Mwenenzi

No. Do not know
Look in the OZ forum-->https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asiana-asiana-club-614/

dbltree

(1) What is your home airport? YYZ/YTZ
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Discount Economy Asia/US/Europe/Canada
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 30k, 2-3 roundtrips
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Making economy more bearable: priority boarding, priority check in, lounge access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often: YYZ-PVG, YYZ-FRA
(7) Preferred Airlines: AC, BR, LH, UA
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure

Hello all! I will fortunately accrue 45-47k miles in the first few months of this year depending on the *A mileage program. My segments this year will be on BR, CM, and UA. I have never had airline status before as I don't fly for work and I am looking to get Star Alliance Gold status. I am split between elite status in OZ or in CM. I will have 4 segments in CM this year and should qualify for Gold. However, OZ is attractive as it is easier to re-qualify for. From what I understand, I will have 2 years of Star Alliance Gold plus 20ish months from the early qualification bonus for a total of over 3.5 years of status if I credit all my flights to them. However, since OZ don't even fly to Canada, I would not enjoy any other perks apart from Star Alliance Gold.

Considering I might fly once a year to Latin America max and on Copa only if the price is right, would it make sense for me to choose the CM program? Could I even get upgraded on a discount economy ticket? Any advice is appreciated in addition to any other *A programs I should look at.

FlyerTalker70

Couple of options:

I think there are really two programs that would make the most sense to you:

First and forest most there's United's MilagePlus. One of the big standouts about the program is that you earn 100% elite credit on most itineraries with LH, AC, UA, and CM. BR isn't as generous for some reason (50-75% credit) and flights in Basic Economy only earn 50% milage albeit I doubt you'll fly that often in that fare since it's very restrictive. Also, flights within Canada on AC in the deep discount category only earn 25% credit. Since you are (presumably) a Canadian resident, there are no earning requirements, you just need 50,000 elite miles and fly 4 times on United flights and you're all set for UA Gold. UA Gold will give you access to complimentary upgrades on most UA flights within North America (albeit the upgrade list can be quite long for some popular routes like YYZ->ORD so it's not always a guarantee). You'll also get free Economy+ seat selection at booking for you and up-to 1 extra passenger when flying United, regardless of fare class. You also get the privilege of checking in 3 items on TATL/TPAC itineraries or up to 2 items free on North American itineraries when flying UA in Y. Given you're based in YYZ and the fact that UA is often the cheapest fare on many TATL and TPAC itineraries (to say nothing of domestic Canada and US itineraries) , I suspect you'll be flying UA often enough to take advantage of these airline specific benefits. After flying 1,000,000 miles on UA operated flights you'll earn Lifetime Gold for yourself and someone else (i.e. Spouse). Additionally, you'll earn lifetime Platinum once you fly 2,000,000 on UA, 1K once you fly 3,000,000 miles and Global Services (their top tier) once you fly 4,000,000 miles with them.

Asiana is the other program to consider but you have to keep in mind that you won't be earning 100% milage credit most of the time, it'll be somewhere between 25%-75% from what I hear. So, yes, while you do have a longer time to qualify (and re-qualify) it will take longer to get there. Once you qualify for an Asiana status level, the status will be valid for a minimum of 2 years, up to a maximum of 4 years (i.e. if you earn Gold at the beginning of the 2 year period Asiana will extend the benefits by additional 2 years). A benefit for OZ is that when you hit 500,000 miles across all *A member airlines (not just OZ) you get *Gold for life. That's a pretty big benefit to earn and means you can get off the annual treadmill the is re-qualification. Once concern I have about this program, and one of the reasons why I've chosen UA over OZ is who knows how long OZ will honour this program. I suspect UA will honour the million miler program for a long time and as a founding member of *A it would be pretty bad for them to re-neg things like this. Since you would rarely be flying OZ, you won't be able to use the OZ specific benefits like seat selection or upgrades.

AC now has a FFP called Aeroplan but I would advise against it. Unless you are flying on a Flex fare or Latitude fare, you just won't earn the miles necessary to hit their *Gold (E50K). They also have a spend requirement for Canadian residents of several thousand dollars per year on strictly AC operated flights. We will see what happens next year when AC unveils their new FFP and whether they'll often any sweeteners for us traitors who have gone to UA.

Keep in mind once you earn *A Gold with any airline, you'll have access to all the *Gold benefits when flying all members airlines (i.e. if you're UA Gold and flying LH one day, you could access the LH Senators lounge in FRA). These benefits include:

• Priority check-in, security & immigration (select airports) and boarding
• Complimentary *Gold Lounge Access (i.e. MLL at YYZ)
• Additional bag allowance regardless of itinerary
• VIP Re-accomodation (i.e. if international flight gets cancelled for any reason, all * airlines are required to put you up in a hotel, provide you with meals and get you the next flight out)
• Op-Up Upgrade Priority (i.e. if a * airline has a full Y cabin, you'll be one of the first pax they'll push up to J to make room)
• Priority Waitlist/Standby (i.e. if you choose or get moved to another flight you'll be closer to the top of the list)
• In Egypt only : A personal greeting from the FA and Pilot when flying MS

To give you an example of this, back in September I had to fly to MAN to start my studies in the UK. I arrived to YYZ fairly early (about 5 hours before scheduled departure) and headed for the business class check-in area on the far right of T1. As a UA Gold (and hence *Gold) I was granted access to the VIP check in area even though I was flying Y on AC. Since I was moving to the UK, I had 2 items to check, which were tagged free of charge thanks to my UA Gold status granting an extra bag. After clearing INTL Security at YYZ, I headed straight for the MLL where I grabbed a bite to eat and booze to drink then proceeded to use the shower. I left the lounge around boarding time and headed for the gate (which was a long trek), when I hit the gate I noticed they already were boarding zone 3, so I went into the Zone 1 line and cut in front of everyone else (*Gold gives Zone 2 boarding on AC flights, Zone 1 with UA), this allowed me to get ample overhead bing space for the carryon bag I had. Upon landing at MAN, my bags were one of the first to get off the carousel which admittedly wasn't a huge deal as I had to wait for a bus to shuttle to get me to my Uni.

Generally speaking, achieving Gold is completely doable each and every year. The key here are flights to Asia which on UA can rack up as much as 20,000 miles roundtrip! In addition, having lived near YYZ, I can assure you that cheap flights to Asia on UA are a common occurrence, just last year I took YOW->HIKG for $850 CAD and YYZ -> SIN for $800 CAD. With about $1,600 in, I hit 40,000 miles on UA. Add another 7,000 miles for my flights to the UK on AC for around $700 CAD (TATLs are a ripoff ) and a couple domestic flights (DTW->YVR for $300 CAD on UA) and YYZ->SJU for $300 ON UA and I ended the year with around 56,000 miles with a total spend of around $3,000 CAD all-in. The way I see it, if you don't fly 50,000 miles per year the benefits of Gold are marginal at best. Buying in to a lounge (be it through a premium credit card like AmEx Platinum) or holding a credit card that gives free baggage (i.e. WS World Elite) will give you some of the benefits of Gold. The real benefits arise when your UA flight from ORD to YYZ gets cancelled and the whole thing turns into a circus. Instead of having to wait to speak with a gate or customer service agent, you can step into the lounge to get things sorted or use the *Gold customer service lane to get VIP service.

Hope that sheds some insight as a Canadian ex-pat now living in the UK!

-James

FlyerTalker70

Sadly you don't appear to the have the miles necessary to earn status on most airlines. I'd recommend checking out WhereToCredit and inputting the previous flights you took (i.e. airline and fare code) which will give you a sense of which program will net you the most miles. In terms of getting benefits when you fly, you may want to look at certain travel credit cards such as the SAS Eurobonus line of cards offered by MasterCard and American Express. These cards come with a sign up bonus of 20,000+ miles for the SAS loyalty program once you hit a certain minimum spend. In addition, the SAS Mastercard Premium which has an annual fee of 1495 SEK/year gives you 15 SAS points for every 100 SEK spent. The card also allows you to book Plus/Business class awards for the number of miles required for just a Go fare. The Lufthansa group also has a MasterCard for Sweden that earns you an annual lounge access pass and a set of bonus miles for their Miles & More programme. Since you're based in ARN, you also have the option of purchasing lounge access at SAS lounges for 239 SEK online.Lufthansa I believe also offers this option.

You may also want to look at British Airway's Executive Club frequent flyer program as they have some wonderful redemption sweet spots (i.e. 8,000 miles for a roundtrip flight on OneWorld which includes FinnAir). Those miles can be earned with certain credit cards in addition to flying BA/Finn.

I can't comment that much on *A membership programs in Europe since I credit and use most of my miles on UA's MilagePlus and AC's Aeroplan. That being said, I earn a stack of miles for these programs with travel credit cards every year. Most of the miles I earn on these programs come from purchases made using a credit card rather than flying, even though I fly 50,000+ miles every year!

Hope that provides some insight.

-James

dbltree

Thanks for the detailed answer! I did consider UA MileagePlus, but it was a bit unpalatable as P fares on BR only earn and count for 50%. For this year, that would take off 15,000 miles from my earnings. But thanks for the heads up about the easy qualification. I had always thought K fares on United didn't earn 100%. If they ever keep the loophole open, it'd be interesting to earn 1K for only C$4k by doing runs between YYZ and Asia.

FlyerTalker70

How open are you to considering other Asian * carriers? If you look at NH you'll generally earn between 100% to 150% milage flying them in PY. When flying to Asia I almost always choose UA's k fare option since I can select an E+ seat for free that lets me stretch my legs out fully within another 1-2 feet to spare (I can literally get out of my window seat and into the aisle without waking anyone up!) I also prefer stopping in NRT/HND en-route to Asia to use the NH lounge to take a quick shower and partake in the sushi and ramen noodle bar! As for K fares, I'm the king of K fares and use them regularly during runs. Most recently, I've opted to do Basic Economy on UA (even though I only earn 50% PQM) since it's hard to argue with a $400 CAD roundtrip fare between LHR and SFO.

-James

Urbanity

Hello,

I am moving to Namibia and I would be grateful for a piece of advice regarding the selection of new a frequent flyer program. I am currently a gold member with QR and will stay with them. But I need a second option (One World is less present there). Which another FF program would you recommend me to sign up for taking into account possible future developments (fleet expansion, new connections etc.)? I am considering either the one of Ethiopian (Gold status from 50.000) or Turkish (Gold status from 40.000)?

I will be mainly flying with: Qatar, Ethiopian, South African and potentially Turkish (however no flights to Windhoek yet and this is a little disadvantage at the moment for TK). Flights mostly within Africa, then Europe and Asia.

(1) What is your home airport? WDH
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? A mix of economy and business Africa/Europe/Asia
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 40-50k, 5-6 roundtrips
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Gold with QR (might reach Platinum)
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge access, priority check-in, fast track access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often: WDH-BRU, WDH-WAW, WDH-CPT, WDH-BKK
(7) Preferred Airlines: QR or TK, ET, SA
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Both

Regards
Radek

florentian

Hello — slightly different question but still on-topic. TL;DR is that I've been living in Zurich with travel to SFO, quite happy with *A. But I'm moving to London and would rather not switch to BA and OneWorld — although I know they have WAY more direct flights out of London :-(

Based on the below information, should I try to stay with *A or just give up? Thanks!

(1) Home airport: Currently ZRH but soon to be London (LHR, LCY, LGW)
(2) Fare types: P and Z for business transatlantic, lot of K, Q, W and S for personal
(3) Miles per year: Around 50-60k
(4) Current status: UA Gold, BA Bronze
(5) Most important: Good reward redemption and priority services
(6) Which routes do you fly most often: LON-SFO 3-4 times per year; LON-TXL 4 times per year; ~30 other short haul flights, mostly Europe
(7) Preferred Airlines: Lufthansa, United
(8) Work or pleasure: 1/3 work, 2/3 pleasure. I can choose my airlines. I can get discount business if going long haul, but otherwise economy.

TanyaHelenaP

Hello, my home/family is in London and I typically travel to Asia via HK (BA, CX, Oneworld), but am moving to Thailand soon, with most travel expected to Cambodia/other South East Asian countries but maybe 1-2 flights to other European destinations and often home.

As TG is Star Alliance, I am considering to choose one Star Alliance program.

(1) What is your home airport? London, Bangkok, Phnom Penh
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Y, U
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? Last year I flew 60K actual miles between Europe and Asia via HK (20 flight segments)
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? No
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Short term membership benefits (basic level?), airline quality and easy redemptions
(6) Which routes do you fly most often. See above. Basically Intra-asian or Asia-Europe
(7) Preferred Airlines. Non-LCC
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Work, but as a freelancer

beach86

Hi All,

I have a flight tomorrow HKG-IST-BRU. I am currently TK Elite with 20 months of A*G remaining. Miles balance is close to zero. I'm looking for best redemption rates intra-asia. Thanks for any advise.

(1) What is your home airport? HKG
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Discount Business
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 100k (mostly OW)
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Miles & Smiles Elite (A*G) // CX Diamond (listing incase status match is relevant)
5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Redemption in Asia (Economy)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often? HKG - AMS.
(7) Preferred Airlines? Normally TK
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Work.

Unionruler

If your employer pays for QR J from WDH-DOH-Europe, I would switch all business to QR and accrue with AA. After all QR has the world's best business class. AA has cheap Africa-North America J award pricing at 70k miles one way.

Failing which I would shift all business to TK and accrue with either OZ or TK. However do note that TK has a large array of deep discount/ discount Y booking classes which don't earn well. TK semi-flexi Y and above earns well with TK, and if you can work really hard for a year to earn Elite Plus (requal in subsequent years is peanuts), the upgrade vouchers would be very good value for your situation. OZ is more if you want lifetime *G for your retirement, though they also have a good number of award chart sweet spots.

Unionruler

My humble opinion is that you are good where you stand.

You will soon miss the ease of ZRH though, it is a really efficient airport. Would you be able/ willing to spend more to fly less K and more LH premium economy? It would make status and mileage running a lot more interesting

Unionruler

May I ask why you redeem intra-Asia economy...is it because you travel during school holidays peak periods where cash tickets are expensive?

Martn_

(1) What is your home airport? TLS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? N/A
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Making economy more bearable: priority boarding, priority check in, lounge access
(6) Which routes do you fly most often: TLS-HAM
(7) Preferred Airlines: LH
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Work

Hi everyone,

I need some help to choose my FFP. I have currently no FFP but as I will fly more this year, i want to choose one.

My current plan for the year is:

- One trip to the US next week (Atlanta and San Francisco)
- One trip to Canada next month (Toronto and Montreal)
- One other trip later to the US (Two cities between Charleston, Mobile and Seattle)
- One trip to China (Tianjin)
- Two or three trips to HAM

My company have the habit to select cheap tickets but I will able to choose my airlines and I hope doing 2-3 trips on premium Eco (fingers crossed).
I have pre-selected 2 FFp based on their requirement for Silver/Gold: Aegian and Asiana, I do not think i will fly any of those but the requierements seems the lower event flying them.

What do you think?

Mwenenzi

What airlines will these flights be on?
What is the fare booking class? [Not just economy generic Y].
Real premium economy will earn better. Be careful you are not booked to "economy plus" or equal:- just an economy seat with more leg room.
Cheap inter EU flights will earn little with any ffp. http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=TLS-HAM...SU=kts&RS=best
Some low cost fares can earn nil or little with some ffp's.
https://www.wheretocredit.com/lufthansa