Hi all,

I will soon be moving to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I have been a member of *A programs (TG, SQ, UA) for years, and -- especially with the prospect of Ethiopian joining *A -- would like to stay with a *A FFP (though I'm also wondering if ST would be better for that part of the world). But the question: which *A program would be best? TG (where I've been Gold for the last several years) doesn't seem to make sense, since their benefits are only really good if you're living in SE Asia.

I expect to travel to Europe a couple of times a year, to the US (West Coast) probably once a year, and will probably have some regional travel around east Africa and perhaps down to southern Africa. Swiss and EgyptAir are both possible for flying Dar-Europe, but I'm not convinced that either program is the best bet.

The things that matter to me in an FFP: ease of getting and maintaining elite qualification (I'm usually at or around 50K miles per year); lounge access, excess baggage allowance and priority waitlisting; upgrades and redemption for regional travel (for the time being, around Africa).

Any advice would be welcomed....

Thanks,
Michael

PS I posted a similar query in MilesBuzz, but then I realized I was better off posting it here....

I believe Air Tanzania is a partner of sorts with South African. In the current *A configuration, South African would be convenient for the trips to southern Africa you mentioned, but in the discussions of which *A FFP to join, SA never comes up as one of the top 3.

I suggest checking the charts in the stickies at the top of this forum, plus a couple of long threads discussing the pros and cons of the various FFPs. It seems like you should get *G on just about any airline with your travels, so lounge access is given, but beyond that it goes down to personal priorities.

All the best for the big move!

Best bet for what you decribe is is Flybing Blue (Skyteam), but that is only nice if you are flying WBC or full economy. KL has 1 daily flight from Dar to AMS and via NBO (which is easy from DAR) you can fly twice to AMS daily.

Your hub for Africa will be probably be NBO with Kenya Airways. Emirates flys to DXD daily so that could also be a possibility.

(I work in Arusha but do not live in TZ (2weeks TZ 2weeks AMS is my schedule)

(if you are working for American Company or Government you will have to fly KLM)

Not all American companies subscribe to the Fly America Act.

I believe that it is always a good idea to join the program of the airline you are actually going to fly.

Failing this, which class are you flying? If you are in business or first, I would recommend joining M&M. This will get you all the things you need.
If you are in economy I would recommend staying with UA which gets you everything except for lounge access in the US.
And if you really need a program which makes it easy to qualify for *G, then check out OZ and TK.

But most do not want staff to travel with a stopover in Africa. KLM flies direct to AMS from DAR. Hence also the hi-prices from TZ compared to NBO.

All other airlines make stops in africa or the middle east or are not daily.
Swiss (via NBO)
Ethiopian (via ADD)
Emirates (via DXB)
BA not daily

I myself are not allowed to fly when under contract with any other the KL (even if they are more expensive).