It surprises me that noone in this forum ever mention the mileage programm of Spanair (Spanair Plus) which is one of the best of *A IMO.

Their point calculation system is kinda stupid, but if you do some math, you can easily find out that it is quite rewarding. Just multiply the points with 2.66~2.77 then you get the picture how much it would be in miles :

http://spanairplus.spanair.es/contenidos/en/tablaSA.htm

Compare the table with that of UA. You need 25k UA miles while 16k(6k points) Spanair miles are required within North America.

Or simply look at the RTW. 200k UA miles versus 110k Spanair miles (40k points). Isn't it great?

Besides, you only need to earn about 27k Spanair miles (10k points) per year to become and remain a gold member compared to 50k UA miles.

I'd love to tell you about Spanair Plus' last details, but unfortunately the Spanair member's guide PDF file is currently inaccessible.

It seems Spanair mileage doesn't expire which is good, and there is no lifetime elite level qualification which is bad.

What do you think about Spanair Plus? Can anyone tell me more about it?


PS : Look at TAP's mileage table below. You won't believe it. I think it's THE worst in the world.

http://www.tapvictoria.com/Victoria-...ines-Popup.cfm

While the lower reward mileage might be an attractive feature, the lack of upgrades and other benefits might be a negative to many business travellers.

See my comparison chart listed below

How do you calculate the 2.66/2.77 figure? In looking at their chart at http://spanairplus.spanair.es/en/con...alliance_sumar
it seems to me that a more accurate number might be 4. (i.e. 6K points is roughly equivalent to 24K miles in UA's program).

While I am not 100% satified with any FF programme I benefit by being a member of SK EB compared to SpanairPlus. I think SAS group should consolidate the 2 programmes to give added value to all.

With my Z discounted business flights MAD-ARN I earn 3400 miles with EB and would only earn 600 with JK as they vary miles by fare class. This is 5.66 x JK.

While I would need 16.66 segments to get *G with JK I only need 13.24 with SK EB to achieve the 45,000 they require for *G other european/international.

Those living in Sweden though might benefit with JK as they would need 20.58 ot these Z segments to get the 70000 miles needed there for EBG.

Another factor that is quite unclear is the earning of miles on other *A carriers. JK shows only miles in ranges and does not define which classes fall into each group for each airline. Unfortunatly today it is madness with all the fare codes.

US now uses a transatlantic fare G that gives 0 miles with SK EB but gives me over 9000 miles with US. Their $50 more expensive T fare gives me 25% with EB but still the same with US dividend miles.

I have switched to a system where I let my discounted economies post to my USA based programmes and my discounted C post to my European programmes.

That said when using points the JK programme does seem to have a little better value on other *A carriers. SK does not offer a *A around the world award either as far as I can see.

But I get the most value for my miles using them for upgrades and hotel nights with SK. 10000 economy extra/30000 C and 10000 miles for some 5 star hotels bookable when I want as Gold member. JK can not compete on the award side.

Why do you take the reduced economy rate for calculations?
You sould take the complete economy as basis since you never get 100% from reduced economy flights.
And then it is *2.6666 at best and *2.77777 at worst.

Yes, it's true that you don't get much benefits from Spanair's elite status like free upgrade coupons.

But when redeeming, Spanair's points are so effective that you can often simply book business class for about as same mileage equivalent points as other carriers' economy calss. The Spanair points are THAT effective.

For Examples below, I will multiply the required points with 2.7 and then round it up for simplicity. So you almost always need less miles than those results.

Example1 : Japan-Kazakhstan
UA : 80k miles economy, 120k miles business
Spanair : 8k economy, 12k business = about 22k and 33k each.
HOLY ....!!! Even first clsss (16k = 44k) is much cheaper than UA economy!!!

Example2 : Japan-USA
UA : 60k miles economy, 90k miles business
Spanair : 15k economy, 22.5k business = about 41k and 61k each.

Example3 : Europe-USA
UA : 50k miles economy, 80k miles business
Spanair : 14k economy, 21k business = about 38k and 57k each.

Example4 : RTW
UA : 200k miles economy, 300k miles business
Spanair : 40k economy, 60k business = about 110k and 162k each.

Example5 : Brazil-Japan
UA : 90k miles economy, 120k miles business
Spanair : 22k economy, 33k business = about 60k and 90k each.

Example6 : USA-Brazil
UA : 50k miles economy, 80k miles business
Spanair : 12k economy, 18k business = about 33k and 49k each.

Example7 : within North America
UA : 25k miles economy, 40k miles business
Spanair : 6k economy, 9k business = about 17k and 25k each.

Man it's even much better than I first thought.
Ok, ok. UA gives bonus miles to its premier members. But only if they fly with UA or LH(Europe-USA). For people not living in the US like me it's of no use at all.

Spanair Plus is a blessing, especially for people living in Asia like me since the bonus table is EXTREMELY generous for Asian Regions.
And ANA's, ASIANA's, Singapore Air's, and Thai's FFP simply suck.

Any opinions?

Ahh, but on many programs--including the one you use for comparison, UA--you do.

Now I see Spanair somehow hates UA. Here is its deal with UA:
*2.5 : A, F, P
*2.0 : C, D, J, Z
*1.5 : Y
*1.0 : B, E, H, K, L, M, Q, R, S, U, V, W

And here is with Asiana (which I fly the most) :
*2.5 : A, F, P
*2.0 : C, D, J
*1.5 : E, U, Y
*1.0 : B, H, K, M, Q, S
*0.7 : V, W

I've never seen any Asiana tickets other than C and Y personally. Anything below Y is really hard to get here. It seems it's quite a different story in such a huge country like the US. Your mileage may really vary here :-)

I usually fly 30k miles/year. Mostly within Asia or to Europe. So I think Spanair Plus is the ideal FFP for people like me. Or if you know a program that would be better suited for me, please let me know.

Thank you

Quite possibly it is a great program for you. Because there are so many little differences between programs, it is really hard to say that there's an overall best program for everyone.

For an US-EU traveler, losing status in UA means losing access to E+. In general, it seems like it best options have been to get status on the airlines you fly the most frequently, since you can get upgrades and other bonuses from them that you can't often get as a partner elite. Having said that, if your flying is infrequent enough to not warrant elite status on that airline, then all sorts of other things come into play.

I'd looked at AC and JK at one point when nearly all of my flights were on US. The ability to get to *G was faster with both of those, but I wouldn't have been able to upgrade any of my domestic US flights. As it was I stuck with US, managed to just squeak by *G, and barely flew in coach for domestic travel for over two years (even on the 8F 757). If I'd gone with AC or JK I'd have gotten lounge access within the US but been flying in coach. Personally, I'll take domestic F upgrades over domestic lounge access, but really each person has to make their own decision.

There's a thread from 2003 where Patron compared the programs as they existed then:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=183976

I know they've changed since, but the comparison is still interesting.

Asiana Airline itself is really really great, but its FFP - the Asiana Club - is simply one of the worst. (But then again, believe it or not, Korean Air's Skypass is MUCH worse.)
It seems there are lots of benefits being an UA elite member, but Asiana offers nothing special to diamond or platinum members. (Never heard of any free upgrades or vouchers)
Maybe it's because Asiana is already very nice to its customers regardless of their membership level. I'm not even a *A silver member, but they gave me once a free C upgrade for Beijing-Seoul track.
Other than those standard *G benefits there seems to be none further from Asiana.

Maybe long flights simply belong to usual life for US people, but they are (still) something special for Koreans. It has to be inter-continental for them to be meaningful. Both Beijing and Tokyo are too close to Seoul (about 600 and 750 miles each)

I have a Citibank credit card which gives me 2 Asiana miles/KRW1000 (USD1 = KRW950) which is very nice. And fortunately, I know a "dirty" trick to legally purchase up to 12500 Asiana miles per month for about USD105 resulting in getting the ticket for less than half the normal price.
Plus, I have an LG platinum credit card which gives me the highest grade Priority Pass as a bonus. The annual fee is about USD52.
In fact, I got that platinum card solely to get the Priority Pass. :-)

So I'll certainly keep my Asiana Club membership and each time I fly I'll make a decision where those miles are to be registered : Asiana, Spanair, or maybe BMI.

cya

I just wandered in here because I've been looking at the JK program the last couple of days. I fly them all the time, but always put my points on LH. You can get *G in eight RT flights MAD-ARN, on Z fares, which can be as low as 150EUR (or so I hear). That's 1200EUR for *G, and you do it all in business.

I can think of worse ways to get there!

The other bonus I just ran across is that I can convert my "la Caixa" points 1:1 into JK+ points! Finally I can do something useful with those, besides order crap from a catalog.

Assuming the MAD-ARN can be via a hub, and assuming it can be done on one of the M&M inner circle airlines then each round trip gets 10,000 points on M&M (or 8,000 if non-inner circle); and so 10 such RTs gets 2 years status on M&M.

Interesting thread. As I've now moved to Europe I'm shopping for a new *A program next year (I will renew 1K next month so I'll be *G through 2/08 anyway).

Bmi and Spanair seem to have some of the most competitive programs in terms of redemptions. I think Bmi is even better.

One thing to keep in mind though is that United doesn't charge a fuel surcharge for award bookings, whereas Bmi does and I'm quite sure Spainair does as well. This negates the miles savings in some cases i.e. intra-Europe routes.

OT but can you may tell me where you find and purchase Z fare tickets from MAD to ARN for 150 EUR? Can't find such prices. Last time I have flown this route it was more like 1500 EUR for a C fare tix. I was never able to find a Z tix� any advice would be welcome.

Cheers
totti