Best FF program for around the world trip????
 

Advise needed...
Planning to take my family for 1 year around the world trip!! :) So much fun!
We are buying tickets in business class with 15 stops and have chosen the STAR Alliance around the world ticket.
Facts:
* We have two kids 6 and 9 year (I found that UNITED and LUFTHANSA accepts children in there FF program but not SAS)
* We live right now in Europe and will use our points that we earn for awards in Europe or USA.
What would be the best FF card for us to have? To earn the most miles during our trip. Thankful for any advise

You would probably get some helpful replies in the Star Alliance forum; perhaps a moderator will move it there. [Edit: I see this has now happened. Hope you get some useful answers.]

You could also provide information about the flights and carriers you're booked on. Knowing where you are based, and what your typical travel patterns are when you're not on a round the world trip, would also improve the quality of any advice you get.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks! Now I'm in the right place:D

We are booked on SAS,United, Thai, Singapore Airlines, South African, and New Zealand airlines.
We live in France (French Riviera) and we are traveling to Sweden and USA mostly. We do like to travel so I would like to earn as much as possible so we can leave again!

BMI will:
- Earn you the most redeemable miles
- Provide the best value when redeeming your miles

BMI may be purchased by LH in a year or two, in which case your BMI miles will probably become LH miles. My advice is to redeem them soon after earning them as BMI requires less miles for the same awards versus LH.

LH may be the best choice for your kids, as I don't think BMI allows kids.

Another reason not to choose LH is their mileage expiration policy. Most airline miles now expire after a period of account inactivity, but in many cases a FF account can be 'kept alive' in some fairly easy way (a small online purchase is an old favourite). Miles & More doesn't allow most customers to do that. Overall, I think it's fair to say that M&M is great for some very frequent LH flyers based in Europe, but not so good for anyone else.

If I was fairly sure I'd be visiting N America then I'd definitely consider United.

The OP is traveling in business class, so the better programs will be LH and BD. And if they achieve *G, it is also better to be with a non US carrier for lounge access in the US.

Maybe the parents can join BD and the children join LH. Jetfriends (the children's program of LH) Miles do not expire. If you can get a LH credit card, then your miles do not expire, either.

Try Air Canada's Aeroplan. You will get Star Alliance Gold (ie Elite) status about 35,000 status (ie EQM) miles. Children can join Aeroplan.

Travelling in BC on M&M will get you pretty soon to the Frequent Flyer status (BC= double miles on M&M). No more milage expiration then.

Two good points: US lounge access is often better for non-US elites and LH is good for BC mileage credits. Not at all convinced that BMI is a good option for anyone outside the UK, but I'm willing to be corrected on that.

Yes, there are ways of preventing M&M miles from expiring. But it's not as straightforward as it is, for example, with most US programmes. Unless things have changed then only a German credit card will do the trick that way. And having status, of course, only works for as long as you are flying enough to retain that status.

I agree that the OP should consider Miles & More, but only after carefully reading their terms and conditions. If her/his travel pattern fits, then M&M is an excellent programme. But it's not as forgiving as others and in general I'd only recommend it for very frequent Lufthansa premium class flyers.

I still think United would be worth looking at. Maybe someone can add informed opinion on membership of the Thai, Singapore, SAA and NZ programmes for people based in Europe?

Things have changed. :) Many LH credit cards now extend mileage life, so long as at least one transaction a month posts, though France doesn't seem to be on the list.

http://www.miles-and-more.com/online...nodeid=1920330

I'd go LH and not BD as OP's flying on SA and SQ (depending on lenght of flights the loss can be high!) that have low earning rates on BD. LH will get you FTL status and close to SEN status (*G). what RTW are you buying? Star 1,2 or 3?

Hmm, I just checked LHs earning rates on a few airlines.
On AC U fares (fully refundable "Latitude" tickets) you only earn 50% miles :confused:

He's flying in C so no issue here...for Y tickets UA is the best program to credit to. LH/BD are the two best programs for premium fares.

Interesting, thanks. And phew: good job I covered myself with that "unless..." ;)

Thanks for the link. I didn't get as far as that page when I checked quickly before posting my earlier message, but instead read the information on this page, where they still write: "Unlimited mileage validity For holders of a german (sic) Lufthansa Miles & More Credit Card".

:confused: They need to get their act together... ;)

That's nothing. OZ still shows Varig as a Star Alliance member on some of their websites.... :rolleyes: