I don't mind paying a bit more if there is possibility of an upgrade (say 20% more?)

I've searched through the forums and currently think that it may be better to bear with it and keep collecting on Krisflyer then try and get upgrades at time of booking for personal travel. This way, I get lounge access easily and can still get upgrades, but not as easily.

The alternative is to bite the bullet and start collecting on Mileage Plus which means I probably won't get gold for awhile (or not at all), but at least it will be easier to redeem upgrades but I will only have lounge access for those flights.

Do you guys think I should change my mind and bite the bullet?

What would you advise
 

Hi,
first off all thanks for this helpful thread...really like it.

(1) What is your home airport? Heathrow

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Not sure as my travel agancy does this but always the cheapest

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? about 30K

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? M&M Silver

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? free lounge access

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc) Normally I only fly in europe. Most commen routes are Heathrow- Munich or Gothenburg. Once or twice a year I fly Transpacific for holiday

(7) Preferred Airlines Lufthansa

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? work and can't choose. need to book the cheapest fare

I am just upgraded to sliver with lufthansa, so will have this status for 2 years. But as I only fly in europe and the cheapest rates I will never manage 100K for gold with M&M. I have approx 50 to 70 flights per year and would really like to get gold to be able to use all Lounges.

I was looking for BMI or SAS and not sure what I should do. If I read correct SAS gives you silver after 20 and gold after 40 flights-but does this only apply for SAS flights or all SA flights?

Would be great to get some advise with which program I get quickest to gold.
Thanks a lot

I have just accepted a new job and will be moving from Sydney to Washington, DC. I am currently a Qantas FF with good status. However, travel with my new job is unlikely to be OneWorld focused so I thought I ought to sign up to a Star Alliance program. The answers given below are guesses because, as I mentioned, I haven't yet started there. Broadly speaking, when I travel it will be for work and will be international business class. There may be two trips per year covering multiple countries in either Asia or Europe - but I might warm up slowly and there could be more if I'm not careful. At least initially, I'll be aiming to minimise travel while I establish my new home. Now on to the stock questions:

(1) What is your home airport?
IAD

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Business

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
First guess, 25k-50k but possibly >50k (in a couple of international tours per year). (My new work place can involve a lot of travel - at least for some staff members - there is even a million milers club so I hear.)

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)
Qantas Platinum (this is unlikely to be maintained at my new job given it isn't Australia based any more).

(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.)
Good award redemption rates for family travel.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
Trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific

(7) Preferred Airlines
Anyone but United (so far I have been OneWorld focused so there is not much point listing those in this thread)

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Work. Airlines may not be easily chosen but the class should always be business.

Thanks

unless you're going to amass 56k miles in the next few months (which doesnt sound like it from your travel pattern), I wouldnt recommend BMI since they'll be merged (based on current info) into mm sometime next year. If you can pull it off, then BD gold MAY transfer to LH senator upon ff plan merger

Would really appreciate others' more-expert advice:

(1) What is your home airport? EWR (though I could fly out of LGA and JFK as well)
(2) Do you currently have any status? No status - most of my miles would come through Starpoints transfers
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy? Economy fares
(4) Which airlines/routes do you usually fly? In terms of airlines, I typically fly Continental, US Airways, AA, United and Delta (in that order) when it comes to domestic routes. However, my flights are usually Transpacific, in which case, I'd much prefer flying Asian (or any other non-American) airlines.
(5) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 20k (though most of these tend to come from award flights)
(6) Do you mainly fly for work or for leisure? / Do you have any flexibility in choosing the airline/fare bucket etc.? Leisure - lots of flexibility
(7) What is most important to you in a FFP? Award redemption (especially for international flights) -- I'm okay with flying in Y (usually don't have enough miles to redeem C)

NW exile wants *A program to try, possibly for secondary program
 

I'm a DL Diamond and have almost earned Diamond through February 2013 thanks to rollover; in a couple years, I should reach 2MM and hence "lifetime" Gold on DL. Based on my travel patterns, I assume any program doing status matches would want me, but I don't want to waste a lifetime match without careful consideration and I don't see myself being stuck in domestic coach while earning status. I think I'd be willing to purchase domestic DL connections for international *A (award or purchased but upgraded) tickets if necessary. Based on my spend, if I were to transfer all of my travel to *A and plan carefully the metal I fly, I could probably make CO PP but not UA GS.

Many of the *Gold perks are unimportant to me as I normally get at least biz class check-in/security lines and lounge access anyway (international travel in at least biz, DL SkyClub membership, and Priority Pass at about US$30 per visit as insurance).

I don't think I want to switch my domestic flights to UA/CO at this time, until all of the merger mess is over, having just suffered through the NW/DL "merger." However, several DL FC award tickets on SQ have whetted my appetite again (I used to fly TWA and NW in international first before it was discontinued) for international FC (or business class travel on an excellent foreign carrier). Also, DL is increasingly forcing me to connect through ATL or JFK for TATL and the West Coast for TPAC (rather than MSP nonstop to NRT or AMS--or worse, CDG, but there's still also a nonstop that terminates in LHR--then connections to my foreign destination, or at least connections through DTW), which makes me willing to consider most carriers and connections, especially since I now have Global Entry.

(1) MSP

(2) about 100K BIS on average, with over 200K EQM this year, counting class of service percentages and a few DEQM

(3) domestic: generally mid-range coach, a few deep discount, and some strategic purchases of full Y or discount FC to ensure that I get the upgrade

(3') international: combination of very expensive (US$2500-4000 per RT) coach plus SWUs or miles to upgrade or discounted biz fares

(4) DL Diamond and "lifetime" DL Silver; some old FF accounts with expired orphan miles, but my only other significant accumulation toward MM (about 1.4MM) status was lost when AA took over TWA

(5) I never want to risk sitting in coach (so I don't want to commit to a ticket and play the upgrade waitlist game) and I prefer to avoid old UA C seats or aircraft with 2-3-2 seating in biz (have tried and like 1-2-1, 2-2-2 is OK if I can get a seat in the center section). I envision purchasing either discounted biz or coach, with upgrade (certs, miles, reasonable co-pay OK) at time of ticketing, willing to consider booking in premium economy if reasonable upgrade chances. I want to sometimes be able to find reasonably-priced award tickets in biz or FC; I have a lot but not total flexibility and am willing to get award tickets at almost the last minute. For purchased tickets, I buy them anywhere from about a half year in advance to within 48 hours of the first flight, the latter for purely optional leisure travel when I can get a good last minute ticket.

Of course I'd like a good call center/website and FC lounge access when ticketed in biz as well as elite security lines.

(6) I do a mixture of domestic (DL offers nonstops with FC to most places I go--I'm willing to fly new RJs that are large enough to have FC) and international (at least 5-6 long haul purchased international per year, roughly half TATL to a variety of destinations and half TPAC, but increasing, to a variety of places, Canada, Australia and IST/TLV every few years)

(7) I never want to deal with US and I'm not sure I want LX (had a very bad experience with them on a paid biz/FC ticket connecting to TLV). I vaguely have a good impression of CO, less so of UA. I've had a few good experiences on SAS and TK but I haven't been on LH in many years. I like SQ (and QF and CX), but I've never tried NZ, ANA, or OZ.

(8) combination; for work trips, I can pick airline and fare class, but I'm reluctant to submit full business class or worse for reimbursement, and for leisure, I'm willing to purchase discounted biz or an expensive coach ticket that I can upgrade.

Assuming that I don't switch all of my flying from DL to *A, I would envision purchasing several international trips per year in coach, premium coach, or discounted biz and upgrading at time of purchase into biz from coach but willing to try/risk premium economy, and wanting to use miles for upgrades and/or free biz/FC international travel. I have absolutely no interest in coach award tickets!

I've been thinking about asking CO for a status match (when to time this? I've already acquired tickets for my anticipated long-haul travel through about mid-March, but there's at least one domestic trip to Denver that I haven't yet purchased) and if they would give me their top tier, it would seal the deal (as would AA's giving me Executive Plat except for their little RJs out of MSP; UA has some mainline service to its hubs while CO is primarily long RJ trips to hubs currently), but I'm not sure which FF program I would want to use for crediting miles and redemptions or when I should start my *A experiment. I've been top tier (earned, not comped) every year on NW/DL for about fifteen years.

What would you advise between Krysflyer and Aeroplan
 

Hi,

I would be very keen to receive your feedback and advises.
I just immigrated to Singapore.
In France where I used to live, I was Platinum with Flying Blue.
Since I'm now based in Singapore, I will fly much more with Singapore Airlines. I'm hesitating between:
- continue using my Aeroplan card
- subscribing to Krysflyer
- I'm opened to any other options (M&M....)

The reason why I'm contemplating the avenue to stay with Aeroplan although I will rarely fly Air Canada, is that the status levels seem rather low, and you got a couple of hard advantages every year.

Could you please share with me any of your feedack/experience/advises...
As I mentioned, I'm opened to any suggestion.
I tried to have a status match with Singapore Airlines, that they refuse...

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
Singapore

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Coach if < 8 hours, and Business if > 8 hours
So coach most of time

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
Around 50k on Star Alliance flights

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)
I am Platinum with Flying Blue
I will likely continue spending 70k with Skyteam (to achieve Platinum for life in a few years) + 50k with Star Alliance

(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.)
upgrades, redemptions, lounge access

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
Inter-Asia
A couple of flights to Europe

(7) Preferred Airlines
My company has a plan with Singapore Airlines

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Mostly for work.
My company has an agreement with Singapore Airlines

I have a few additional questions:
- I guess I have more chance to be upgraded on Singapore Airlines, if I have a status with Kryslflyer (versus Aeroplan), right ?
- what about the redemptions chart : do you have access to the same number of seats/destinations if you are Krysflyer or any other card from Star alliance, or is there a diffrent rule. Typically, there is zero seat available in business from Paris to Singapore on Singapore Airlines with my Aeroplan miles. I'm wondering if it would be the same if I would have Krysfyer card and miles instead.

Thanks !!

Bump...help?

Do you connect through a hub when you leave BWI or are most flights direct from BWI? I ask because of segments and minimum segment miles.

As far as upgrades go, you have much more potential for an upgrade if your a member of the carriers ff program. Singapore airlines isnt going to be that impressed with your aeroplan account when it comes to upgrades and if they entertain it, your priority will be behind krisflyers. If your after upgrades as a primary benefit stick with kf.

MM is bumping up redemption requirements so that may not be the most attractive, unless you're going to be on LH metal from the orient to europe. I suspect 3 or so Z fares from asia to europe would get you close to senator. But if you dont think that will be the case, stick with the krisflyer. Just my opinion, others may have a different spin.

I typically have to connect (Philadelphia or Charlotte), but I'm willing to switch airlines to get more directs and or a better quality of service and FF program.

Since you fly less than 20k, I would suggest Aegean Miles & Bonus if you want to get status. If you want to redeem, stay as far away from Aegean as you can.

Since you were platinum on Skyteam, I'd suggest you look around for a *A carrier that accepts status matches. Then, you would at least have *G.

Since you are only flying 10k a year, I would suggest Aegean Miles & Bonus. If you fly 20k in 2 years, you will attain *G. You can then status match to another carrier (ex. DL)

Would you know which *A could agree on a status match for my Flying Blue Platinum status ?
(For sure not Singapore airlines, that I have already tried without success...)

I come from Warsaw, Poland

This month, i'm going to Lyon from Warsaw via Zurich by Swiss class P and i'll return to Warsaw via Frankfurt with Lufthansa class W.

I am a Vietnam Airlines' GLP Gold Elite member and I think I should move to a *A FFP. I often fly to Hanoi (now LOT flies directly to HAN) and i am thinking about a *A FFP but I don't which fFP to choose

Next year, I'll move to Canada (Vancouver), I will fly to Poland, Vietnam from to Canada, so I can use the AC's Aeroplan it is easier to reach Silver (25000miles/calendar year) or Gold statuses than any other *A's programs.

But Aegean's Miles & Bonus is EASIER than the AC's Aeroplan with only 3000 miles to reach the Silver status +16000 to be GOLD!!!

I don't know which FFP to use with Star, I already made a A3 account but maybe AC is better than A3. A3 so easy to earn! Please help me to choose a right, fair FFP for me.

And I don't know with wich FFP to start with Lyon's journeys this month.

thanks!
I want a *A FF:
(1) My home airport is WAW but later YVR and WAW
(2) I usually buy Y fares (mostly 50% of Y Economy)
(3) Really, it depends, i dont know, but I always fly on transcontinental flights
(4) I am Vietnam Airlines' Gold Skyteam Elite
(5) The most important to me in a FFP are airport lounges, pick-up luggage earlier, Priority Check-in, easy free upgread to a better class (like in VN)
(6) I mostly fly like WAW-HAN-WAW
(7) My preferred airlines are LOT, Singapore Airlines, Vietnam Airlines (SKT).
(8) Mostly for pleasure.

I'm wondering the same thing. Based out in SIN with Longhaul C and shorthaul Y. KrisFlyer seems less interesting than M&M (LH). Has anyone checked / calculated ?

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)

SEA

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)

Whatever is available to get where I want to go when I want to go there. Where upgrades are unlikely, I buy y-up or first 50/50 depending on distance.

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)

200,000 (180k on SkyTeam, the remainder on other airlines). In 2010 YTD - maybe 10k on United/USair, 5k on American

[I'm looking for a place for the *A miles; I'm not leaving SkyTeam]


(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)

Delta Diamond; Alaska MVP.


(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.)

Place to stash miles when I have to fly non SkyTeam

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)

Domestic. SEA to Midwest.

(7) Preferred Airlines

SkyTeam: Delta, Alaska.
Non-SkyTeam: Continental
American because of Alaska partnership.


(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)

Both. I have total freedom to choose whatever flight I want.

(1) What is your home airport? LHR
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? The cheapest fares
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 1-2 long haul LHR-SYD/PEK
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None at present
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Fast check in, lounge access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often UK-Australia/Asia
(7) Preferred Airlines Nil
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure only.

Thanks.

Your advice please...
 

Here are my details:

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
TLV
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Usually regular fare flexible economy. Never lowest cost economy. Sometimes full fare - e.g. Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
About 50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)
Gold in LY
(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.)
In this order:
1. Lounges
2. Good redemption rates. And also good millage accrual from my base airport. Apparently some airlines regard Israel as Europe (good) and other as middle east (bad).
3. Upgrades
4. Priority
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
Mostly TLV to different parts of Europe. Once or twice a year to North America
(7) Preferred Airlines
I travel with the airline that goes direct, if there's one. I use M&M airlines a little bit more than others.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
I can always choose the airline, but prefer to go direct if I can. I can never choose the class.

Thanks in advance! :)

I would think that US would still be your best bet, I would suspect you'd have to get to a hub with any carrier if you're flying from BWI or CLT. With US' presence at PHL and only about 80-100 miles from BWI, it would seem like an easy and "cheap" way to get minimum segment miles and segment count. I know sometimes people think other plans are better, just because they are different plans, but they usually find out that the grass is not greener on the other side. Plus, with US, having CLT and PHL as 2 good hub options close to your BWI would seem attractive as well. I'm not the sharpest knife in the FF knoweledge arena, but if I were in the same position, I would lean towards US.

Otherwise, you could look at CO/UA if you dont mind hopping to EWR for your connections, but I dont see it being a better option.

Stick with AC, Aegean may be "cheaper" but redemptions are more difficult PLUS your aegean *A card will be worth little in Canada and Europe. If you are going to fly AC metal to europe, the Aeroplan is far more beneficial to you. You wont be able to receive upgrades being aegean gold when you are flying AC. Plus if you are flying the long hauls to Warsaw and Vietnam you will earn *gold in NO TIME, especially if you spring for am occassional biz class itinerary and take advantage of fare class multipliers. AC will treat you far better as an aeroplan *G than an Aegean *A.

what do you mean with: "Plus if you are flying the long hauls to Warsaw and Vietnam you will earn *gold in NO TIME" ?

because its a 10,000 mile r/t from vancouver to warsaw and a 14k round trip to sgn. If you fly business, you'll get 2x status multiplier miles so that would be 20k or 28k miles respectively. Run 2 or 3 big trips like this a year or to vietnam, and 50k happens in no time. I had 2 z trips to europe this yr, plus my domestic flying and hit *g fairly easily. Status multipliers come in handy.

Starting a new job in Jan - used to be a heavy traveller (AADv EXP, LH SEN) but dropped off over last 2 years. I have AAdv MM status so will continue with AA in OW, but my LH account is spent on awards and no real status.....so

(1) What is your home airport? MEL
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? PremY or C
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? likely to be >50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? LH FT
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? free lounge access , good award redemption rates, priority services when flying the airline (in that order)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often MEL-LHR, MEL-BOM, MEL-LAX/ORD/JFK
(7) Preferred Airlines - within *A likely to be SQ/UA/TG/NZ given flight routes to MEL (happy to connect in SYD if worth it)
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? mainly work but also pleasure (more likely to be on miles).

My info
 

(1) What is your home airport? LGA/JFK
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Coach for my personal travel, and a combination of coach and business class for work travel (B Class if its international)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? in the past, around 20k, but as I am now traveling a bunch more for work, probably 40k+ to include international (UK mostly)
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None worth noting, although i just started paying attention to FF programs so I should have some status at SPG soon (just got the SPG AMEX) and I have about 60K miles on US.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Free stays at SPG (I want to sit on them until I can get a big vacation) and the airlines, fast check in and upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often LGA-DCA, LGA-ACK, EWR-BHX, JFK-SFO
(7) Preferred Airlines I would have to say US right now, but only because they fly all over the north east where I live.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Mostly for work, but I travel about 10 times a year for weekends or vacations.

last note: I am looking to get a Airline CC to build up more miles. I already have an AMEX, so I am looking for a Mastercard or Visa, because I think its good practive to carry both. US would make the most sense, as thats who I fly the most, but their CCs dont look all that good compared to AA and some others. Any help would be awesome, thanks!

With NZ's new Y+ product next year your routing to the US could be very pleasant via NZ, SQ or QF would provide the best routing to BOM and likewise with LHR you have a few NZ/QF options for Y+ - NZ earn/burn rate isn't great so UA's program could be better for you. TBH a lot of those routes you will mainly be travelling could be served quite well by QF + OW - Add a QF credit card in Aus and any seat redemption it may be easier to be loyal to one side or the other?

Will *A make sense for me? Which FFP?
 

(1) What is your home airport? ORD
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Cheap Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? AA platinum
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Long-haul upgrades, lounge access, award tickets.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? US-Europe, US-Asia
(7) Preferred Airlines That's what I am researching here!
I can choose my airline(s).

As you can see I am with OW at present. Every year I consider if I should switch to *A as the AA prices are usually quite a bit higher on my routes than UA/CO.

From FFP point of view, will a switch to *A make sense for me, and if so, which specific program(s)?

So sounds like NZ routings/metal and UA MP membership? I had a look at the UA MP earning chart on NZ - it doesn't seem to mention earn rates for NZ Y+?

I don't fancy flying QF to BOM as it would be via SYD and connecting in SYD domestic-international is the 8th circle of hell - ie I'm not going to do it. (stopovers or connections internationa-international are fine as they are within the same terminal).

Not for me, but for my girlfriend - we're flying to London next week, and turns out she only has a DL account. I was going to sign her up for UA because I remembered reading something about a referral bonus, but turns out it was a targeted offer and I'm apparently not cool enough for it:p.

Basically, I figure it's a sin for earned miles to go uncollected, and even though she doesn't fly often, she travels enough to keep the miles from expiring. So for the infrequent traveler, which program to choose? I guess the biggest things are award redemption/earning miles for discount coach fare classes.

(1) ORD or MKE
(2) The cheapest economy fare available
(3) 1-3 trips/year
(4) None
(6) US domestic/occasional TATL