Lhr-doh?
 

Well, it looks like I have another awkward trip to try to get *A miles on. Everything going into DOH seems to be operated by Qatar Airways!

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Dr. PITUK

Go to BAH on LH and get the hop; it's only 90 miles.

cheers,

Henry

Thanks for the quick reply. What exactly is 'the hop'? Do people deplane? How long is the plane on the ground?

Do I get an extra 500 miles for an extra segment? :D

I'll look into this option and decide if it's worth a FRA transfer :).

Dr. PITUK

I was just checking... Who operates this flight? It looks as though it might be QR, which means no Aeroplan miles :(. It also looks limited on days of the week, but I might be able to work around that. I hope I'm wrong!

Thanks,

Dr. PITUK

Erm...sorry for the highly technical jargon; a 'hop' is simply a short flight (as in BAH -> DOH, 91 miles). Since, as you observed, QR are the only ones going into DOH, then, yes, you would have to deplane -- i.e., transfer from LH to a connecting flight. Points? Since, as you observed, QR isn't a member of *A, receiving points depends on whether your FFP has a bilateral with them.

cheers,

Henry

The only StarAlliance Airline operating into and out of DOH is LH.
Inbound to DOH:
Outbounds from DOH
StarAlliance Electronic Timetable, 23rd December 2006.

You'll have to either connect in FRA for a direct, non-stop flight from there,
or
Suffer connections by going through one of the above intermediate cities.

I can't seem to get any timetable listing of direct stopping flights via (MUC or FRA) to DOH so I presume you can't buy flights that go through those cities but only touch down to refuel or let off a few pax.

-> The other alternative is as others have mentioned,
fly on a *A carrier to a nearby airport (BAH, DAM, DXB, KWI or even MCT) and try to catch a non-*A flight from there.

LH622/623 FRA-BAH-DOH is the only viable flight that connects to LHR flights:

http://www.staralliance.com/flightSe...eturnYear=2007

Thanks for the help.

I may end up having to stop in Dubai for a day or two. If not, I guess I'll just fly QR direct. That will be 20k miles this year that aren't counting towards anything - ack!

Dr. PITUK

Well, I'm not ready to give up yet!

If you had to choose to credit some miles when flying with QR, where would you put them? I'm leaning towards BMI due to the miles+points. United is also an option for when I choose to get comped some day, and they have good MFU options.

From what I can tell, there are no status miles available :(.

Another option I'm considering is flying with Emirates. Would that change your suggestion?

Thanks,

Dr. PITUK

Well, now you're verging on non-*A territory.
With QR you can at least earn some *A mileage if not status unless you credit to QR's qmiles program.

EK you can earn slightly more through Skywards and depending when you're going get bonus miles from their OLCI and LHR-DXB promotions plus their first flight bonus. Their miles expire in three years and redemption rates can be high - possibly not enough earned from this one trip to make those miles worthwhile.

If you're going to set up a dormant account, I expect Skywards will be more useful as you'll earn 100% as opposed to earning at a 50% rate albeit into a dormant *A account.

Will you be flying Y or C/F?
If Y, then QR has a horrible Y terminal. The opposite for C/F though!

You can earn UA miles on EK MP. QR miles are best parked in LH M&M.

EKs C product is weak if you get one of the older 332 or 777 service. EK is one of the few airlines where an airbus does have a middle seat in business (remember the campaign about 8-10 yrs ago?). EK's DXB hub is hopelessly overcrowded, but their STPC programme is great and free if you are travelling C!
QR should have a better C product, terminal etc.

LH runs the service using their brand new 333s. Note that on multi leg trips with the same flight number, you only get the FRA-DOH miles.

Getting more complicated!
 

Well, I never do things the easy way :). It now looks like I'll almost surely have a couple of days in DXB before DOH. To make it more 'fun', I may then head to Pakistan for a few days before returning to the UK. Pakistan is a WHOLE other question (how not to get killed or bored or SSSS'd in the US), but travel to/from seems to fit here :).

I know that this may be getting away from *A (feel free to move it), but I'd REALLY like to get *A miles to qualify for next year and earn towards a holiday. Given this travel pattern, it may make sense to earn elsewhere, and I'm open to suggestions.

I also have my 9W LHR-BOM tomorrow and a Taj stay which I still haven't credited anywhere :).

Best mileage accrual suggestions are welcome. ALL of my miles are now with Aeroplan. If I can get status somewhere out of this mess, then so much better!

Thanks,

Dr. PITUK

If it makes a difference (it does to me!) I'll probably be doing all of this travel in the cheapest available fare. If there are segments that are worth upgrading out of my own limited pocket, then let me know :).

Dr. PITUK

Then do all of it in EK and blow all the accumulated miles on a C-F upgrade on the DXB-LHR leg, prefarably in one of their new F product flights?

LH, LX, and OS in *A serve DXB. So, worst case, get from Europe to Dubai on *A, and then bite the bullet to get from there to DOH.

As previous posters mentioned, Emirates is another option. They have stopovers available in DXB (e.g., on LHR-DXB-DOH) for little or no extra cost.

By the way, good point on the disappointing C class on many EK flights.