ge44723

So, I should start by saying I am not a newbie to travelling, but most of my travel is for work not pleasure. When i travel abroad, I usually either use miles or travel in business because work pays for it.

So I was shocked when i started to plan a trip for myself and family members and realized that I would not accrue miles on some of the discounted flights on star alliance carriers.

I am a US Frequent Flier, Silver (used to be Platinum, then Gold, now don't travel as much), and am planning a trip for me and my family in economy from JFK to MUC, with a return from either Krakow or Warsaw to JFK. Looking up flights ,the cheapest tend to be AirBerlin, followed by a mixed bag of others. Being a good *A boy, I tried to stick to the partner airlines. But then when I did some digging, turns out many of those fares would not accrue any miles? While some would only give me 50% or 25%? I know I am being naive, but that stunned me.

If I am going to get a pathetic number of miles, and no benefits on the flight from being a lowly US Silver, why should I bother sticking with a star alliance carrier (which have pitiful economy seating, or so I have heard, in many cases, and are pricier), when I can find a cheaper flight on another carrier, which very well might be more comfortable?

Just griping really, but looking at my options I need to decide between Air Canada (which I hear has decent economy seats...my brother is 6'5" to my 5'10"), Air Berlin (nickle and dimes me), LOT (don't know how they are), Lufthansa (hear economy is terrible, and can't choose seats ahead of time), Austrian (but operated by Tyrolean, I can't find any reviews on their or Austrian seats) or maybe British Air?

So if you bothered to stick with me this long, any advice greatly appreciated. We are doing a ten day trip, want to do Munich, Budapest, Krakow, from JFK.

Thanks all.

swiss_global

Generally speaking *A Silver status only gives you (very limited) benefits on your home carrier (i.e. US in your case). So generally speaking, there is little incentive for loyalty.

My comments on the airlines you consider (but others may have more experience, especially on LO):

AC: *A, fairly decent product, seat reservation for a fee except lowest fares!
AB: OW, fairly decent product (especially food/drinks), seat reservation for a fee except lowest fares, uses T8 in JFK which is a plus
BA: OW, keep expectations low since they also have an Economy Plus product (WTP), no seat reservation without status
LH: *A, nothing to write home about, no seat reservation without status
LO: haven't flown them long haul, but short haul is better than LH - sorry
OS: *A, fairly decent product (better than LH), but seat reservation same as parent LH

So I would probably go for AB on your case.

Gamecock

As to your complaint on accrual, happens across all alliances. For example, DL gives you nothinf when flying on Korean, grants no miles. Even for full fare first.

sbm12

They'd be towards the bottom of my list with their 30" pitch in Y.

hydrogen

AC seat selection is free on int'l itineraries. Seat selection is free on NA itineraries, except for the lowest fares (marketed as Tango by AC). You will want to be careful about mileage accumulation. NA Tango tickets will earn you 0% miles; int'l Tango tickets net you about 50%.

To the OP: If you choose AC, what equipment would you be flying?

RTW1

The reality is that for the flights you are booking, deeply discounted economy, the airlines hardly make any money.... so why should they care much about your loyalty.
So if you can get cheaper flights outside *A, good luck to you.

And if you don't want to spend the money or the miles there is not much use in complaining about the economy seating. You get what you pay for.

ge44723

Thanks for your response. It looks like a 77W, three cabin configuration. Because they are flying that from Toronto to MUC until October 26th.

ge44723

I appreciate that. It was more of a surprise, and a gripe. I figured I could gripe to people on here, as my friends would look at me like I have three heads.

hydrogen

Unless you are planning on buying PE, I would personally avoid this 777. It's know as the 77H and has 10 abreast seating in economy. I haven't flown it, but I would think it would be terrible in economy. AC's 77W and 77L have 9 abreast economy seating (2 class configuration). This new product, the 77H, squeezes more sardines in the can.

If you do want to fly AC, try to avoid the 77H. Fly on a 763, 333, 77W, or 77L instead.

More info on the 77H can be found here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...offerings.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...77-300ers.html

ge44723

Ouch, good catch. definitely want to avoid that!

Mwenenzi

US freq flyer miles will become AA miles some time in the future. AirBerlin is a member of www.OneWorld.com as is AA.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...rt-2014-a.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...l#post21165586
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-ai...l#post21165999