Loyalty vs Cheap fare
 

Hello All,

I live in northeast USA and fly to India frequently on business class. So far, I have ended up choosing the most economical fare available at the time and hence I have flown Emirates, Etihad, BA and Qatar business class. Cost of one ticket ranging from 2500 to 4000 USD.

I have always wondered if it's cheaper to stick to one airline and rack up the miles or is it just overall cheaper to pick whichever is the cheapest ticket?

Thank you for your responses!

Will be highly dependant on individual circumstances.

If I were flying paid J, I'd probably just stick with lowest fare assuming all of the J products are adequate, as the four you list are. The benefits of "loyalty" (status) come into play most when you're flying Y. If you're in paid J, you already have access to the elite queues, a lounge, etc. Status gives you a few other nice-to-haves like better phone support and a few bonus miles, but I'd never buy a $4000 ticket if a satisfactory $2500 ticket was available just because of miles/status.

I've flown U.S.-India J on BA and Emirates. It was about the time I started doing this that I discovered that Alaska Airlines (AS) was a nice place to dump the miles. They have pretty solid class-of-service bonuses, although I do not intend to redeem J awards to India - I'll use the awards for elsewhere in Asia. (I don't know what their India award chart looks like and I know they're *not* a good option for redeeming EK.)

Part of me wants to try Etihad on my next trip just because, but I'm sure in the end I'll book Emirates again.

A good approach is to spread your loyalty around, and then buy on the cheapest fare.

Yes, it will take longer to get status in each. BUT you will find that status in MANY offers more benefits in the long run. And as you fly long haul to India in C frequently, I don't imagine it will take you very long at all to get good status in several carriers.

When I first started out as an FF, I signed up for every single program on every airline that did my routes..but did not always book on a specific one more than others. It was all priced based at first. After about 2 years I had at least mid range status on all of them, and higher tier on one or two of them. At that point, I then began pouring my efforts into single carrier loyalty..but on the odd occasion when my carrier of choice was not the very best option, I would go for one of the others and had enough status to make it at least comfortable..maybe not get a status UG, but buy up for cheap enough from my mid-tier.

​​​​​​​Thank you for your detailed reply.

I agree with you - it just seems like just being loyal to a brand will not really give me a 1500 hundred dollar discount (assuming I bought a 4K ticket for 2500).

But I did notice that some airlines are aggressive with their loyalty bonus. For example, I flew Emirates business class (paid) one year and the next two times within that year I bought the cheapest economy ticket on Emirates to India. Both times I was upgraded on the longest leg to business just because my first business class ticket got me into the elite status. The downside of this is it's not guaranteed every time, like in case the flight is full. Both times it was a pleasant surprise but I wasn't banking on it.

Etihad is quite good but they have this bizarrely thick and heavy seat belt which gets cumbersome when you sleep.

I would rate my favorites in this order - Qatar, Emirates, Etihad, BA (taking comfort, flat beds, food, service, lounges into account)

This does make sense. Right now I am spread out on those four carriers but I do notice that the elite status needs a higher tier booking within at least 2 years to maintain it. Have you always gotten upgraded from mid-tier if you maintained elite status? I have only either bought cheapest business class or cheapest economy - no mid-tier. My fear is to pay the extra and not get upgraded.

How frequently are we talking here? If it's only two or three times a year I'm not sure it's worth trying to get status. On the other hand, India is far enough that one might not need that much spending/flying to get some form of lower-end status.

I meant mid-tier status in the program. Say Gold..between silver and platinum. I have gotten upgraded occasionally as a gold. Depends on the flight.

Another suggestion is to pick an airline that belongs to an alliance. That way, you can use your status from one airline on a partner airline. For example, One World. I have high status on AA, but I can use benefits on Cathay Pacific flights

If you always fly business there isn't much of a point to status. It gets you more miles. Miles are only good if you have flexibility. If you don't, then you won't get awards.

Upgrades for personal trips are nice, though (assuming the trips to India are for work and that OP flies in Y the rest of the time). If OP flies in business for personal trips too, however, I'm inclined to agree.

The problem is you don't always get upgrades on domestic flights. Delta flyers are complaining about first-class being sold out (to paid tickets) many times. Don't know situation on AA. AS might be ok but they have nothing in the northeast. For domestic it is just the free checked bags and free drink in economy.

The only benefit of status when flying business internationally if if you have really high status and get to use first-lounges (presuming the airport has them)

Sereisina Welcome to FT

For me the money is more important than ff miles. For a few % may chose one airline over another. Anyway schedule is first on my list when selecting flights.
Flying business class you are getting many of the benefits of ff status.

Of those 4, Etihad, BA and Qatar are all ff partners of AA. Emirates & BA are ff partners of Alaska AS. So you could have been earning AA or AS ff miles/status.

As this is FT, did you earn any ff miles for all those trips. I note you earned & had/have EK status. [Here on FT is a crime to fly and not earn ff miles ;) :( ]

Welcome to FlyerTalk, Sereisina. There's a lot of good advice in this thread already.

Elite status matters a lot when you're buying coach tickets but less so when you're paying for business. That's because a lot of what high tier elite status provides-- lounge access, premier queues, economy-plus seats on airlines like UA, and a chance at an upgrade to business class-- is part of the package in business. For an economy flyer these make a huge difference in travel comfort and can easily be worth several hundred dollars per international roundtrip. For a business flyer the difference you're left with is... what? a points multiplier and premier customer service phone lines. It's hard to see these as worth paying $500-1,000 more to fly one airline versus another.

That said, when you see similar fares across airlines with acceptable seat comfort and schedules, it does make sense to focus your travel with one airline-- or within one alliance-- for the benefits. That's especially important if you're also making a lot of coach trips, where elite benefits make a big difference in travel comfort as noted above.

Welcome to Flyertalk ,Sereisina
You are getting some good suggestions. I might also add that some Frequent Fliers have chosen to become "Airline Agnostic" and choose whichever flight/budget/class of service best suits their needs.

I travel to India at least 7 to 10 times a year.. all on OW.
Miles in one account (AA) is very nice when traveling with my wife for fun (J and F only for her.. and me)
I have found fares usually hover around $2000 to $3000 for trips to India
But you have to do what you feel is best for you,