Mileage accrual for discount economy
 

I may be taking a few Brussels airlines flights on E-class or similar. I have been CO up until now, it seems though that almost no *A ff programs allow you to accrue miles on these discount fares.

From my initial check it seems that SAA does at least let you have 50% on these fares, for Brussels Airlines and some of the M&M family - so it would make sense to join SAA to at least get something for these flights (using the SAA account only for this). Would be glad to know if this really is the case, and if there is anything I have missed here - perhaps another way to have these flights accrue at least some miles.

Thanks

D.

(1) What is your home airport?
AKL/SYD

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Mostly Y, some J

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
Varies a lot, some times up to 100k a year, sometime only 20k or even less

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it?
A3 Gold, NZ Gold (Given them already)

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Lounge, rewards

(6) Which routes do you fly most often?
NZ/AU to Asia, occasionally Europe.

(7) Preferred Airlines
SQ, OZ, TG

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure?
Mainly work, I work for myself though

I already have *G for the next 3 years from A3, which is very nice.. I'm crediting 20k a year to OZ to maintaining *G. But neither of these two program has a decent reward price... When I read those trip report of business award travel from BD, I just couldn't believe how cheap they are....

My plan is basically "buy" the *G with 20k a year, and put the rest of miles somewhere that's good for redemption.. Currently putting them all to NZ, which isnt much value left..... So please help which program is good for business reward tickets? The future of BD is not looking good, so may not be an option...

Thanks in advance

If all you want to do is earn and burn, I'd put it in US. There's ample opportunity to buy miles on the cheap or earn through other methods like Grand Slam (even if you don't live in the US, I don't) and the reward chart is quite reasonable. No surcharges for redemption either. UA is also good for redemption but there isn't as much opportunity for boosting your mileage as US.

Thanks so much for the quick response!!! That was amazingly fast.... Isnt there talks about US AA merge? Is US still a safe *A member?

Yes, it is a possibility but it's early in the game right now. I wouldn't consider US' place in *A to be as precarious as BD or JJ. The way they are, US isn't leaving *A but if (and when... these things take a while) the merger goes through they'll almost certainly go to OW. They even recently bought the domain name "OneworldOneairline.com" in preparation for a possible merger.

If you're really concerned about US' long-term future in *A I suppose you could go with UA, which is the other good *A FFP for "cheap" redemptions.

Hope someone can help with this. I am thinking aegean. I have SAS EBB now but looking for something else :)

(1) What is your home airport?
OUL, KUO, HEL

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Economy & sometimes upgrade to Business both in domestic and international.

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
Varies but lets say <25K

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it?
None

(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
Finland domestic, EU and US (in order)

(7) Preferred Airlines
None really :D Finnair used to be great but at the moment none :))

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? For pleasure mostly and yes I can choose

(1) What is your home airport?
LHR

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Micture of J and Premium Economy

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
About 100k currently split between *A and BA

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it?
BD Gold, BA Gold, AirFrance Plat

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Redemption (current BD program is great) and lounge/priority boarding access

(6) Which routes do you fly most often?
USA/Asia/Europe

(7) Preferred Airlines
BA...happy to try anything else if it boosts mileage balance

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure?
Both

Loving the current miles + cash options via BD so will be sad to see it go. Like to have the mix of Oneworld Gold and *A

Thanks

SQ or TG?
 

(1) What is your home airport?
SYD
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Y, sometimes C (work related)
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
>50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it?
No.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Lounge when in Y and redemption (outright C and upgrades Y to C)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often:
For work it looks like it will be 2x SYD-AKL-SYD (Y), 2x SYD-SFO-SYD (C), 2x SYD-DEL-SYD (Y, maybe C), 2x SYD-SIN-SYD (Y, maybe C), possibly PVG, also SIN possibly combined with DEL trip.
Personal will either be a SYD-Europe-SYD or a SYD-Asia-SYD. Pay Y, would like to upgrade or if have enough points, redeem for C.
(7) Preferred Airlines
Stuck with UA as only carrier direct SYD-SFO-SYD. Could fly NZ via AKL but UA looks cheaper generally.
Other trips SQ preferred to TG.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure?
Both (see above).

Hi all

I need a Star Alliance membership which suits my current situation. I will be travelling a bit for work for the foreseeable future. I have an Amex which means (in Australia) that I can transfer the points from that to SQ or TG (can also go to NZ, but from what I understand, NZ FF program is rubbish).

Main goal is to get Star Gold, but also be able to ‘partner’ my FF account with my Amex points. With the points, hope to redeem for upgrades on personal trips OR get outright C tickets.

Slight chance that the Singapore flights could switch to Oneworld if cheaper on BA/QF or I can get Premium Economy on these flights (in which case I’d do that over SQ Y).

Let me know if you need any more info. Basically it is down to SQ or TG (plus possibly dump some points into A3 for Gold - which I think I could do on a SYD-SFO-SYD even in Y).

Thanks
SYDreamer

IIRC, most of the cheap KF and SK economy booking classes don't earn any miles with Aegean. If you have some old or future bookings I would check to make sure that they are in classes that earn with A3, otherwise look at other FFPs.

(1) What is your home airport?
DTW/BER

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
U, T, K

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year?
Not much, about 20K - 25K per year

(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?
Rewards, free baggage, better flying conditions

(6) Which routes do you fly most often?
DTW - BER, DTW - CUN, plus another random international destination once a year, mostly Europe, South and Central America.

(7) Preferred Airlines
open to any, Delta, American, United, Lufthansa have been the most used.

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure?
80% pleasure, 20% work, it all comes out of my wallet though.

I will mostly travel with my wife and kids, ages 6 and under 1. I want whatever makes flying internationally easier. Upgrades seem out of the question due to our travel patterns and the kids, so I think baggage allowance, ease of travel and reward travel are the only things we have to shoot for. I have looked over Asiana, Agean and Turkish extensively and it seems that I should go with either Asiana or Agean. The stopper for Agean seemed to be that I would almost always travel on United or Lufthansa and the tickets classes I fly in are limited to 50% rewards. I checked the ticket classes that give full rewards and the higher price did not justify the 100% payout in rewards. Asiana seems right, but they only pay 75% rewards to kids 12 and under as I read it. It will take longer to reach status with them as well, but it might be easier to keep once reached with our patterns. The family plan has a very small benefit for us, as we also have family members in BER that could join and share their miles. They fly BER - DTW once every three years. They will never reach status and we would simply use their miles to get our rewards tickets sooner. One concern is how easy reward tickets would be to get if we move to Asiana. As a final note, everyone mentioned here has between 20 - 40 K in FF miles on Delta right now, but only once has any of us reached silver with them, prompting us to look at other plans. Is Asiana right for us or should we look again at Agean or another FF program? Is there a credit card rewards program that I should look at to increase my rewards earnings at our flying pattern level?

TG is easier to get and maintain status... I'd suggest that you use them - you should have no trouble getting to Gold with your flying pattern.

Well true so in this case, I will be making it business if I have to post to A3. Just looking out to see if there are other and/or better options :cool:

Should I change mile program from UA?
 

I realize I may need to change my mileage program and I am looking for some advice. Currently I am UA*S, but with the changes, I don't see much purpose in it. Thank you in advance.

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
I fly mostly out of Japan now, but I used to fly in the US a lot, which is why I had UA. Fukuoka airport, Kansai Airport, or NRT are all pretty much the same for me.
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Not sure what the letters are, but usually I get discount fares.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
25-50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)
I have UA Silver, but I am annoyed that I cannot get even the smallest benefits in economy plus now. Basically, I get nothing, and I have a very tough time using miles. When I try to upgrade, they are now charging me $600 + 30k miles to upgrade my international flight. What is the point of the miles if I have to pay $600 in addition?

(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.)
I don't really have a preference. I just want to get some benefit for flying.
edit: When I think about it, I would really like to get to Gold status. I would also like to use miles accrued for travel with my family.
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
Japan to US, Japan to Canada, Japan to other Asian countries (China, RoK, Indonesia, Mongolia). Future trips may include Europe. Sometimes I travel domestic within Japan from FUK to HND/NRT.
(7) Preferred Airlines
ANA
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
Work, I can choose my airline, but not class of service. I always fly economy fare.

Which StarAlliance FF Scheme is best for me?
 

(1) What is your home airport?
BUD (Budapest)

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Mostly Y, some J

(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?
I am already enrolled in the SQ scheme, but my needs are now almost all for flight rewards within Europe for family members, which SQ is no good for. My miles will soon expire, so I want to switch to another Star Alliance.

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Flight rewards for family within Europe, with Austrian Airlines the most convenient.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often?
Within Europe, Europe to Asia

(7) Preferred Airlines
Austrian

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure?
Mainly work, I work for myself though

Is this as simple as saying go with Austrian?

Thanks in advance

Ben

Dukesy's Dilemma
 

(1) What is your home airport? BHX (or LHR/MAN if ness)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Mainly C, occasional Y
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 50-70K per year or so
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? SQ *A Gold
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge access, Upgrade ability (Long haul c-f), baggage less important, NON expiring miles would be nice !
(6) Which routes do you fly most often UK-RSA 3-4 times per year, some domestic within RSA, 2-3 trips to SYD per year
(7) Preferred Airlines : Historically SQ, but liking LX(and has local airport to me)
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? : Mainly work, full free choice of airlines, but budget often drives choices.

I currently hold SQ Gold, but will be tight as to wether i hit 50K again this year due to using BA a little more (budget driven)

I like to use my local airport rather than schlepping to LHR/LGW/MAN, so currently use indirects from BHX via ZRH/FRA/MUC to South Africa 3-4 times per year.

I also need to go to SYD less frequently, and have done BA/QF on this route, (hence mileage shortage with *A), as well as ( more frequently) TG/SQ

I really want to use the miles I fly to best potential, but feel that SQ doesnt meet that (i signed up before being aware of FT!), and the mileage expiry is a real pain.

I also use Amex PRG card, and prob generate another 70K miles or so per annum in there.

Any advice anyone can give would be greatfully recieved !

Thanks