deleted.

Generally US based programs offer the lowest taxes on mileage redemptions.

I have no idea about what programs SPG points can be transferred to.

Thank you for this thread! I have recently started a new job and will be traveling 2-3x/month, currently out of PDX and moving to bay area so could choose between those 3 airports. I am looking for feedback on which FF program to focus on


1. What is your home airport? PDX (sfo-oak-sjc w/in year)
2. What types of fares do you usually buy? Coach/economy
3. How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25k-50k, perhaps more than 50k
4. Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? AS MVP, UA Premiere, 30k expired miles on delta trying to get reinstated.
5. What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge access, Upgrades and FF benefits recognized by partner airlines, bonus mileage earning/good award redemption rates
6. Which routes do you fly most often? Us domestic- west coast or cross country. Currently PDX-sfo/oak; PDX-dca; PDX-dfw
7. Preferred Airlines? Alaska, delta (may change if miles aren't reinstated), qantas, SAS
8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Travel for both, can choose airline. Work class is economy, pleasure can be any class.

Willing to sign up for a CC to maximize mileage earning also. Am member of all major hotel chain programs and generally earn points for stays to use on vacations but swilling to reconsider. Thank you in advance!:D

US Airways or Aegean Airlines are your 2 choices in Star Alliance.

US Airways because it actually gives you a chance at upgrades with only 30-50k miles (with UA, you need to be flying 100k miles to even have a chance these days). Also, US' credit card is decent, and redemption is about the best out there.

Aegean Airlines will get you hassle-free *G. This means that you will get lounge access, but no upgrades (you might get emergency exits or bulkheads on United-Continental or US Airways, and even the occasional op-up to Business or First Class - I've had good luck with LH)

Should I give up my EBS *S and focus on the new CO/UA instead?
 

Hello dear flyers. I have been a mute follower of these forums and now it is my turn to ask for honest advice from the people who know better... I have a dilemma.


1. home: JFK-EWR-LGA
2. I mostly fly economy, sometimes flexible, and sometimes I have found good discounted business class on SAS.
3. In 2011 I flew just enough to get EBS *S on SAS
4. Current status: EBS
5. I realize that I don't fly that much, compared to *G people so I'm not asking for much. Priority check-in, priority boarding and priority seat selection are the little things that would make my travel nicer.
6. I earned my current status by flying EWR-CPH on SAS, but I also want to fly JFK-SFO and JFK-LAX this year.
7. Preferred Airlines? whatever works. I like SAS, I guess, but they don't fly in the US.
8) I fly for fun and fame. I'm an independent visual consultant (www.ideasarenothing.com) so my work is my passion and I sometimes travel with my passion...


Here's the dilemma: I was honestly proud when I got my EBS card last fall. I'm from Denmark but moved to New York last year. I have had a lot of requests for my work in Denmark, so I have been flying back a forth a good deal. After flying discounted economy for years and never earning any status with SAS I finally took a few more expensive flights and made it to Silver. Hurray!
Now it seems the demand for me to be in Denmark is fading and I find myself much more interested in going to LA and SFO to see friends, and/or to work/network.

Naive as I can be, I though EBS = *S would give me wonderful perks on other *A airlines like CO or UA, but it seems that the ONLY thing I get for my hard work is priority on waitlists and standby. Not even business class check-in or priority boarding...

So the question is: should I abandon my EBS since it doesn't give me anything right now anyway, and start a new? If so, what should I pick? I'm thinking the new CO/UA seems to have good reach from NYC and CO also have a direct flight back to Copenhagen (although with a smaller 757, compared to A330/340 on the SK909)

I'm appreciative of any advice.

Since all you seem to want is easy *G, your choices are Aegean Airlines, Asiana Airlines, and Turkish Airlines. Take a look at them and make your pick.

Dear PVDtoTEL

Thank you for this extremely valuable advice. I would never have thought about it that way. But you are exactly right: I'd rather have consistent benefits across *A as a *G member than only having some advantages with one airline, since I can't maintain status two places right now.

I can't help but notice that you have chosen Aegean. May I inquire why? The biggest difference seems to be the 12 month vs. 24 month time-frame and that Aegan only give 50% points for discounted economy flights on Continental where as Asiana gives 100% miles even on discounted economy on Continental.

on Aegean you only need 20K Status miles for Star Gold. They give you 1K miles for signing up. 19K miles to go after that..

Go get them!

The reason I have A3 is because inertia... I found out about it before I found Asiana or Turkish, and after that, I didn't want to sacrifice the miles I already have.

Aegean, Asiana, and Turkish all have their own distinct advantages, but so far, I have been very happy with A3.

How is flight redemption on A3? And do you think the easy *G justifies the cost in taxes/fees for A3 awards vs. awards on a US program?

taxes/fees isn't bad actually.

They are just confusing. There was a redemption story on the A3 forum where the agent repriced the taxes/fees from everything between something like $500 and $30 if I remember correctly. It takes patience, but you can get what you want.

The award rates are decent too.

However, you simply cannot beat US Airways at redemptions, no matter where you go...

Ok, with further investigation there seems to be a small catch for my case in regards to Aegean. I am likely to JFK-SFO and JFK-LAX a few times this year but on Continental/United flights Aegean only give 50% miles on booking class S. Asiana and Turkish give 100%. So in my case I think I will be better off with Asiana. It will give me 24 month to make the same amount of east-coast-west-coast flying...

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and would very much appreciate some advice on *A FF programs.

(1) What is your home airport? MRS, AMS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Discount economy
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? <25K, 20-30 flights
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? Flying Blue just about silver, M&M basic and BA Exec not off the ground
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Business check-in and boarding, award flights
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? MRS-AMS, MRS -> Europe
(7) Preferred Airlines: KL, LH
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both, for work have to take cheapest available flights

As you can see, I'm not exactly what you'd call a frequent flyer. However, next month I will exceptionally be flying LHR-AKL-CHC-DUD-WLG-AKL-LHR on Air NZ with the international flights in business, and from what I can tell this should be worth a bunch of miles!:) So my question is, should I just stick with M&M bearing in mind that I should definitely make silver but that gold is a far off dream, or should I go for another program where gold might just be feasible? And if so, with what program would I stand the best chance?

Secondly, I will be accompanied on this journey by my grandmother, who has absolutely no interest in FF programs or status, but it seems a great shame to let all these miles go to waste. Is there any program where you can donate miles or do something else useful with them?

Any advice would be most welcome :)

A general rule of thumb for people with your yearly mileage is: A3, OZ, TK if you care more about Gold status, otherwise US, UA/CO for awards (no fuel surcharge). In my opinion, TK mileage expiration of 3 years sucks for not-so-frequent travelers. I think the general wisdom is that M&M is not good if you fly <100k. However, since you have some M&M miles and would qualify for Frequent Traveler this year, it might be a better option. On the other hand the benefits of M&M Frequent Traveler are not that great (and do not transfer outside of M&M partners). Maybe someone more familiar with M&M can help.

LHR-AKL-CHC-DUD-WLG-AKL-LHR is almost 25000 miles. With some class bonus, she'll probably get more than 30000 miles depending on a program and operating airline. It is enough for an economy award flight in Europe or within US/Canada. In most programs, she can utilize the miles for an award ticket for someone else if she does not want to use it herself (miles are not transferable).

That itinerary is enough to get you *G with Aegean Airlines Miles & Bonus. I suggest doing that, so you have *G for the next 3 years (3 year expiry)