Which Star member to go for (comp offer)
 

Hello - first post in this forum.

Capitavated by the ukstatus.co.uk offer in the papers. I'm currently Virgin Gold and am trying to find out who's the best Star partner to get status with.

Really haven't a clue. Rationale so far is not United - as I have Virgin for the US... and I'm more likely to travel more to the east. But isn't Thai a bit old fashioned?

Any thoughts - realised this is a broad question - but I could do with some help!

Check out the comparison chart first then decide which benefits you really want most and which airline you might fly on most often.

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BlondeBomber's Star Lounge Guide
BlondeBomber's Star Alliance Gold Comparison Chart
BlondeBomber's Hilton HHonors Rewards Hotel Levels (1 MB!)
BlondeBomber's Starwood Hotel Levels

The guide is great but it only shows top tier so doesn't really stack up Silver and Lower Gold against each other. My question - which programs parachute you down (ie - fail to requal for gold (say sub 10k flying)then go to silver for the next year rather than dropping straight to base) - I know some other airlines do this (Northwest springs to mind) but am not sure in Star (I know UA doesn't but that is it).

Actually, ANDREWCX, BlondeBomber's excellent *Gold comparison chart does cover mid-level *Gold tiers (scroll down from the top).

I understand that LH Miles&More currently provides a "soft-landing" to FTL (*S) for non-requalifying Senators (*G) : see here (but be aware that Rudi also warns frequently that M&M change their rules with little/no notice). From BlondeBomber's chart, it seems that Varig Smiles also do a "soft-landing" to *Silver for non-requalifying Golds.


[This message has been edited by Zinzan (edited Feb 16, 2004).]

NZ also drops down one level if you fail to requalify, plus requalifying is at 90% of qualifying level - ie 180 status credits instead of 200 for gold, 90 instead of 100 for silver.

BD doesn't do soft landings, but re-qualification to Gold is only 38K - perhaps the easiest going, as the minimum mileage is 800 miles per segment. AC is also pretty easy, but given you're in the UK, BD seems to make more sense, as you're far more likley toscore OpUps etc.

You can also credit any extra VS miles (not status) to bmi if you want, and BD*G allows you access to the VS Clubhouse in T4, if ever you decided to drop VS.

A few thoughts...

i am also looking to switch , i will probably only travel in econ, so whatever partner allows 100% earning in disc econ will do just fine, i live in the uk, any thought on which one??
thanks

[This message has been edited by ajinlondon (edited Feb 17, 2004).]

Two other little things - are the upgrade certs generic (ie. valid on any Star alliance flight) or specific to the account you sign up with (if it's the latter I've just made a mistake).

And the second, if I have made a mistake - how do I get in touch with the operator?

jonathan

* UA MileagePlus: UA upgrade certificates are only valid on UA and (some) also on LH flights (depending on the certificates only as standby at check-in on LH flights)

LH/OS/LO miles&more: upgrade certificates are only alid on LH/OS/LO flights (and as standby certificates on UA flights).

I am not aware that other StarAlliance-carriers issue upgrade vouchers that would be valid on other Star-carriers but themselves.

I may be wrong but I think the question concerned the upgrade vouchers issued under this promotion.

These are valid on all *A flights anywhere, subect to:

- it is on a standby at check-in/gate basis
- only Y M B H fares qualify
- not valid on SQ or MX flights
- 2 vouchers are needed for NZ 1/2 and TG flights LHR/BKK

There are more detailed conditions but these have been posted in another thread.

I may be wrong but I think the question concerned the upgrade vouchers issued under this promotion.

aha - sorry.

Will any *Alliance member match top tier status, or will they downgrade you to middle tier?

For example, status match equivalent for QF Platinum on UA would be 1K, but I think they only comp to PremExec.

Also, someone said that Asiana provides 3 years for membership requalification, while some others provide 2 years.

So maybe Asiana is the place to go, if duration is important?

Re 1K and PremEx, that well could happen, hence I think you should more consider a program which only has 1 *G tier.

My choice would be LH M&M as a Sen, but you should be mindful that awards are more expensive on LH, but if you primarily fly in C & F, it is definitely worth considering, along with the 25% bonus. Sen will last year for about 2 yrs v. 1K which is 12 months or so.

Yes, OZ is 3 years, but awards are much more expensive, but you can pool family members into the one a/c and you can requal with only 40k over 3 years (100k initially).

UA does however have definite advantages, including the 100% bonus on UA metal and LH transatlantic. But if you don't plan to fly *A that much, you may find it difficult to requal for your 50k PA.

Firstly, I think you need to bear in mind (if you're going for a supplementary card rather than a switch for your current FFP) that you should make it as easy for yourself to requalify as possible, which would lead you to bmi (38K) or AC (35K).

Secondly, particularly with regard to ANDREWCX's concern about a "soft landing", bear in mind that on the whole * Silver is worthless unless you're flying the metal of your home carrier (there may be some exceptions to this, I think I've seen the odd business class check in sign for * Silver, but that's about it).

ajinlondon - again it comes down to whether you actually mean "switch", and, assuming you do, how many miles you'll fly. If you fly 50 to 100K, then LH is on the whole the best. If 50K is pushing it, then bmi where you have to go through some shenanigans to get full mileage credit on their own metal (search bmi forum for "Mileage Thievery") but get full credit for discount economy on all other carriers (save, I think, some very low ball SQ fares) might be the one.

As ever, it's very difficult to advise on choice of FFP unless you post a little detail about how much you fly, where you fly, and what cabin you're usually paying for.

[This message has been edited by Wingnut (edited Feb 17, 2004).]

Does AA have First Class lounges in the US which are nicer than RCC (like AA's FL's) that can only be accessed with *Gold?

If so, OZ sounds like a good way to go?