Which *A program for me?
 

Hey everyone,
i'm writing on behalf of a new zealander friend now studying in india. He's not a frequent flyer but is planning to travel to the US on lufthansa this year and NZ in 2010. Which program would be best? I think asiania or air new zealand. Any thoughts are most appreciated.
Thanks,
the cluck

Certainly not NZ. Probably not Asiana. Is he in coach or biz/first? Coach, UA tends to always be a pretty safe bet, biz/first is a different story, but with such small amounts of flying, it's all pretty irrelevant.

Sorry i mean which frequent flyer program would allow him to clock up the miles from his two journeys within two years so they won't expire. he's flying coach; also, i saw that for example lufthansa program does not give one mile per mile flown in restricted ecomony. Is that the case on all *A FF programs.
Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks.

Not really. For instance UA gives %100 mileage credit for Lufthansa flights almost all in booking classes. Check here. But then, I think UA now expires miles if there is no activity in 18 months, so it may not be ideal for your friend.

That seems to be correct about the expiration - I found it here.

That's good news for me as well - I only fly *A when I can't get a good enough deal on SkyTeam (I'm in Prague so most of my flights are on Czech Airlines or AF/KLM). I have a Lufthansa *A card but it the points (if I recall correctly) drop off much faster, and as a result I never accumulate enough to do anything with them. Joining United might be my best bet for my limited (but occasional) *A travel.

I would normally always recommend BMI Diamond Club as its definaltely the most generous programme. However LH are taking BMI over next year so we don't know if DC will last. May still be worth considering though as it will probably transfer to M+M at some point with the status etc moving over too.

If you travel on cheap fares on Lufthansa and other carriers, you can only earn 0.5x or 0.25x on DC though, that is the downside. UA gives %100 for almost all booking classes of Lufthansa in economy. All depends on how you look at it and with whom you are flying the most.