Best program for exchange award ticket?
 

Hi everyone
What is the best frequent flyer program for award ticket in star alliance?
No matter the benefits in the inside of the airline but I am only focusing on exchange for award ticket? Especially for first class

Can anyone advise which program has least restriction on route, airline choosing, tax, and fuel surcharge. And least miles required


Thank you so much for helping me

If you are looking to redeem on a particular airline you may be better collecting on their program...most airlines will release more seats to their own members than they do to other *A partners.

Taxes and fuel surcharges tend to be imposed by the operating carrier so it 'should' not be any different redeeming on any program

Least miles required - often this is related to the earning miles so you may need less miles to redeem but you will have had to actually take more flights to earn these miles so the 'saving' is not real

Which airlines are you interested in redeeming with and which airlines will you be flying on to earn your miles...this will be key to choosing the best program for you as an individual

There is no one best answer to your question without knowing more about how you intend to accumulate miles (flying? credit cards? purchase? exploiting promotions?), where you are located and where you are interested in flying, the time frame you are interested in accumulating, and so on.

For instance, when we're discussing the USA, US Airways has a better award chart for some areas of the world... but United's/Continental's has better redemption values for others, and their rules for changing tickets are more flexible than US's, plus United has one-way awards.

This statement is not correct.

List of *A airlines that do and don't charge fuel surcharges for awards

Please note that USA carriers as general practice do NOT charge fuel surcharges.

I would argue this statement is not necessarily correct, either, based on my own experience.

I've taken a grand total of two flights on US Airways since the beginning of 2010 (one was an IROP reroute/quasi-mileage run, one was a cheap LAX-LAS flight that I credited to CO- so only one flight, PHX-ORD where I credited to US).

I've accumulated around 200,000 US Dividend Miles during that time through various promotions- miles purchase, miles sharing bonuses, hotel point transfer, promotional participation, online shopping mall usage, and so on. I also don't primarily fly Star Alliance (my primary program for flying is Alaska Airlines), and the flying I've done since 2010 has largely been sent to CO Onepass. My accumulation has been enough to allow for a "mini-RTW" on US, and still leaving me with a healthy mileage balance for a future premium class award.

Many FTers use multiple programs for accumulation, since there are unique features to each one of them that can make them each useful in their own way.

apologies for the misinformation and thankyou for the correction

The point about which airline earning on maybe comes more from a Europe perspective where some airlines (and this may not be the case in other parts of the world) have fare classes that are non-earning on some partners but earn on their own program (eg E class on LH)

That is a good point. It also circles back to the question of where the OP is based and where he or she is going.

OP's question is not easy and inconclusive.

1. It is difficult to score a *A F-Class award (as inventory is extremely limited).

2. No Standard Award can be applied.

3. Each program earning rate is different.

That varies on a variety of criteria.

M&M for improved LX choices and SQ 77W/388/345 availability.

AC for routing rules/mini-RTW.

NH for US-EU TATL in C comes in at a bargain 68k miles.