whatitsworth

Hi there,
I'm registered with Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, because I am flying with both airlines occasionally (mainly Lufthansa 'till now, but I got TK flights scheduled for next year). I was just surfing around and realized that I'd have a chance of achieving a status if I used Asiana Club or EgyptAir Plus instead.

Asiana Club requires 40k miles or 50 Asiana segments for *A Gold status. The time period seems to be 24 months (WHAT?!).
With EgyptAir Plus, you need 30k miles for Silver status (apparently without a time limit) and another 30k within 24months after achieving Silver for Gold.

Now, I thought, TKs 40k miles in 12months were a good deal. Whatever.

Can any of you experts out there advise me on whether or not I should switch to one of those two programs, and which one is better?
I'm looking at earning rates on *A partners, ease of redemption for awards, surcharges and award ticket cost. Is there anything else there is to know about the programs?

Hope someone can help me, and maybe knowing about the programs helped someone here too...

Thanks!

djjaguar64

TK's program is really good, why complicate matters.. Asiana's burn rates are bad I read somewhere.

If you search you will prob find past threads on the same topic.

Best Star Alliance program for the the not-so-frequent-flyer
Need advice on which *A FF scheme to join? - please post here

yauee

my brother in law choose Asiana because of their Diamond plus program
Qualifications
Accumulation of 100,000 miles by boarding Asiana Airlines or Star Alliance flights, or boarding 100 Asiana Airlines flights for within 24 months from the base date*
Accumulation of 500,000 miles by boarding Asiana Airlines or Star Alliance flights, or boarding 500 Asiana Airlines flights from the date of subscription

Fabo.sk

as always, check first whether your typical flight actually earns something in the other programs.
I've briefly considered going for other *A programs ISO M&M, but found too many of my flights wouldn't earn anything at all in the likes of A3 and TK

rbAA

I seldom fly on *A as I have concentrated on AA for the EXP benefits. Now that those benefits are becoming more tenuous, in exploring other options, I decided on OZ as I had an OS P RT BKK-VIE-LAX this past Sept and needed to put it somewhere, other than UA. Subsequently, I did a match to UA 1K, but doubt that I can justify maintaining it beyond 2019 as their UPG's and other benefits are just as non-existent. So, I prefer the 24 month qualification as well as 24 months of status. It should be no problem getting *A Gold and mantain it, with DIA a possibility if the premium fares keep coming as they have.

OZ's award chart is similar to other *A carriers, though I haven't redeemed for anything yet. Carefully check the fare you are buying BEFORE you ticket, as OZ is somewhat restrictive, though again, similar to the other *A carriers.

Since I'm located in BKK, using iCN to fly to the US isn't so bad, especially since there are really no nonstop BKK-US options anyway and most of my flights either go the long way (QR via DOH, OS via VIE,) or are One World (CX and AA) via HKG.

Lifetime *G status after 500k also looks doable and valuable, if just for lounge access and priority checkin and boarding.

whatitsworth

Thanks. I checked, it seemed to earn a few miles less, but the low qualification threshold more than compensates for that. So I think I'll just switch and hope that Asiana doesn't go bankrupt

whatitsworth

Hi there!
I have a lot more flights coming next year, so I was wondering how to reach Star Alliance gold status in 2018 as fast as possible. I stumbled upon Asiana Club and EgyptAir Plus, both seeming pretty attractive. So, what is your opinion on reaching *Gold in 2018? It would be great if you could name your favored program and provide a basic outline. Thanks!

sol95

Why are you starting another thread on what is essentially the same topic?! Your previous thread has enough info in the replies there, I would've thought...

Star Alliance FFPs: Asiana Club vs EgyptAir Plus vs Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

If the information you're after is not supplied there, be specific instead of starting another thread asking the same general question...

zeer0

Do you have a large family of up to 5 people that also flies and wouldn't mind you collecting their status miles? If yes, do Egyptair. They let you pool tier miles into one person's account and get status that way.

If not, don't bother with Egyptair.

zeer0

If you're flying discount Y, consider Asiana Club as requiring 80k miles, because you'll only get 50% credit on most carriers. Also, avoid the LH group entirely. The discount economy fares earn 0%.

akl_cat

If you are after easy *G status - why would you choose OZ over TK or MS?

To maintain *G with TK you need 37.5k miles in 24 months (not 12 months as you stated), that is less than OZ's 40k.
With MS that is only 30k over 24 months to maintain.

Of course, if you are after lifetime status, then OZ is the clear winner of the three (but if you are concerned of them going bankrupt would you want to put your lifetime eggs in this basket after all?)

garykung

Before that, there is a fundamental issue - a lot more flights coming next year does not translate to a status. In short - an elite status is based on qualified flights.

So the best way to earn a status really depends on how you travel. Unless you know that, it will be immature to pick a program.

FWIW - some people can earn a mid-level status simply by traveling on 1 RT.

djjaguar64

You have to FLY!

dvs7310

I'm sure it was already asked in your other thread, but what carriers will you fly and what kinds of fares? You could for example fly 200,000 miles next year on heavily discounted TG economy fares and not earn a single mile in most, if not all programs, so the information you provide is too vague for anyone to help you.

whatitsworth

Thanks for the replies. I figured the last thread was pretty specific and unhelpful to most people, whereas I had the impression that a more general discussion on *A FFPs in 2018 might appeal to more people. So, If you prefer other programs, please feel free to name them!
For the personal part: I fly on pretty much any airline that offers a cheap fare on my route (Middle Europe to US East Cost). And yes, most of my flights are discounted economy, which is why I always try to check the booking class beforehand. It's also the reason I am searching for a program with low mileage requirements. For me, the FFPs with segment requirements are mostly a bad option, because they only earn qualifying segments on a few airlines and not the whole *A.

Also, I had the impression, that compared to most US and EU carriers, Asiana has pretty good burn rates for upgrade and flight awards.