CharlotteYork

We fly mostly American Airlines but have an upcoming trip from the US to the Middle East on United. Our kids are accompanying us, and we need to decide to which Star Alliance FF program to credit the miles.

I don't want to be left with orphan miles from this trip. I have a Starwood AmEx that we can use to top-off miles if we choose the United program. However, I see it's a 2:1 ratio, but they would allow me to use my SPG Starpoints to top-off the kids' United FF accounts. (But, I take a 50% cut due to the 2:1 transfer ratio.) I also have a Chase Ultimate Rewards card but don't believe a United transfer is an option, and I don't believe I can use my Chase points to transfer to my kids to top-off their United FF accounts.

I was considering the Singapore KrisFlyer program, mostly because I can top-off all of our FF accounts (including the kids') with my Starwood Points, and I don't believe there would be any surcharge to fly within the US on KrisFlyer miles? However, I don't like the 3-year expiration issue.

I don't care about status, and we generally fly coach within the US with some international coach travel. I don't know what the booking code is for our upcoming flight to the Middle East. I looked over our reservation but can't find anything that indicates the code. I know some programs only grant partial credit (i.e., 50%) for less expensive partner fares.

Will someone please provide me with some suggestions?

iruvmattree

Did you already book the flights? If you give details someone can look it up and see what class it is/what it'll earn.

You can transfer your UR to your kids united account if that's what you want. Even though the T&Cs say spouse only I wouldn't worry about it.

Air Canada may be another option; I believe they're a partner of start points.

It's really going to depend on how many miles you earn on whatever program + how many more miles you need to redeem on whatever you'll need in the future.

emcampbe

Which Chase card do you have that earns UR points? The ones that allow the mileage transfer will allow you to transfer to MileagePlus at 1:1. And Krisflyer was recently added as a transfer partner if you decide to go that route. But note that not all UR points are equal - the card they are earned on dictate whether the transfer is available. If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the transfer is definitely an option. If it's the Chase Freedom, and I believe the Chase Sapphire (no annual fee one), points transfer isn't an option.

CharlotteYork

Yes, I already booked the flights. Which details to you need to look up in which class it's booked? Is it the reservation number?

What are Start Points with regard to Air Canada?

I have never transferred my Ultimate Rewards Points to airlines. Is that something I can do online myself so I don't need to involve an agent should I try to transfer points to my kids' United accounts?

And, I have the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Thanks for the help!

mahasamatman

It should be on your receipt.

I think he meant Starpoints.

bosnyc

I'm in a similar boat as the OP. I ended up crediting to AC as at least I can use points.com to convert what would be orphan miles in to AA (well, technically US as the ratio is much better; I'll just have to wait until the programs integrate, but that's another story for another night).

sooge_sj

Have you considered ANA Mileage Club? I believe they have what's called a family account where you can put the miles of all family members in to one account.

http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/wws_common/amc/fa/

Duke787

I would consider SQ, AC, NH, and AV (Avianca). I would also explore A3 as a roundtrip to the Middle East could get your kids most of the way to lifetime *G. Throw in a couple more UA flights here and there over the next 12 months and you could snag them *G (and by extension free lounge access, even domestic at UCs, for you when traveling with them!)

Even if you go with UA, I would never transfer SPG points to UA. SPG points are the most valuable currency out there and halving them for a UA transfer would be a poor decision, especially since SPG is a transfer partner with SQ (as is Chase UR and AMEX MR which makes them a valuable program).