Aussienarelle

I find it interesting no one has suggested SQ. I find them fantastic to fly but I am not sure how they reward top tier travelers.

kb1992

SQ? SYD-SIN-EWR? That's an interesting routing

ani90

With the amount of flying you plan, you will be star gold regardless of which star airline(s) you fly and which program you credit your flights. The question for you should probably be which Star program you pick (or whether you should pick oneworld instead). If you and family will be flying a lot of domestic US flights (that are not part of your international P itinerary, then mileage plus may make more sense). If, however, most of your flights are international then you should probably look more at comparative benefits to you of the individual programs (mileage plus still ranks very high for many travelers) and also consider which airline you are likely to use the most (as there will be unique advantages of having top tier on that airline).

jsloan

SFO is fairly near the great circle. SIN… isn’t. A map from Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper

FrequentFlyerGlobal

If only Singapore wasn't out of my way, with UA it's about 20 hours with the connection via LAX. Going VIA Singapore is 30 hours. I also remember taking the old SQ21 service from Newark to Singapore in the glorious A340-500 and I was jetlagged for weeks, which for me it's a very rare occurrence to being jetlagged for over 24 hours.
It's a very good carrier, with a good but very complex frequent flyer program.

chleonard

I can't speak to GS (I've never come close to qualifying) but as a fellow non-US resident based in Europe, I'm not really chasing status at this point beyond Gold for the Star Alliance benefits. CPUs aren't any good if you're not taking domestic flights and the other benefits aren't really worth much.

LOL I'm sorry, but "most" employers do NOT pay for J for non-C suite employees. I've flown probably hundreds of work flights over the past 15 years to all corners of the globe and not once has someone else bought me a J ticket. I fly J all the time but I have to upgrade or cost-construct with my own money to get there, and every other person I know (in a variety of industries) is in the same boat. It's just the way business travel is these days unfortunately.

commaspace

They make you sit 15 hours in coach? International flight over 5 hours in J is pretty standard for large corporations. Nobody would go otherwise. Like you, I have never talked to anyone flying for business 15 hours in coach. Gnarly.

Lomapaseo

So who the heck is using up all those J seats TATL. ?

whitewave

Did I sit next to you last week to SFO? lol.

chleonard

Yup, which is why i go out of my way to avoid travel, likely to the detriment of my career. We can in theory get business for very long (14+ hours of travel) but it requires very high-level approval and is extremely rare. Every employer in my field is this way now, including some very well-known tech companies. The pay is extremely good but the travel policies are a joke. Definitely looking forward to retirement and never taking a business trip ever again.

I would seriously love to know who these large corporations are that have such generous travel policies...

You don't have to be a business traveler to fly in business class - many people are willing to pony up the extra cash for personal travel. Not to mention all the mile/PP upgrades, last-minute TOD upgrades, non-revs, etc.

SFO_LOW_CLOUDS

If you have to ask, no. Not worth it.

- 1K for 10 years

prestonh

United builds/targets its business on corporate contracts with deep discounts on J (and PE/Y). Perhaps your company does not have a contract/does enough travel to merit one and thus pays published rates..

Companies are varied, depends on the work. Some contracts/positions allow it, some don't.

upgraders and NRSA obvs /s

If it makes you that miserable, apply to a company with a travel policy to better meet your needs?

chleonard

And those wonderful companies thar give everyone J are who exactly? The fact you didn't actually name a few makes me question how common they actually are now. Yes J was way more common 10+ years ago but that is not longer the case.

Aussienarelle

Been a decade since I worked in corporate America but the travel policy at the F300 was 12 hours plus and required sign off by the CFO. One destination was 10 hours and I would not travel there until they agreed it could be business class.

Have had many public company clients over the years and unless the traveler was in the C suite it was coach for all international travel - no exceptions. That is a killer on red eyes. It is why most of the employees would only fly out Mondays and return on Fridays.

chleonard

That's in line with what I've seen, thank you for proving my point.