Best FF for South Asia Travel

[rt22]

Hi All,

I am QF WP and TG Royal Orchid Silver.

My travel around South Asia - Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia & Philippines mainly - is increasing. So far I have travelled J Class on QFF to knock over WP.

Now that this is done I would like to switch to SQ (my colleagues/friends have suggested better times and service). I will also be doing a few J class trips to the US on United.

Would love to hear your suggestions for the best *A programme to use. Main aim initially is for Status/lounge access.

Do I pick up Kris Flyer or stick with Royal Orchid?

I'm about to book a load of travel so would hugely appreciate your input.

Cheers.

 

[Fantic125]

A number of people go with the Aegean FF program as it's only 4k miles to achieve *A Silver, then 16k miles to achieve *A Gold (all within a 12 month period from the initial qualifying flight).

I prefer Asiana as it's 20k miles for *A Silver and 40k miles for *A Gold but over a 2 year period to qualify, and then a 2 year period to retain. This way you have a bit more flexibility in allocating your flights compared to only a 12 month window. Also even with minimum status your miles do not expire for a minimum of 7 years, compared to 3 years for some other programs.

It really depends on how many miles you will be able to do within the applicable time frame.

 

[rt22]

Thanks Fanatic125 - appreciate you taking the time time respond - will look into it.

 

[dajop]

Different programs have different pro's and cons, and if flying often enough, it can even be advantageous having several programs to meet different needs. For example (off the top of my head):

UA Mileage Plus - Low taxes/surcharges on awards, generous with upgrades to elites, but difficult to access bus/first awards on SQ and some carriers
TG ROP - Good benefits flying on Thai, but redemptions can be high
SQ - High taxes/surcharges, but plenty of credit cards to top up and can waitlist for awards
etc ...

There's a couple of threads in this very subforum discussing this, drill down and you should find them.

Whatever you do, two concrete pieces of advice:
1) if you are flying J on SQ/MI, join Krisflyer. You can't double dip on miles, but can on status, in that you credit miles to the program of your choice (including Velocity if that's your fancy) , and with those miles accrue status on that program, and at the same time accrue "PPS dollars" contributing to status in Krisflyer ($20k AUD in spend in J/F gets PPS/Star Gold).
2) Stay clear of Air NZ Airpoints - it is the standout star alliance program. In a bad way.

 

[rt22]

Great stuff - thanks dajop.

I believe I can access a Status Match via my company with UA Plus (matching QF WP) but love your advice about Krisflyer!

Cheers,

 

[markis10]

Enrich may be more of an option these days and certainly worth evaluation post Feb 1 when Malaysia enter OW.

 

[rt22]

Enrich may be more of an option these days and certainly worth evaluation post Feb 1 when Malaysia enter OW.

Interesting - thanks markis10!