What is the best FF Program for Me? (Long Question)
 

What is the best FF program for me? :) How many threads are there on this topic? ^ ^ ^

Most of them are answered – what carrier do you fly the most and what class of service. I know those questions, so would like to turn this around by saying – I think this is the best FF program for me – but should I really choose something else.

The two FF programs I am leaning towards is 1st SQ and 2nd UA.

My current background is I have been using the Air NZ scheme. But as they look more inward who only travel on their planes (not code share or *A) it is getting increasingly more frustrating to be a member of their scheme as I don’t live in NZ. It seems that every couple of months they put up the redemption levels but they are not putting up the earn rates.

For those not familiar with Air NZ – they don’t earn or burn miles – they have what they call Airpoints Dollars which you can use as cash for cheap flights – ie buy a $500 ticket with a credit card or Airpoints – no difference. It means that every seat on their plane is available for frequent fliers – its just how much are you willing to spend for it.

Some examples of the increases. I earn 150 Airpoint Dollars for an SQ flight from Melbourne to Singapore. Which is approximately 3743 miles. It use to take 90 Airpoint dollars to upgrade from economy class to business trans Tasman (MEL – CHC) on a two class plane. (approx cost 2245 Miles). This has recently been increased to 200 airpoints (cost equiv 4990 miles) but I still only earn 150 Airpoints, for the 3743 miles.

One question you may have in reading this is why am I still with Air NZ. Well – a couple of years ago when they first converted to Airpoint Dollars, the earn burn ratio wasn’t too bad. I started building a balance and was top tier in their FF scheme. I have been building up a very healthy balance for a family holiday in LAX around the 2009 period. My flights have been more than first estimated and by the end of this year, I will have more than enough for 2 BC fares MEL – LAX. Or 1 BC circle Pacific on star carries. I have *G status on NZ until Feb 2008 as well, as I have already earnt enough to requalify for next year.

So after I have enough points for what I want + more for allowing Air NZ to increase the requirements yet again. What FF program should I use? I only have this problem :D as Singapore Airlines allow you to earn Status with them and send your points to another airline.

In terms of what I fly, lets take last year for example. I flew 110,000 miles on star alliance + a bit more on Qantas. That’s straight miles without any class of service or airline bonuses on top. (2005 was 149K on Star Alliance). And for all that travel on Air NZ and *A, what am I with them. Only an NZ Gold – their middle tier, not a Gold Elite their top level, I fell short by the equivalent of 1 return business class fare from Australia to NZ. Of the 110K miles, 67K was on Singapore airlines, pretty much all in Business Class. (A few SIN-KUL in First.)

I looked at Thai, Asiana, NZ, SQ and UA. And as stated above it came down to SQ being the best for me – but UA being a close second and would like to know if there is something I am missing that should make me choose UA instead.

One other common answer to the question is what is the reward that you most want – upgrades or free flights. When I fly in America, I only fly first class domestic as they are normally part of RTW or International connection tickets, so upgrades don’t matter that much. SQ don’t upgrade often so that isn’t even in the picture. Therefore my main benefit I am after is free flights. I looked at a number of rewards that I would be most interested in. (All Business Class unless stated otherwise.)

MEL – South East Asia (BKK, Penang) (75,000 UA, 85,000 SQ)
MEL – NZ (30,000 UA, 35,000 SQ)

While this looks obvious that SQ requires more points, as a PPS member on SQ I get 25% extra miles per flight. So I broke it down into how many return flights to Singapore do I need to get a reward ticket. It works out to be.
MEL – South East Asia (8.0 UA, 7.3 SQ, 7.9 NZ)
MEL – NZ (3.2 UA, 3.0 SQ 5.7 NZ)

It looks a lot for NZ compared to the others, but that is because of the ridiculous rates they have for short haul business class. If I wanted to fly economy it works out like this.
MEL – NZ [Economy] (2.1 UA, 2.1 SQ, 0.7 NZ).

So for every 2.1 business class trips to Singapore from Melbourne, I would get 1 economy ticket to NZ – if I move to UA or SQ. Or 3 tickets if I stay as part of the NZ scheme. This is the only plus I can find for the Air NZ scheme. As a family we go to NZ once every 2 years, this isn’t high on my list of needs. Plus I could earn one-two tickets using my credit card annually if I needed anyway. The upgrade vouchers I get usually expire, as I can’t use them for family members – if I go to NZ for work, it is in business class anyway and as a family, it would mean four tickets in business.

So what I see are the advantages and disadvantages of each are:
SQ KF – Ad. 25% extra mileage, Companion redemptions available, 15% discount if book online, credit card earning is possible. Good SPG conversion rate.
SQ KF – Dis. Points expire after 3 years. I am already important FF with them. Discount economy airfares on this airline don’t earn points, so disincentive to fly them and get benefits for private travel.

UA MP – Ad. Points don’t expire if earn or burn. Likely to get Premier Executive on UA. Must fly UA if going to America and not on RTW ticket for work. Can earn on Emirates (big plus as their business class is very cheap trans tasman)
UA MP – Dis. No other way of earning points apart from flying (ie no credit card). Bad SPG conversion rate. Their current long haul international business class product sucks big time, so disincentive to fly them and get benefits.


The last few question I have which may change the decisions are:
1) How good or easy is it for KrisFlyer (KF) miles to be spent on other airlines?
2) How good or easy is it for Mileage Plus (MP) miles to be spent on other airlines?
Ie – If I want to get two business class tickets to Asia on SQ – are these easy to get using UA miles? If I want to get two BC tickets on UA – are these easy to get using KF miles. If I want 2 tickets to NZ, are these easy to redeem using KF or MP miles?

3) Any good (cheap) credit card in Australia that can earn MP miles?
4) How bad is Kris Flyer as a FF program?

So in summary, which FF program should I join?

Because I can get 25% extra miles on the airline I fly the most. They travel to places I want to travel the most. It is an extra incentive (like I needed one) to fly more SQ flights than sample other Star Alliance carriers. Should I be sending all my points to Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer or is it better to be *G in two carriers and should I become a United Mileage Plus member?

Sorry for the long question - but this has been bugging me for awhile.

Great analysis, I don't see any incentive to switch from SQ in your case. You might get better earn/burn ratios with BMI now (see British Midland forum for discussions) but with a more precarious financial situation and the likelihood that they will raise burn without increasing earn (like NZ), you have made a good choice. Also BMI doesn't credit SQ flights at the same rate as other STar Alliance in Business and First (only get half the points) so you lose there again.

UA doesn't offer much to you if you don't want to fly them.

Lastly, there is always the adage to join the program of the airline you fly the most . . . ^

I'm not sure if the NZ anomaly you refer (0.7 MEL-SIN to get 1 econ MEL-NZ) takes into account the upcoming reduction in airbucks earning rate to asia?

If flying mainly paid business I'd consider BMI (need european address) or Miles and More. While awards cost more than Kris Flyer, the earning is 200% vs 125/150% (on SQ metal crediting to Kris Flyer) and only need to earn status every second year. For me it would depend on how much non-SQ business flying you may do, since 150% on SQ flights to KF is probably better than 200% to M&M, but 125% is probably worse. (There are other factors like the award zones are different with KF having more of them than M&M - can be plus or minus depending where you want to redeem.)

For UA Mileage Plus the main considerations are how much you'll fly them, and can you take advantage of their cheaper & more flexible awards (bearing in mind availability using MP awards on other airlines is reported to be worse than other *A FFPs).

I think we're in similar situations. I credit some to KF for the upgrades and certain cheap awards but tend to credit more to other programs offering better earn/burn rates. As long as you fly enough on SQ to maintain PPS status you don't need to worry about whether or not make *G on another FFP.

That is one concern I have. Hence one of my questions.

Must admit hadn't considered M&M - will look into that - and get back to this question.

I think I am not rushing into the arms of Kris Flyer as their 3 year expiry just really gives me the runs! And no, not mileage runs!

As long as you have status M&M miles do not expire.

Thanks for the tip KF.

You are correct in saying that LHs redemption levels are are lot higher than SQ and UA but with the 200% earn for business class this makes it a lot easier to earn / burn. They are also not as high as Thai.

Using the same calculations as before.
MEL - Asia - 90,000 Miles (compared to 85K for SQ and 75K for UA)

But with the extra earn rates, this works out to be 6 return flights to get 1 free ticket. (Compared to the 8 on United and 7.3 on SQ)

MEL - NZ - 45,000 Miles 3.0 return trips - same as Singapore.

So what I see, its got slightly better earn/burn rates. And has the added bonus of Children's redemptions are 75%, Points don't expire if I can get and keep status within 3 years. And status lasts for two years. + earn 25% bonus on UA flights. And One International Upgrade (two e-vouchers).

Disadvantage - no ability to earn points via CC in Australia.

One question - for Senator - does the 130K need to be earned over any 1 year in the two year period or over two years?

(Also KF - I was being generous to Air NZ with the .7 ratio. I didn't want to be completely trashy to them - this fare is only available during specials.)

This is why I had asked the question. Even though I had done all this work, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. Which it turns out that I had. I didn't look at BMI as I don't have a Europe address. I didn't look at LH as the 130K to get star gold turned me off - but with 200% earn ability, this isn't going to be that hard to get.

Since you are outside Germany, SEN requires 100k miles in a calendar year (either 1 for requalifying). Both status bonus and class of service bonus count as status miles. Note the 2 upgrade vouchers covers only one intercontinental flight (unlike UA SWUs which cover a one-way journey between stopovers).

I didn't look at LH as the 130K to get star gold turned me off - but with 200% earn ability, this isn't going to be that hard to get.[/QUOTE]

If you don´t have your residence in Germany, you need "only" 100k miles for *G in 1 year (1.Jan-31.Dec). The status is valid for 2 years and you have to earn again 100k in 1 of the 2 years. If you are FTL (*S) (same as Senator), you will get 25% status bonus miles on the distance miles, therefore after reaching 35k miles, you need only 52k miles to get *G. If you are Senator, then you need 80k miles to requalify. Take care, the 25% bonus is only granted on LH/OS/LX/UA/US/AC oparted flights (no codeshares).

One further thing to consider for M&M are Senator companion awards. In case a flight award is on LH/OS/LX/LO only, you will need half the miles for your companion only. The only problem for you is that OS will stop its flights to Australia in March, so companion award will not be of much use to you in MEL.

If awards on LH/OS/LX/LO only are an option for you, the earn/burn ratio for M&M is very good when flying paid business class and redeeming business awards for two using SEN companion award. Say you regularly fly BRU-VIE-MEL-VIE-BRU in business class. Each return flight earns you 49,024 miles. The cost of an award on this route for two is only 240,000 miles. So, flying this route 5 times gives you an award on the route for 2 persons! This would mean an earn/burn ratio of 2.45.

SmilingBoy.