A first time post, and a question for Star Alliance experts.
I reached Gold on TG this year. I will be flying AKL-LHR-AKL before the end of the year, (approx. 24,000 miles) and will be flying the same route probably two or more times in 2002. There are several *A carriers which fly this route, and I will use one of them, economy class, cheapest fare available.
I am told that miles earned in the remainder of 2001 will not count to retaining Gold status on TG. So I am thinking of joining another *A programme in order that the miles I fly in the remainder of 2001 count toward status, and then I would accumlate miles with the new programme throughout 2002 in order to achieve status in that new programme.
Two questions. First, which *A programme is recommended, eg, are the differences over accumulation periods given that I will accumlate some of mileage this calender year, and some of it in the next calender year. Secondly, and most importantly, can I still use the benefits of TG Gold but accumulate the miles on another programme? For example, I am flying close to Xmas, and will need the priority waitlising that *A Gold gives. Can I get the priority waitlisting, but accumlate the miles on another programme? In other words, can I enjoy the privileges of *A Gold at the booking and check-in stage, yet earn miles for a *A programme in which I will have no status? And finally, can I use the complemtary upgrade given by TG Gold on a flight on which I am accumulating miles on another programme?
Hope someone can help.

Welcome to your first post. And SOOO many questions.

To be honest the Star Alliance Forum might be a more suitable place to ask your questions. However for days MOST threads on this Forum clearly do not belong here, and the moderators seem to select a few at random using a dartboard to relocate, so why not overlook another??

You will find some quite superb info here for you:

BlondeBombers Star * Alliance Member Benefit Comparison Chart:
http://members.home.net/deercroft/starall01.html

And be warned as far as I know * carriers work on a calendar year accrual basis, but typically the North American carriers at least allow the status earned in calendar 2001 to be good until end Feb 2003. See recent posts on the "Baht Pass" thread here for more detail on that.

But to answer your questions anyway...

1. As to which program to use for the remainder of this year and the next, it just depends on your needs and priorities. As far as I know, the only two programs which do not work on a calendar year basis are LH's Miles&More and NZ's Air Points. But seeing as you seem to be an economy flyer (nothing wrong with that, of course, so am I ) and that you will only be doing 24,000 more miles in 2001, I would suggest you stick to TG for now until the next year.
Of course, if you could stretch it to over 35,000 miles before end-December then AC will give you Elite (=Star Gold) for 2002.

2. Yes, you can definately receive the benefits of Gold whilst accumulating on another carrier. Simplest thing to do would be quoting your TG number until you check in, at which point you make sure they change the number to the new FFP. That way you'll receive the priority waitlist until you change the number at checkin.
Another thing you could do about the priority waitlist, (all other benefits you only need to show them your card, not necessarily put the number into the reservation) is that you can phone up a reservations agent of the airline, tell her that you're a Star Gold member but wish to accumulate on another airline. Ask her to verify (whichever method she will use) that you're Star Gold then change the waitlist status code to whichever they usually have for Star Golds but keeping your new FFP number there and simply making a note on your reservation, "this passenger is Star Gold, number XXXXXXXXX" (phew! I hope you understood all that, it's very confusing I know)

3. Likewise, you can use your TG upgrade voucher by putting your TG number into the reservation until checkin, but you can ask the agent to change the FFP number after you receive your upgraded boarding pass.

You have to make sure that your boarding pass displays the FFP number of the airline you actually want to accumulate on, because should the computers act dumb and drop your miles, you will not be able to prove that you didn't receive credit into the TG account if the boarding pass says "TG*FFP" when actually you wanted to credit the miles to, say, AC.

Hope this answers your questions, happy flying!

Thanks for using FlyerTalk, as you are new, and may not know, but we do have a seperate forum on the Star alliance. I will now close this thread and move it to the Star forum.

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burkey
FlyerTalk Miles Moderator
MilesBuzz
American Airlines
[email protected]
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You could also ask UA MP for a comp to PremEX (also *gold) for next year, and get the double miles for your two flights next year.
Also you might want to check the mileage-run forum and get some info on the Baht-Run. Maybe it is worth it for you to get top tier status- on whatever program you choose.

Varig's programme (Smiles) upgrades you based always on your latest 12 months. If you start accruing miles now they'll always look back how many miles have you flown in the last 12 months and oooops you earn a status for the remainder of the year plus next year.

Varig similar to Lufthansa's once you get to their top level (Diamond/Senator) you become *A Gold for two years.

I do think Varig and Lufthansa excellent programs as they enable you to accrue miles toward upper levels at anytime and always count your best performance. Others, unfortunately, count from Jan to Dec.

Pay attention to additional bonus some Progrs offer you (LH namely) as sometimes their awards are also more difficult to get as they require more points. LH is specially designed for Business and First Class Passengers.

Thanks very much for the tips. Very, very helpful.

Additional comments from the peanut gallery: I think it all depends on what you want to do with the points. Status is one thing, but if you intend to, for example, redeem points to upgrade one(or more) of the 2002 AKL-LHR trips then obviously you will want to stick with the one FFP (I assume TG allows you to upgrade TG metal with TG miles?). Or perhaps you might like to use your miles for an award somewhere - if you are based in AKL, then you need to think about where you want to go. NZ obviously gives you the best coverage out of AKL, but I wouldn't go with Air Points until they re rejigged their program(if). You could go with UA, who fly out of AKL and will allow you awardson NZ, with the additional benefit of the 100% bonus miles once you reach 50,000 miles flown in a (calender) year.

If all you want is status though, I'd stick with TG - at least all your miles are in the one plaace, which at the end of it all ensures at least a decent TG award ticket somewhere.

*however*

watch for caveats on earning points, such as with UA only giving 70% mileage credit for AN & NH flying and LH Y flights apart from transpac.

Welcome to the * forum.

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RichardMEL, UA 1K
A Star Alliance Member.

Hey Richard,

What is so bad about airpoints. Although I would be the first to admit that you could say "alot" unless you were a gold elite.

But anyway, my comment is that while NZ may look good at allowing Y->C upgrades for only 60,000 points return, unless you are a gold (well really you need to be a gold elite) your chances of getting an upgrade on NZ1/2 (AKL/LHR) are very very slim due to the high paid load in C on that flight and the number of NZ*Es using points/certs on that flight.

Mark

Well my understanding of Air Points (limited, I grant you) is that it is like the current AN system, whereby Y gets 70% credit for anything but full fare, and other dodgey type things like this. To compare, a program like UA Mileage Plus is great with 1:1 credits (for most flights), minimum mileage of 500 etc etc and others like LH Miles & More, as Rudi points out many times, is great for paid C/F travel as the bonuses are impressive 2x/3x but also count towards status.

Also as you point out if NZ1/2 is the prime route you want to upgrade on, and it would be nigh on impossible to get an upgrade seat, then the points earned may well be useless for the requirement--so better to look elsewhere, IMHO.

Of course, your mileage will vary

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RichardMEL, UA 1K
A Star Alliance Member.

Richard,

Yep, UA is great, but only really if you are a 1K and you get the 6 SWU's. And if I flew enough to be 1K I would switch in an instant. Although will admit that I use UA for flights such as ORD/MKE or SAN/LAX that rack up the 500 mile bonuses.

LH is best if you pay for F/C.

And NZ is great when you are a NZ*E and are sitting on 55% comped upgrades for international flights and 100% for flights over 4 hours!

But yes 70% rule is a pain, ever since they joined *A the programme has been heading backwards. Used to be 100% credit, points for class of service travel rather than paid for and the like.

I have yet to find anything positive about AN!

Swings and round-abouts.

Mark