Thanks BB, great with an updated chart!

SAS EuroBonus Silver and Gold members will get a complimentary Hertz #1 Gold membership (worth US$50).

I think you should re-post this in the United forum. Probably more luck there.

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[This message has been edited by Patron (edited Jan 22, 2004).]

Wow, these charts and tips are excellent. Thank you BB!!

But as I said in a recent conversation with someone at NWA when I was finally successful with booking some award tickets, I strongly believe that the entire huge, convoluted system is making everyone lose time and money! Think about it, it almost takes a rocket scientist to figure out--let alone pay attention to ALL the 'what ifs,' conditions and rules, all of which are constantly changing--with more internal corruption than some might argue currently exists at 1600 Penn. Ave!

Tossing confusion in the way of one�s adversaries can work for some, but it downright stinks for everyone who is just trying to get normal business done out there. That said, I strive for and dream of a future with far more clarity and upfront presentation of the facts.

For the maze of airline rules and things to know about this or that carrier, I mentioned in another forum that no "super chart" or "family-tree" shaped �map� of all the 'what if's' and rules on this type of stuff exists anywhere that would ever show every one of these little steps we all need to know. If it did, one would need to learn again every single day all the ropes or "roads" with the same level of frustration that one experiences each day driving in Boston! Seems as though miles and airline rule variances are as messy as that city�s Big Dig! Too many loopholes, instant and radical changes, or hurried quick-fix attempts at updates to each and every program... Who can keep up?

But yeah, if you ARE a rocket scientist or you happen to work it like a Master and Commander Navigator, you can still get something sometimes out of this web of industry! I bet such a huge chart would be a great graphic on Gary S's site--or, since the BB has so kindly offered up this excellent set of downloadables on the web, maybe the graphic should go there. The groundwork is already laid out as clearly as humanly possible within those very informative DOCs and files! I love it. (But need more ink and paper)

I just think that in order to accurately depict the confusion and angst of the flying times in which we live, such a map or graphic would probably have to be drawn so as to look like some ancient map of the times of Columbus, complete with dragons and pitfalls along the airline way... All the rules and codes and promotions and mile blackouts could be shown as little islands in some untamed Caribbean labyrinth. And yeah, and in the future, viewers would think some of us mileage explorers had it down pretty good, just as we might think that some ship captains from the last 500 years had some rather worthy knowledge despite of the odds of ocean-going horrors looming on their horizons. But just as when we look at old maps charted by wooden boats, our future counterparts would wonder what it must have been like without the new technology that makes it all so much easier to do in their utopian-like time to come. Think about it! We are like pioneers and pirates who tinker to invent something as mundane as the compass. These docs you present are **** close to that device, but I seem to need a degree in order to delve further into sailing all the oceans. Oh, I'll just stay home and NOT FLY. Much easier on the head that way.

And for the layperson, all of the above and everything in the docs is totally foreign. So would be much of the mileage speak and mileage tips, tricks and partner gigs that we all toss around in here each day. Thus, there ARE in affect, many unclaimed seats out there, and yet the airlines often wonder why! They make it nearly UNMANAGEABLE for the normal soul with a day job! So many hoops to jump through, however, does prove some level of loyalty just because we have to call them back and try so hard to book with them and get past those hoops in the process! In the end, it's like, "Wow, I love you guys!" and yet, all they did was their darn job, with US doing most of the creative thinking!

This brings me to my reasoning as to why I think award tickets should be valued exactly the same as paid tickets:

In my mind, besides being somewhat "free" in terms of otherwise laying down lots of hard currency all at one moment, the only thing left that is good about the std. mileage ticket is the fact that you can change its dates within a year of when it is booked. This leaves little time for those who had to book 330 days out, but at least there are options...for some. Geesh, what a fun time this is!

I�m in for more, and I DO thank you for the charts, BB! They are great.

MM

with the announced changements of the LH miles&more program, per august-1st-2004, a lot of update-work is waiting for you BlondeBomber - sorry ...

(when are you back from Mongolia?)

and: Cliff, if you want to do the Morgenstraich in Basel next year, please be my private guest (Monday, february 14th, 2004, 04:00am Morgenstraich, 13:00 cort�ge, evening: g�ssle (in the streets of Basel), and may be an excursion to the Alsace region the next day: Tuesday, and a Wengen detour the weekend before?)

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited Mar 12, 2004).]

Thanks Rudi for the wonderful invite. I really missed not being there.

I will update M&M with the "good" news when I get back. Glad that others are finding the chart to be a useful comparison tool. I still use it a lot to get my head around which programs to focus on.

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BlondeBomber's Star Lounge Guide
BlondeBomber's Star Alliance Gold Comparison Chart 2004
BlondeBomber's Hilton HHonors Rewards Hotel Levels (1 MB!)
BlondeBomber's Starwood Hotel Levels

Yes BB, your chart is most useful.

I see that on the great comparison chart there are no minimum miles listed for BMI which are:
miles earned:


all UK domestic routes:
600 miles earned for each one way

all non UK domestic flights of less than 800 miles in distance:
800 miles earned for each one way

flights over 800 miles in distance:
1 mile awarded for each mile travelled

Another benefit of the BMI FFP is that it offers cash plus points awards, which only require half the points needed for awards.

Please add it to the chart, Blondebomber. At least I contributed something to the table, which was hard given how complete the table already is...



[This message has been edited by flamboyant 1 (edited Mar 13, 2004).]

My sources: BMI board and: http://fly.to/bmiflyer

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought AC awards could only be used for family (and not transferrable to anyone).

From the Aeroplan Status Benefits, Prestige/Elite/SuperElite members have "Unlimited Gift of Travel Privileges -You can share the riches of your Aeroplan membership with family and friends. Give reward travel to others as often as you like". (Of course, the T&C prohibit the sale or bartering of tickets).


[This message has been edited by Zinzan (edited Mar 15, 2004).]

Since we don't have signature lines any more I am bumping this up for some new comers who haven't seen the comparison chart yet (definitely 2004 vintage).

Thanks everyone for the ongoing updates, your contributions are acknowledged.

Just click on the link. I have posted the 2004 Star Alliance Gold comparison chart at: http://members.shaw.ca/deercroft/starall04.html

For those who want the word processor version of the star alliance comparison chart, click on the link (Word XP-100K) at the page the link below takes you to and your word processor should open and then you can use your "Save As" to save it to one of your directories. Alternately you can right click on the link and it should ask you where you want to save the file to.

http://members.shaw.ca/deercroft/download.html

Thanks Cliff ^

Air NZ Airpoints is totally changing from 15 November 2004. While some details have been released, other aspects including any changes to status and status benefits have not.

Will post more as soon as we can.

A couple of updates:

SK EuroBonus:
"Starting October 31, 2004 all Gold/Silver members will earn 25%/15% more Basic points on every flight operated by Blue1, SAS Braathens, SAS and Wider�e regardless of ticket." (used to be that only Business class tickets (and high-fare economy within Scandinavia) earned the bonus)

LH Miles&More:
F class segments now count triple for status qualification, i.e., segments needed for LH SEN are now 40F/60C/120Y. (used to be that both F and C counted double)

Thanks HV, will update in a few weeks when I return.