So i looked into more detail about UA & NZ. Have composed the following comparison table based on the 3 routes:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?...thkey=CMXIoOAB

Notes:

• Earn=what I would earn on the route r/t
• Burn=what I would need for a reward on the route r/t
• Status=what I would earn in status on the route r/t
• Levels= status threshholds in the FPP (nor route related)
• MEL-LAX assumed to be on each respective carrier's metal (on UA no Y+ to buy so no idea what fare code it would be)
• MEL-BOM assumed to be on *A partners in full Y
• MEL-LHR would be on NZ or *A if UA MP

Do I have my figures correct?

So:

• does not seem to be much between them in terms of earn/burn rates - in fact NZ seems better in burn rates to NA.
• not much in status attaintment - but mid-tier on UA seems easier to get with MEL-BOM sectors
• I assume I will find it easier to get status match on UA to Prem from AAdv Gold than on NZ?

Now ofcourse if I can score a cheap C fare on UA MEL-LAX the entire equation changes. ;)

Sorry i did not account for that, i'll see if someone else can fill the blanks on Y+ crediting to UA

My LAX-LHR r/t on NZ last year credited to UA as Y miles (UA mileage is actually 5,456, so slight difference there as well). Sorry about the alignment of the columns, but I think you get the idea.

Date Description Award Miles
Oct. 03, 2009 NZ 2 Y Class LAX to LHR * 5,439
Oct. 07, 2009 NZ 1 U Class LHR to LAX * 5,439

(1) What is your home airport?
SYD

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Economy/Cheap

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
20k-30k

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it?
None - Not even on a FFP as yet thus why I'm posting this

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Free flights/the best deal - Upgrades don't really interest me unless they're added on top. New to this so unsure on benefit/reward structures

(6) Which routes do you fly most often?
AUS-ASIA

(7) Preferred Airlines
Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Air Asia, Cebu Pacific Air

I had some clarification on the NZ Forum, it seems since *A don't recognize Premium Economy, it generally gets credited as Full Y on other FFP, on Air NZ Airpoints however it credits higher. I guess it comes down to how much you travel and on what metal - Get status with UA and use the upgrades MEL-SYD-LAX :D

Ok thank you, i only fly on eco class, i should move to aeroplan but i just want the silver and gols statuses as soon as possible. To be silverwith ac, i have to wait until december next year and to be gold with a3, i have to wait only until august next year. And for me, the mose important things are lounge, and different priorities, with using miles i dont care aout that much, but thats right, with aeroplan it is like miles and more... A lot of "gifts". I dont know again which ffp to choose

They key is to determine your priorities. The lounge access can be tricky because sometimes they have funny rules about the kind of itinerary you have and whether its domestic or int'l. Sometimes your economy ticket, even with *gold may not automatically grant you entry into a lounge. Lounge access is not cut and dry unfortunately. You may want to visit Aeroplan's forum, M and M forum, and perhaps mileage plus, and ask their local expert in each group.

So it would seem that A3 is the easiest *A carrier to achieve *G on (given my travel patterns I would gain that level within the first 1-2 trips).

OZ also seems like an easy one although it requires double the miles (40k v. 20k on A3) but it's status lasts for 2 years and not 1. OZ only seems to award elite bonus for travel on OZ metal?

So given my travel on NZ/UA/SQ/TG I don't see a downside in joining the A3 Miles&Bonus FFP unless there are some issues with redeeming accrued miles on partner *A airlines (as compared to any other *A FFP)? I assume if the NH tool shows flight award availability it doesn't matter whether I am a A3 or NZ FFP member I can secure that seat for an award?

Correct, if its *G you want then A3 will get you there

Should I switch my primary airline?
 

(1) What is your home airport? SJO/SJC/OAK
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Cheap
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25-50k spikes more in some years
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? gold last year on CO now have Silver on Continental but that will end early in 2011
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? upgrades, easy award travel, early boarding, no baggage fees.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? SJC-IAH for work
(7) Preferred Airlines That's what I am researching here!
I am debating transfering to United for most things given that CO and UA are merging anyway and UA has more SFO based flights. With that in mind I am also considereding getting a UA card vs a CO card. UA card currently offering triple & double miles, on many purchases. for less in an annual fee. I am wondering though if using miles on UA is harder. i currently have 100k or so miles in my CO program that i am guessing will merge over times.

advice would be appreciated.

josh

You're better of sticking with CO for a little longer - when they merge, you will get the same status anyway. Also, CO status applies to UA metal as well, so if you want to fly UA it still works out for you.

Asking for my wife...

(1) What is your home airport? NYC/STL
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25k-50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? AA PLT 1MM
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? This will be a secondary account, so mainly good redemption with priority services if she flies enough.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc): Middle East - Africa on MS, ET. May have option to fly EK/EY, but these look to have limited partner opportunities.
(7) Preferred Airlines: Mostly oneworld, so agnostic for *A
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Some choice of airline...

(1) What is your home airport? DUS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? a lot of M and some C
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 50-60K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? LH Frequent Traveler
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often : DUS-STR (40xRT); DUS-PDX (2xRT)
(7) Preferred Airlines : LH
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? work

I dont see any better option than sticking with MM. I would suggest BMI's diamond club, but its only a matter of a few months or so before the ff program is merged to MM. IF YOU CAN get gold status in time in DC (approx 54k miles), that should translate to senator status upon plan acquisition. My fear would be could you amass 54k before the merger slated to happen next year. I think DC gold would give you lounge access regardless of itinerary in any *a lounge, but I may be wrong on that point. Others have suggested Aegean for ease of lounge access, but redemptions are horrible. Asiana is another to look at as well for ease of status.

Thx for the advice! I think I might be able to get 54k before the rumored merge date in July. I am wondering what is going to happen during a merge. Any experience around here? I mean the 130k to make Senator in Germany will not be possible for me anyways and even the 100k with a change of address will most be out of reach with my current traveling plans. So if Silver translates to FT at MM I would be able to get that with one flight in C to PDX, right? My first flight will be in February so that should seal the silver. So the only thing I would give up would be the 25% I get with my FT status. Or am I making a mistake in my calculations?

Another bonus I just found out might be that I stay 140-160 nights at Hilton/year.

Been reading these threads furiously over the past 2 weeks. For the life of me, I cannot decide... I seek advice from the gurus.

With Aeroplan needing AC metal segments/miles, I don't think I can reach status with Aeroplan anymore.

(1) What is your home airport? DUS/CGN
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Personal travel, whatever is cheapest; business trips, discounted biz
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25-30k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? AP Prestige but losing it next year (hence, my desire to find something else)
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Accumulating miles& long expiration period, lounge access secondary, bonus miles tertiary
(6) Which routes do you fly most often: DUS/FRA to Rio and to Singapore
(7) Preferred Airlines: No preference.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Work

Any insight is highly appreciated. I also want to match it with a FFP credit card. Think for Oneworld, a Exec. Club Visa. For *A, there are more options. LH maybe? Pulling my hairs out!

Past miles/more acquistions have resulted in members with gold status being granted senator status with MM for 2 years. A nice arrangement since now you have 2 years of senator, and more importantly 2 years to get 100k to renew senator for a 3rd yr. But what happens with Diamond club can be different. Unfortunately, there's no guarantee that this would happen but I can certainly hope.

Well I'd like to recieve some more opinions now
(1) What is your home airport? SIN/YVR

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

Business as much as I can, but that means sometimes its not on *A as it's always the cheapest J fare. recently we figured we can afford HKG-SFO-YVR on *A along with SIN-MNL in Y.

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

I can expect to fly SIN - MNL (Y) at least 6 times a year and most probably that, but on some years it will be 8 times or 4 round trips
The same goes for HKG - SFO - YVR, 3rt /6 times a year but some years may be 8 times or 4 round trips
SIN - DEL J (probably on TG) but could be on any airline including 9W/TG/MH/AI twice a year, or 1rt

So overall
SIN - MNL 3x Y (1400 x 3 = 4200) 4200 SQ
MNL - SIN 3x Y (1400 x 3 = 4200) 8400 SQ
HKG - SFO 3x J SQ
SFO - YVR 3x J (7500 x 3 = 22500) 30,900 UA
YVR - SFO 3x J
SFO - HKG 3x J (7500 x 3 = 22500) 53,400
SIN - DEL 1x J (2500 x 1 = 2500) 55,900 TG/AI/MH/9W
DEL - SIN 1x J (2500 x 1 = 2500) 58,400 BIS miles probably about 1000 short than actual figure

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

Nope

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Accumulation of miles with no/long expiry dates. Lounge is partially important but I figured with my travel I will nearly always get lounge access once I have that status.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often: I have my travel plans planned out above

(7) Preferred Airlines: No preference.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure

(1) What is your home airport? GIG/NCE

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

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? ~150,000

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Yes US CP; AA EXP; DL DM.

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Accumulation of miles with long expiry dates. Lounge is not important since I always get it via fare or status anyway.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often: (in order) GIG-NCE; GIG-SVO; GIG-MUC; GIG-NYC; GIG-MIA; GIG-HKG

(7) Preferred Airlines: AF (shocking, I know); LX; JJ; SU; CX
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both

The US *A program works very well even though I rarely fly US. I fly them to US only, when they're cheapest. SM is decent also, with SWU usable on AF/KL, a big benefit for me. OW is last even though I have nearly 8mm AA miles, because of high prices and lousy OW service on AA/BA/IB

Hello all. Occasional lurker, first time poster. :)

First, the answers to the main questions:

(1) What is your home airport? LAX.
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? The lowest price economy fare.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? Under 25k, but I accumulate another 75-100k using credit cards.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? No.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Upgrades, priority service.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? I don't have any regular routes.
(7) Preferred Airlines No preferred airline. (Not entirely true--I prefer JetBlue when it goes where I want to go via LGB.)
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both. I can chose my airline/route for work, but I'm expected to fly economy.

Here are the extra details. I am obviously not a "real" frequent flyer. I have a few 10s of thousands of miles accumulated at a few US domestic airlines. Most of my "miles" are in the form of SPG points obtained via my SPG Amex. I choose routes based on fewest stops and most comfortable aircraft, then price. I recently started a new job that has me flying somewhere about four times a year. It could be as close as SFO or as far as SHA, I don't know in advance.

My goal is to start focusing my mileage into a single airline alliance so that maybe one day I'll be able to get a few upgrades to business class. Or even book a RTW ticket for a special occasion. :) I still expect to accumulate the bulk of my miles via credit card points, but I'm not attached to the SPG card.

I suspect the best program to join is United because I already have some miles with them, and they do fly pretty much anywhere I need to go in the US. A secondary question would be: should I keep using the SPG card and transfer the miles to my FFP using the 25k for 20k feature, or get a card that accumulates the miles directly (e.g. Chase MP Select Visa)?

Oh, and I suppose a tertiary factor would be: it's important that the FFP allows me to buy a ticket for my spouse using my miles, as the miles will mostly accumulate under the credit cardholder's FF account.

I appreciate any feedback, even if it's just to tell me that my plan is a lost cause.

Thanks!

W

I'm currently on Aeroplan. However, I've now moved from Canada to the U.S., so I'm thinking I should probably switch FFP to be able to make use of upgrades. I'd greatly appreciate any advice/input.

(1) What is your home airport? DFW
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? lowest price economy
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 32k in 2010, ~50k in 2011
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Aeroplan Elite
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? 1) free lounge access, 2) frequent upgrades on travel
(6) Which routes do you fly most often: Europe and Asia from US
(7) Preferred Airlines: Lufthansa, Air Canada; no preference on US carrier.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) Work - at most I can chose a star alliance flight.

Elites on US airlines only get free lounge access on international flights. Looking at your profile, you are probably best off sticking with Aeroplan, and flying through Canada when on the way to Europe or Asia

Because of my continual status as Elite on Aeroplan and the new changes, I'm seriously contemplating whether it is time to make a change.

(1) What is your home airport? YYZ
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? D,Z (Lowest executive first) on flights > 6 hours if overnight, or any flight > 8 hours. S (tango plus) on all other flights.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? >35k <50k usually. This year it will be >50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? AP *E.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Frequent upgrades on travel as in actually be able to use upgrade certificates for either business or personal travel without having to pay more for an upgradeable economy ticket than executive class.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often Europe 1-2 per year, South Africa 1 every 2 years, Asia 1-2 per year, South America 1-2 per year. US 6 times per year. Canada 2 times per year.
(7) Preferred Airlines For long distances I've almost only flown AC. LH and CO once. LH was definitely better than CO.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) I control all decisions on airlines, class of service for work and pleasure.

I also use the CIBC Aeroplan card which nets me over 50k in points per year. So if the answer is to switch to a different airline, a CC recommendation would be very much appreciated.

I currently have almost 500k in AP which I may only use 25k per year since I haven't been able to get my wife to accompany me on any of the long hauls... yet!

TIA

I'd say UA or CO (which will be combined probably in 2012).

Based on UA: If you get the right Chase UA card you'll earn elite qualifying miles for your ticket purchases (I think on either UA or CO's site) and probably extra miles for all *A tickets. Or if you spend over $35K per year, you can earn 5-10K EQMs on the high priced credit cards (which give either economy plus access or lounge access). All of those cards also offer the option to redeem miles to increase your EQM count from 1-5K additional. So it is possible you can make Premier status by using these boosts even with travel in the 15K miles range.

SPG does not transfer 1:1 to UA or CO (to encourage you to get a Chase card) so that is not a good way to build up miles in either program. You are better off using those to redeem in a program that is 1:1, even if you just use it for redemptions (e.g., US).

CO has a high priced credit that earns even more (flex) EQMs and includes lounge access and other perks (kind of elite lite).

Hi everyone. New to the boards here although I have been a miles junkie for several years now.. lol. This place is a treasure trove of information!

As the year comes to a close, I am considering changing programs and would be interested in some feedback.

I am currently Chairman's Preferred on US and have been for several years now. I feel I know my way around their system pretty well and in general have been satisfied enough with them, especially because I live in Phoenix. The free domestic upgrades are really generous; only once in the last two years have I not gotten an upgrade on a domestic flight.

For a variety of reasons, I decided to start flying Continental and United a little more this year, and really liked what I experienced. In fact I made a mileage run on UA a couple weeks ago and have earned Premier status on them for 2011 as well. The E+ seats alone are worth it.

I'm considering changing my efforts to earn 1K before pouring the additional resources into US's program. Here are the answers to the screening questions at the beginning of the thread, and would love to hear what you have to say!

Thanks!
Jason


(1) What is your home airport?
PHX

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
discount economy (and wait for the free upgrade), or discount business

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
>50k, plus maximize my credit card usage to earn additional EQM's

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it?
UA Premier, and US Chairman's

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Frequent upgrades on travel, and having upgrades confirmed at time of booking or as far in advance as possible, priority/dedicated phone numbers or call centers

(6) Which routes do you fly most often
about 40% USA domestic, 40% Europe, 20% Asia, Oceania, South America

(7) Preferred Airlines
any *A carrier is fine by me

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure?
travel almost exclusively for pleasure. I have flexibility with airlines and fares, but not with times or dates.

One other thing - I do use my mileage credit cards for just about everything. There seems to be quite the array of UA credit cards. Any advice on which one to choose? Or is there a separate forum I should post in? (Sorry if this is in the wrong place, be kind to the noob!)

Appreciate your input!

We do not know if E+ is staying (maybe an announcement coming in the next 2 months), so you might want to wait until that announcement before making a big commitment. UA and CO will combine programs after 2011 so it will not make a big difference whether you choose UA or CO for 2011. Since you already have UA Premier, stick with UA for 2011. UA does not award EQM easily besides flying. If you need credit card EQM to make your status, check the EQM earning provisions very carefully. Some cards are based on purchases on united.com and some are based on total spend. There is a limit of 10,000 EQM earned from credit cards per year plus you can convert up to an additional 50,000 RDM (earned from credit cards) to another (up to) 5,000 EQM if you want. There are threads on the cards and everything else in the UA forum here.

1K will get you 6 international (SWU) upgrades and 4 domestic (CR1) upgrades. You can earn more of both by earning EQMs above 100K.

Benefits are mostly but not entirely integrated across CO and UA for 2011.

You might be able to get a UA challenge to Premier Executive (1P) if they will use your US status (that is unknown). Then you could get 1P by flying 15,000 miles on UA in 90 days (other *A carriers won't count toward the challenge) instead of waiting until you earn 50K EQM (from all sources). If you challenge before July you will still need to make the regular qualification by Dec 31 to keep the status the following year.

I think you should start reading in the UA forum. You will learn a lot.

Thanks so much for the feedback, LAX... I am still pondering everything and noticed the ins and outs of the different credit cards. I was not aware of the potential demise of E+... I would be heartbroken. I am 6'4 and it was the first time in years I have flown in coach without my knees being bruised by the tray table supports.

All else being equal, I may give UA a try this year, especially because you can just buy status on US for a relatively small amount of money.

I will absolutely start reading the UA forums. They are a bit overwhelming to a newbie... Just wading through all the new abbreviations in a different frequent flyer system is homework for a few days!

Once again I appreciate the input. Will keep you posted!

Thank you for the input. I forgot about the 2:1 SPG:UA ratio until after I posted. Looks like UA plus Chase might be the best way to accumulate for eventual UA upgrades.

W

Looking for input from the *A gurus. I'm wondering about suggestions to (a) assure myself of being at least 1P in 2012, and (b) figuring out how to maximize the chance of ending up at the 75k level.

I'm thinking about getting the Presidential Plus card, and running about $50k or so of spend there (I usually do $10k/month on all my cards combined, most of that now is on SPG Amex) to get 10,000 flex EQMs.

I'm looking for advice about whether it matters if I credit my CO-UA flying to one or the other -- and if it helps to credit it to UA, how much do I lose out by not booking as CO PLT.

My answers are below...

(1) What is your home airport? LAX.
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy? Starting 1/1/11, I can buy discount C for westbound transcon flights (6 hour block time or longer, so really only JFK, EWR or BOS to LAX), as long as my r/t is no more than $1,500 r/t. Otherwise, the lowest price economy fare (but that will sometimes be within 7 days of travel).
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 50-75k - see below.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? In addition to being EXP (ending 2/28/11) and lifetime PLT on the dAArk side, I status matched to CO PLT in order to take advantage of the UA+CO merger.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Upgrades, priority seating/boarding.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? LAX-JFK 6-10x/year (more if things are busy), and occasional trips around the west coast, plus 1 or 2/year to PHL/DC.
(7) Preferred Airlines Friends don't let friends fly Delta. I like E+, but not as much as AA F.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Mostly for work. See #2. I'll do pleasure travel about 10k/year if fares are good.

This entire thread has been timely, helpful, and informative! My *A gold status is expiring in 2 months and I need to an alternative plan for 2011 and beyond since I won’t be able to reach the LH threshold any longer.

Thanks to all your advice and ideas, it seems my best options would be OZ or A3. I just joined both programs yesterday, but my first 2011 flight is in 3 weeks so I have a few days still to decide which to go with.

I have 2 RT tickets to ADD and 3 RT tickets to the US coming up in the next 8 months, so I would qualify for *A Gold with A3 by Feb/Mar and with OZ by summer 2011.

I’m currently leaning toward OZ since (if I understand correctly based on my reference day of 31 Dec 2010) my *A gold status wouldn’t expire until Dec 2014. That seems pretty appealing even considering the possible downsides of that program.

Do any of you have any specific insights based on my location/situation? Does OZ seem like a wise choice? I appreciate your help!

_______________________

(1) Home Airport –.Torino (TRN) or Milano (MXP)
(2) Usual Fare Type –.Y
(3) Annual Miles –.25k–50k
(4) Status –.LH Sen/*A Gold
(5) Most Important Features of a FFP
••1st Priority.–.Free Lounge Access
••2nd Priority –.Low Threshold for reaching/maintaining Elite Status
••3rd Priority – Availability of Award Tickets
(6) Most common routes
••1. Intra-Europe
••2. Transatlantic
(7) Preferred Airlines
••No preference - whatever qualifies me for elite status
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure?
••Most often for work, occasionally for pleasure
••Yes, I can choose my airlines - but always Y tickets

Look at BMI Diamond club. Theres a potential that Miles/More will acquire the plan perhaps mid year, but if you can snag BMI gold prior to the conversion (no definite plans announced, but they did confirm they have the "roadmap" in place, Miles and More SHOULD transfer you over to them as a Senator for 2 years. A few things have to fall into place for you, but BMI has a very good accumulation scheme and excellent redemptions. NO blocking on their award seats so you can use virtually any *A airline through BMI unlike united's mileage plus that blocks you from seats on certain carriers (LH for one).

(1) What is your home airport? FRA
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? discounted Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? ~25-35k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? M&M FTL
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Upgrades, C-Class Awards TATL, Lounge access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Intra European on business, 1-2/y FRA-YHZ (leisure)
(7) Preferred Airlines? *A so far
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? mostly work, occasionally leisure.

Can book my own travel for business, up to 20% over cheapest fare

Is it worth sticking with *A/M&M or might AF/KLM be a better bet?

Thanks for your advice

I dont know if I would switch to AF/KLM. I dont have personal experience with it, but have read about some substantial nightmares that are encountered when trying to use the website for redemptions and other things. Being based in FRA, I dont see how AF would benefit you since you are in the middle of MM country and all of the great codesharing available with *A. I guess the contrary arugment would be that you would have less competition for upgrades since most flyers based in FRA/MUC would be MM members. Also, wouldnt almost every flight you took under AF require a connection somewhere? (Good for miles/segments, but do you want to add the extra travel time?)

(1) What is your home airport? PVG

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

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 50k Economy, 30k Business (Although some on other programs)

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Air China Gold

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Good award redemption rates


(6) Which routes do you fly most often? Singapore4-6 times a year (economy), Europe, mainly Stuttgart, 2-3 times a year (business), US, mainly LAX, 1-2 times a year (economy - personal trips so may not be Y), China many times (Economy), Rest of Asia (Economy)

(7) Preferred Airlines - Singapore airlines

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Mainly for work. US and some Asia trips are for personal

Any quick reply would be great! I am flying today to Singapore already and will probably not use CA anymore if possible.

Hi Cougar,

I haven't looked closely at AF yet, I just see them coming up as alternative on my corporate travel site all the time and they seem to attack LH on price ex Fra.
Maybe I just need to learn how to optimize M&M for my needs, so far I just couldn't get anything out of it, that's why I was posting here to check for alternatives. The start of the year just looked like the best time to do so

Thanks

MM is certainly an acquired taste, but if you can hit their numbers you will be treated very well. Honestly, I am looking forward to the potential/rumored merger of Diamond Club to MM for a few reasons. Some people were upset this year because MM raised the bar a little bit too much for some. But most people forget that a ff program is a privilege and not a right. I dont have personal experience with the AF plans. you may want to go to their thread and observe what their loyal users have to say, both pro and con. I can tell you that the grass is not usually any greener on the other side. When I decided on using BMI DC it was after a fair amount of research based on my needs, and I did not weigh the advice of others too heavily because they are going to be skewed heavily. I've seen people bash a plan for the stupidest of reasons and usually its their own fault for the problem, then I've also seen people tout how great a program is, but have hardly and experience with it.

I'm partial to the *A because my EU travels from the states almost always takes me to slovakia and the czech republic, its because of LH's reach into eastern europe that I use *A. Not to mention that MUC is my most favorite airport in the world to transit. At the end of the day, I'm probably guilty of the skewing that I'm referring to!! :)

1967 cougar, thanks for the reply and the advice! That's a pretty good suggestion, and I have looked at BMI a little. My only problem is that if I could do what you suggest, I would have *A Gold only for 2 years and then I'm still stuck trying to reach Lufthansa's 100K threshold to requalify. I'm looking at the next 10+ years and want to choose a program I can qualify for and then requalify for with less miles and still get free lounge access, etc. With Asiana I just need 40K every 2 years, and that may be enough of a pro to overcome the other cons.

But, I hear your advice, and I'm still weighing all the possibilities. Thanks again! Anyone else have any input?

(1) What is your home airport? PHL now, but moving to ORD in JUNE
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? cheapest
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 30k-40k now, but probably 20-25k once I move to Chicago
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? US GOLD
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Upgrades, Access to Exit Row seating (i'm 6'5" so leg room is crucial), free bags
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? PHL-ORD now
(7) Preferred Airlines? *A but open for suggestions
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? about even right now but it will be mostly pleasure once I move back

Home is Chicago but I have been living in Philly for work for almost 4 years...finally getting transfered back in June. My flying will definitely decrease but I am assuming that I will be using the money I spent flying back home to see family on pleasure trips once I am back home for good.

It looks like my options are UA/AA out of ORD or I could just say screw it and go with Southwest.....doubt that though.

Any help is appreciated!

From Chicago you've got UA, AA, and WN as you say. I'd say UA for the free Economy Plus (E+) with elite status. UA requires 1P (50K EQM) to book exit rows in advance but E+ is fine (and on some aircraft the same pitch).

You will also get free bags and might get some upgrades, although not on popular routes from ORD.

UA and CO are combining and have not announced if E+ is staying or not, but for now it's on all UA mainline and a lot of express.

UA doesn't normally match status from another *A carrier but given your move you should ask them to do a challenge, in which you fly a certain amount of miles on UA metal in 90 days and get the status for the year. If you match before July 1, you'll have to make the normal qualification by year end to keep the status next year (otherwise you get it for the next year). Challenges might be suspended for a few weeks at the beginning of the year but it looks like they are taking requests. You get the status during the 90 day period.

http://www.united.com/statusmatch

Since you are Gold, I think you have to match to 1P, which means a lot of flying during the challenge. But then you'd have 1P for up to a year and a half, with exit row booking and better upgrade priority.

I currently have EBG status (that will last until April 2012) but thinking about joining MM this year. Mainly in order to recieve upgradevouchers:

(1) What is your home airport? OSL, but leaving to SAN from August 2011 until July 2012
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Z
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 115k this year
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? EBG
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Frequent upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, free lounge access.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? OSL-PVG, OSL-SAN, and SAN-PVG
(7) Preferred Airlines? LH and SAS, as they are the most familiar ones.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Mostly work, but I can choose airline myself as long as the price is within certain limits (i.e. typically restriced business)