Moving from OneWorld to *A - Which FF programme should I go for
 

Hi All,

Business has taken me from MEL to ANU, where I will be based for the next 5 years at least. I am trying to work out which *A program I should go for.

My travel is mostly in first and business class between ANU and YVR, ZRH and VIE with one annual personal trip to SIN. I am also contemplating an RTW in J or F early next year for a bit of R&R and to fast-track status acquisition

I do not want to transit through any port in the UK or the USA, so I guess my "hub" would be YYZ. Seeing as AC require the least amount of miles to get to *A gold status, and that YYZ is a viable hub (there are daily flights from ANU to YYZ), I signed up with Aeroplan, but I am not sure if I would actually enjoy flying AC a lot seeing as they only seem to have J, and no F on any of their routes and my first contact with Aeroplan customer care has made me a bit nervous about my choice.

In terms of levels of service, I would obviously go for SQ but seeing as the majority of my travel will be from ANU to ZRH and YVZ via YYZ, I am worried about making the 4 segments on SQ metal that seem to be required in order to retain status on all *A airlines.

Someone also said some interesting things about Asiana's FF program but I don't think I can guarantee four segments on Asiana.

Plus there are all sorts of reports in the *A forums about *A gold members getting sub-standard treatment when flying on *A airlines other than their own, being denied *A gold lounge access, etc. I'd hate to have a four hour delay in YYZ and then not getting into a lounge because I am with SQ or Asiana.

The other thing I thought of doing would be LH Miles and More, seeing as I will be in ZRH a fair bit and I could also use ZRH or FRA as a transit point for my trip to SIN. Another incentive to fly on LH metal is that they are pioneers in putting broadband onto their aircraft and they are apparently actively seeking new partnerships to replace the defunct Conexion by Boeing service.

Was Aeroplan a stupid choice ? Should I got for something else ? Are AC sub-standard on international J ?

The most important question you have to ask yourself first is: what do you want to get from the FF program you are selecting to join?

Since your future flights will all be business class, NOT economy, NOT first class. Your business ticket should give your lounge access, wherever you go, and you need no seat upgrade request, unless you want to be lifted to First Class from business.

Qualifying *A Gold is not critical for you (If so, Air Canada's Aeroplan is the best because it has the lowest threshold).

If flying First Class is the top priority, or be lifted from business class. You then should look at Singapore.

Minor factor is how much mileage you will accummulate per year.

Based on the info you provided on the route patterns, you are only limited yourself to Aeroplan, SilverKris, Mileage Plus. Since you do not want to be greeted by hostile US custom officers, it is easy for you to choose.

AC is updating its cabins on international J so you likely will be happy with that choice. UA offers more upgrades than AC now (AC used to give out 2 System wides every 10K qualifying miles, now it is more like every 20K, only good on higher fares, Special system wides, good on low fares, are harder to come by--you get two instead of the regular SWU certificates at 45 (if you are in top tier SuperElite only), 75 K, 120K qualifying miles. Since you don't want to connect through UK or US, it does limit you pretty much to AC and SQ and LH if you want to maximize benefits.

As others have noted, decide what you want out of the program. If you are not in top tier Super elite, rewards on AC metal can be hard to come by at regular mileage award levels (but you have access to other Star Alliance reward inventory like you would with their respective programs).

If you fly in business or first, Miles and More is a very attractive program. If you are not interested in upgrades, BMI's program also offers some interesting advantages even if you don't fly BMI much. Check out the comparison chart below.

For someone flying F or C, LH Miles&More or BD Diamond Club would be the best program (and the most generous). But YMMV, of course.

The 4 segment rules is common to OW FFPs, but is not a requirement on *A. (Some top tiers have minimum earn on own airlines - eg LH HON, NZ Gold Elite, SQ PPS - but these FFPs all have other means to attain *G status.)

I wouldn't worry about the lounge access thing. Other than UA/US elites on domestic USA itineraries (who don't have lounge access), access generally works better on *A than on OW in my experience. The few cases that keep cropping up on FT are exceptions rather than the rule.

One Landside Transit at YYZ in the middle of January and you will soon appreciate how wonderful LHR is :D

Even better from May 2008 when virtually all your Business destinations will be One terminal with Fastrack facilities, no immigration and no customs unlike YYZ.

One Landside Transit at YYZ in the middle of January and you will soon appreciate how wonderful LHR is :D

Even better from May 2008 when virtually all your Business destinations will be One Terminal 5 with Fastrack facilities, no immigration, no baggage collection, no busing, and no customs unlike YYZ.

As much as I love my adopted country Canada, nothing in the world would make me switch from OneWorld to AC and Toronto transits:td: They make even MIA seem acceptable.

I have seen horror stories about Canadian customs elsewhere on FT, but I hoped these people were just unlucky. :)

The problem is getting out of ANU. Apparently the only daily, scheduled airline flights out of ANU take you to MIA, several other US ports and YYZ.

I thought I could get from ANU to SXM quite easily and fly from there to CDG and then onwards to ZRH, VIE and SIN as needed but it would involve KLM, thus not help with *A.

The least complicated way, using *A that I can see is ANU - YYZ -ZRH.

All of AC's ops are now all in one terminal, so there's no longer a need to do the Terminal 1 <-> Terminal 2 shuffle.

You could always try BD. BD fly a service down to ANU which would then mean connecting through to ZRH or VIE if that were your final destination.

BD for the time being offers a fantastic programme although within the next 12-18 months I expect we will all be converted across to Miles and More once LH buy the rest of the airline out.

Looks like you missed a very important part of the OP's message:

> I do not want to transit through any port in the UK

Or does BD fly with 5th Freedom rights from ANU to a 3rd country port?

cheers,

Henry

BD's *A program is great, AFAIK there's no requirement to fly their metal.

One-way awards, co-pay awards, low *G qualification, RDM-earning multiples of up to 6x flown-miles. Very tempting even for UA 1ks.

But they route everything from ANU through MAN. I do not want to travel through the USA or the UK.

I am grateful for the many replies to my post. I have a much better idea now than a week ago. For example, I did not realize that *A don't require 4 sectors on company metal like Oneworld do. This opens many more possibilities.

Since first creating this thread I have read many horror stories about YYZ customs, where people try to transit and have to boot their laptops and allow customs people access to their files!?! That's exactly the kind of madness I wanted to avoid when I said I do not want to route through the US or the UK.

Having some stranger at some airport read my emails and look at my "My Documents" and "My Pictures" would make me feel like one day back in 2003 when I came home from the office and found that my house had been burgled. It's an eerie feeling and I will not subject myself to this sort of thing.

I am tempted to start my rantings about how sad the world has become since 9/11 but I will stop it right there and focus on the topic.

Looking at how *A route out of ANU, there really is no way to avoid LHR, MAN, MIA, CLT or YYZ. I still think that YYZ is the lesser evil in this lineup.

Given the feedback I have received here I will toss up between Krisflyer, Miles and More or staying with AC. I will look at the table Blondebomber referenced and work out what is best.

There always is an advantage to be a member of the FF program of an airline you actually fly with. So if VIE or ZRH is part of your flying, than I would go for M&M. Especially when flying lots of premium cabins. You will easily make the required 100k miles in one of the two years (otherwise check the mileage run threads on the M&M forum).
The problem with Krisflyer IMHO is the low redemption value of their points.

With the opening of the new International pier in Terminal 1 at YYZ earlier this year, International->International connections are now much easier. You will still have to pass through a passport check, but it is a special line that feeds back into the international pier. I haven't read any comments on the process since it started, but presumably it should be much less painful than going through the normal customs/immigration line. (Plus your checked baggage will be checked through -- no need to reclaim it at YYZ).