(1) What is your home airport? AKL soon to be LAX (in August)

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Usually not given any option

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 40-50k approx depending on work but NZ-US return is around 12K and do that twice a year plus US - Europe and domestic US when required.

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? *A Silver on AirNZ (7/8 way to Gold)

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge Access is ideal and priority screening followed by upgrades.

(6) Which routes do you fly most often: NZ-US-NZ followed by US-Europe-US

(7) Preferred Airlines *A, AirNZ/United in lieu

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) - Freedom to choose, AirNZ back home but United in lieu of AirNZ usually to get the *A points.

Thanks in advanced!

I'd really appreciate any advice on helping me select a Star Alliance frequent flyers program:

1. What is your home airport? Australia (either Melbourne / Sydney / Gold Coast)

2. What types of fares do you usually buy? Cheapest as long as it's sensible transits

3. How many miles do you usually fly each year? I intend to do a lot more travel. After very little in the past, I did 6 weeks last year to SE Asia .. 6 months this year to USA, Sth America and Canada which is why I want to make it count, and to see the world over the next few years!

This 6 month trip leaves on 28 July and will include:
Melbourne - LA - New York (United Airlines)
LA - Lima (Lan Chile)
Buenos Aires - Santiago - LA (Lan Chile)
LA - Vancouver (US Airways)
Vancouver - Yellowknife (WestJet)
Yellowknife - Calgary (Air Canada)
Calgary - LA (Air Canada)
LA - Melbourne (United)

There are many links and side adventures I haven't booked yet, which I might use points for ...

My travel agent has already told me Lan Chile and US Airways are part of OneWorld so will add them to my Qantas FF.

So I'm looking for something for the Star Alliance part and other airlines.

I'm not sure if I'm better off going with the one the majority of my flying is with (United's in this case as I'll still be in the US) or looking at the best FF program from bigger perspectives. I have tried looking up some of the contents tables from program websites and my head is spinning trying to follow it all ...

4. Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it?
Qantas Frequent Flyers from bits and pieces of Australian flights but have never used it much or looked at it seriously and to be honest, find this process very overwhelming!
Velocity Rewards in Australia but am told it doesn't apply to any of these flights.

5. What is most important to you in a FFP?

Free flights -
* are the points rewarded decent for this,
* are there many choices available you can use points for

No joining fees, no point expiry at all if possible or at least not for a very long time (years)

Decent customer service (just so you don't tear your hair out dealing with them)

Not so fussed about lounges, prestige, etc (that's just a bonus), just to save money if I do a lot of travel to get good value for points and ease to get other flights for free ...

6. Which routes do you fly most often? Varies

7. Preferred Airlines? I will find out, all new to this!

8. Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure mostly!

Thanks heaps!

Hi Everyone.
I'm looking for a FFP in Star alliance and I think it's the perfect thread for that !
Any advice appreciated:

(1) What is your home airport? CDG

(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? In general Economy but I have the opportunity to fly 7,8 times a year on business class for work

(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 50-60k approx depending on work . Mainly intra Europe, japan, Thailand and US

(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Nothing on *A but Gold on Flying Blue (AirFrance)

(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge Access is very important for me !

(6) Which routes do you fly most often: CDG - BUD ; CDG - NRT ; CDG - LAX ; CDG - JFK ; CDG - BKK ; CDG - MIA

(7) Preferred Airlines *A : Never taken one :(

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?) Perfect Mix - Economy for Leisure and business for work

Thanks in advanced!
RussianTsar

Hey all,

I'm looking for a new European carrier as I fly economy with Air Berlin currently but I'm being left unsatisfied with the service as of late and considering the main reason for flying with them is for Etihad miles, I could switch and not be that much worse off as I still have Emirates as airline of choice for Africa, Americas, Asia and the Middle East.

I did look at OW's BA but I can't stand BA, dreadful company with terrible CS and I have flown with Lufthansa's family of airlines which aren't too bad, I'm just unsure of the mileage and status accrual rates and whether I could do better with another *A airline.

I'm also due to fly on SAS a fair bit from October 2014 until March/April 2015 so I may just make them my *A FFP as they'll be on top of my usual 2 trips a month to continental Europe, in October alone I'll be flying in and out of Oslo and Stockholm 8 times from Heathrow plus 2 trips to Frankfurt and one leisure trip to Paris with the SO.

1. What is your home airport? LGW/LHR

2. What types of fares do you usually buy? Economy for European flights and Business/First for all other destinations outside of Europe.

3. How many miles do you usually fly each year? No clue but I'm generally taking two trips to Europe a month and one trip a month to Dubai.

4. Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? I have Gold on Emirates for Africa, Asia and Middle Eastern flights and also Gold on Etihad largely attained through Air Berlin European flights.

5. What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge access and general perks when flying economy.

6. Which routes do you fly most often: LHR - AUH/DXB, LHR - FRA/MUN/TXL and LHR - ARN/OSL

7. Preferred Airlines *A : Flown with Lufthansa and Swiss which aren't bad, I do have flights with SAS coming up, not flown on them before so will be interesting.

8. Do you travel for work or pleasure? I travel for both pleasure and work. Depending on destination I fly economy within Europe on Air Berlin and Business/First when going to Africa, America, Asia and the Middle East on Emirates and Etihad.

Which *A FFP should I pick or should I go with EuroBonus as I'll be flying in and out of Scandinavia a fair bit in the near future?

(1) What is your home airport? Currently GIG (or SDU) ... moving to ZRH
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? cheapest possible, out of pocket. sometimes, splurge for PE or one leg in C.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? will be <25 or <50k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? none currently
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? upgrades, priority services, good award redemption rates, free lounge access, combine family member accounts if any permits it
(6) Which routes do you fly most often: GIG-ZRH-GIG or ZRH-GIG-ZRH and eventually GIG (or ZRH) to USA
(7) Preferred Airlines: cheapest fare/smallest connection/night flights
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? pleasure.

For example, considering I have currently zero status and mileage on *A, I have a trip that is

GIG-GRU on TAM
GRU-ZRH on LX in "Z"
ZRH-FRA and FRA-GIG on LH in "L"

Could I join A3 program and get "blue" level right away from the first flight in "Z" as this will be 200%? That will put me at *A silver. how long does it stay that way? maybe on the next trip, I can do the same and then will become *A Gold?

For the return, can I switch mileage program into Miles and More to get any mileage, since "L" is not accepted in any *A? (or is it?)

Thanks,

relocation to Canada
 

Hi!

Appreciate any advise on the following case:

Friend is relocating to a place outside Toronto, Canada.
Currently Miles and More member with only 6k miles and no status - residing in GER. Happy to switch programs.
Expects to fly 6+ round trips between Europe (probably FRA/MUC) and Toronto (YYZ?) in Y each year. Probably 1 to 2 trips to PEK in C.
Employer is locked up with *A.

Prefers nonstop flights (LH and AC is serving FRA-YYZ and MUC-YYZ).

Will probably get into credit cards in Canada (not used in GER today) - might be an opportunity for further milage accrual/status?

Many thanks for any advise!
Below are the responses on the standard questionaire.

Cheers!

Ham


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

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

(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)
none

(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 on the upcoming Y-trips would be appreciated
good service in cases of delays would be nice
award redemptions for trips ex Canada would be nice
useful credit card option would be nice

(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
Transatlantic Canada-Germany

(7) Preferred Airlines
none (probably LH since first AC experience was weak)

(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? (Can you chooose your airlines, class of service?)
work (choice within *A and usually Y with the occasional C)
pleasure (free choices, usually Y or premium economy)

which star alliance loyalty program for ord to europe?
 

hi, i am not a newbie but feel like a newbie when it comes to united staralliance pg. i was a big aa fan and just got the aa exec card with the 100k offer. but it turns out more and more of the award flight available with aa are with ba on my route(ord-mrs/ord_cdg/ord-tln) which while it gives me the option to visit london, also means crazy high taxes and fees. madrid used to be an option but it looks like award on mad mrs are never available anymore.
now i have been out of the miles game for a coupe years but am starting to fly more. looks like whenever i want to buy flights the best option are with air france or luftahnsa or united. as far as schedules route and price. air france flies to tln which is super convenient for me.
i was going to get a united cc but realized their mileage program sucks. from what i understand pretty much the large majority of award are at the 130k level for economy, the cc bonus sucks and the spg transfer is terrible. any ideas on which prg to join instead that would be better?
i loved the 40k redemption with aa as well as the hawaii added one way that used to be possible forom europe.
i do fly to france about twice a year and fly domestically about 4/6 times a year.
cost of my flights to europe vary between 1100 to 1500$

There is a Sticky in the Star Alliance Thread just for this kind of things.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-...post-here.html

Sorry for not realizing there was a specific thread.. here it goes, any help is appreciated. I will look into the 3 airlines mentionned at the top post:

(1) What is your home airport? ORD
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? cheapest possible, out of pocket as well domestic economy fares for business, usually 2 weeks ahead at the most.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? internationally: 20K , domestically 6-10K
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? none currently, but have the citi AA exect giving me some EQM
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? good award redemption rates, good earning rates outside of flying (CC, bonus, dining, etc..), one way award, good routes to France, connection outside of LHR for awards (expensive!), cheap biz awards, upgrades, priority services, possibility to do stop over and tack on flight to hawaii from europe if is still possible...

(6) Which routes do you fly most often: ORD-MRS (through LHR or Francfort, munich), varied domestic routes otherwise (ORD/EWR/JFK/PHL/LAX/SFO/PDX)
(7) Preferred Airlines: cheapest fare/smallest connection/night flights: AA but if I could have the same with Air France or united, it will be these.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? pleasure and work.

AA is in the OneWorld alliance and the default choice for most USA residents flying OW. United tends to be the Star Alliance default choice.
Alaska may be good for you due to the many partner airlines, including AA, Delta and Air France/KLM.
http://www.alaskaair.com/content/mil...ePlan-partners


http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...help-here.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/skyte...i-sign-up.html

Hi all, I didn't get any feedback on the "general" thread so I'm hoping to get some assistance in this one.

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
(e.g., upgrades, priority services, baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, lounge access)
Reply: lounge access, good redemption rates, baggage allowance, upgrades, priority services

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
(e.g., <25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles and <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: This year and next year I will be travelling quite extensively. This year over 75K, next year over 100K.

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
(e.g., first, business, premium economy, economy)
Reply: business for transatlantic flights, and economy for flights to the US

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: I can choose my own airlines. Both business and pleasure.

5. Which routes do you fly most often?
YYZ to SFO; YYZ-LHR-HYD

6. What is your home airport?
(e.g., SFO, LHR, HKG)
Reply: YYZ

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in a FFP, if any?
(e.g., AA Executive Platinum, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro)
Reply: My travel schedule has really just started ramping up. I am currently just a BA Bronze and have no current status with Air Canada. However, I expect to take 2 business class tickets from YYZ to HYD and one economy ticket from YYZ to SFO this year.

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
Reply: Air Canada, British Airways but have used United in the past

Other notes:
My travel schedule for 2014 and 2015 will ramp up significantly. If I fly my remaining flights this year, I should be able to reach Elite 75K in 2014 and SE in 2015. However, I'm puzzled as to whether I should direct all my flights to *A or with OneWorld. Because of my extensive travel from YYZ to HYD scheduled for this year and next year, should I consolidate with one alliance or split? In other words, many reasonable options to fly AC from YYZ-LHR, and then BA from LHR-HYD, but I can also stick with *A and fly with Air India, Lufthansa.

Although Air Canada may be the default choice for Canadians, the taxes on their flight rewards are absolutely ridiculous. Are there better options out there?

I welcome your thoughts. Sorry, I'm a true newbie. I've never really followed FFP until a few months ago and now I'm trying to understand mileage runs...LOL.

Trying to get away from United
 

(1) What is your home airport? DCA/IAD
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? C
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 100k+
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? UA 1k
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? International upgrades
(6) Which routes do you fly most often Europe, S. America, Asia
(7) Preferred Airlines not sure
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? I'm free to choose carriers. I travel mostly internationally in paid C, but use upgrades to take vacations or bring family members along. I travel transcon domestic 3-4 times a year in coach, and take 3-5 international business trips per year, plus 1-2 international leisure trips

Lifetime Mileage
 

I can't say I've managed to read all the posts on the 94 pages in this thread, so I might've missed the answer, but if I'm looking to sign up for a new *A FFP (just achieved S on SAA, but getting rid of it), and my primary concern is the lifetime miles prospects. I know UA has that 1 million miles program which grants lifetime G status to you +1, but are there any other *A partners that do the same, and are worth joining? I would prefer to avoid US carriers and programs, since we Americans are the best at devaluing any and everything, but the UA FFP seems like the strongest option for now.

Any advice is appreciated.

Hello, apologies in advance if this question has been answered elsewhere on the forum. I have only just started taking the time to investigate joining FFPs. Having had a look around, it seems like a number of FFPs will honour flights taken with the relevant airline within up to 12 months prior to joining. Does anyone happen to know whether any Star Alliance airlines will honour flights taken on other Star Alliance airlines so I can get recognition upon joining of a number of flights I've taken with Lufthansa, Swiss, Turkish in the last 12 months? I have a similar question about a number of Oneworld long haul flights I've taken in the last year which I have posted in the Oneworld forum. My responses to the standard intro questions are below.

Many thanks in advance.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply: Upgrades on travel, good award redemption rates
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: Approx 30,000 miles per year. 10-20 flights per year.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: Cheapest
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Mainly pleasure, occasionally work.
(5) Which routes do you fly most often?
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: Pan-European mainly, LHR-BNE once a year. LHR to various US cities once a year.
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: LHR
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: Virgin Australia - small number of points which may have now lapsed.
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Cheapest.

I should add that I will be flying LHR -BNE return in a couple of weeks most likely with either Malaysian (re my post in the Oneworld thread) or Singapore. Many thanks