Advice on a FF programme
 

Hello,

I would be very grateful for a piece of advice regarding the selection of a frequent flyer program. I am currently a gold member with QR.

This year I am moving to Namibia and I am considering signing up for a second FF programme. I will stay with QR but I need a second option to fly in the region.

I will be mainly flying with: Ethiopian, South African and potentially Turkish (however no flights to Windhoek yet just a codeshare).

Which program would you recommend me to sign up for taking into account possible future developments (fleet expansion, new connections etc.)? I am considering either the one of Ethiopian (Gold status from 50.000) or Turkish (Gold status from 40.000)?

How difficult it is to reach gold status with both airlines? How many business class flights (e.g. WDH to BRU) I will need to reach the gold status?

Many thanks in advance for all the suggestions.

Regards
Radek

What matters is your flying path and booking class.

I guess the flying path

Depending on the fare class of your ticket, business earn between 135% and 150%, once you hit Classic plus, it goes up to 160% and 175%

https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-q...nes/index.html

Use the mileage calculator below to map it out

Mileage Calculator - WebFlyer :: The Frequent Flyer Authority


Based on your flight listed above WDH-IST-BRU, you would need 3-4 round trip business class flights a year. Your *G status would then be good for 2 years. To maintain status you would need 2-3 round trip flights over those two years in business class to maintain status. Turkish has great re-qualification levels for existing members. Economy class tickets are much trickier, with many fare classes earning little to no points.

Where would most of your flights from Namibia be to? (e.g. within Africa, or Europe, or North America or Asia etc)

Also, I would recommend making a post about this in the Star Alliance forum thread on this topic as well to get more good feedback: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star...-here-143.html

It depends on who you fly with on which routes and which class. I dont know about SAA, but I will compare ET to TK here:

Advantage with TK Miles and Smiles is that you only need 40,000 to qualify for gold (Elite), which is valid for 2 years. And then soft landing to Silver. Also, it is easy to obtain Elite Plus (80,000 miles) which as far as I know has soft landing to Elite. That means 2+2 years of Star Alliance Gold. Also, note that TK does not have a fixed accrual dates that follows the calendar year. This means as long as you get 40,000 status miles in a year (could be April to March, for instance) you will be upgraded to Elite member.
Also, as Elite Plus you can re qualify for another 2 years by obtaining 40,000 status miles within first year.
Drawbacks: 0 mileage accrual on e.g. Ethiopian Business class P fares. Difficult to redeem miles on anything but Turkish. Very little award availability in high season/popular routes unless you opt for "Seat Guaranteed" which is very costly.

ET's Shebamiles:
As far as I know, you only accrue in a calendar year. So your mileage qualifications have to be Jan-Dec. Means it makes little sense to apply mid-year. All levels except Platinum are only valid for 1 year. As far as I know no soft landing (Correct me if I am wrong). Also, extremely difficult to redeem miles if you aren't either in physically in Ethiopia or on good terms with your local ET sales office.
Advantages: You accrue miles on all ET fares including their P-business class fares. Easy to get award upgrade availability on ET's flights, even the most busy flights to US/EU in summer period. However when upgraded it is per flight, not per leg. E.g. you can upgrade from ADD-IAD from Y to J for around 35,000 miles if I am not mistaken.
If you fly ET a lot, Shebamiles is the way to go. Especially if you fly ET business class.
If not, go with TK.

I personally went with TK miles and smiles, but since I fly a lot of ET nowadays I am considering changing. Also, until very recently all ET Y-fares credited 100% to TK. That changed, unfortunately.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turk...nwards-31.html

The first thing you'll want to do is see if your QR status will get you a status match with TK.

However the second thing to consider is whether elite status matters much. I've found that there is little to no benefit from *G when I'm already travelling in Business Class...

Many thanks to all !

I will be mostly flying: within Africa, Europe and Asia.

Also, I would recommend making a post about this in the Star Alliance forum thread on this topic as well to get more good feedback: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star...-here-143.html