Next Best after BMI

[somebol]

Mighty sad that BMI is going to be M&M in the not too distant future. It is easily the best FF program in terms of burn miles value.

So now that it is all going to end, what is the next best FFP after BMI?

Listed below are some of the features I loved about BMI... of course YMMV
1. cash + miles redemptions
2. reasonable miles cost for most zones.
3. family membership
4. reasonable cost to buy miles.

Is there any other FFP that even comes close on those features?

AA is pretty good in terms of burn rates but buying miles can be too expensive and you are limited to buying a max of 50k miles per year.

 

[adl73x]

For ease of attaining *G status - a clear benefit of BMI, particularly over NZ, the other favourites have been TK or AC. New *G entrant Agean offers *G for 25,000 miles.

AC is known for being dire on redemptions, though, and I think Agean remains to be seen. Maybe, if you want to stick with *A, try TK. Their on board service is one of the nicest in Europe (IMHO).

 

[proskyneo]

AA is pretty good in terms of burn rates but buying miles can be too expensive and you are limited to buying a max of 50k miles per year.

You're limited to buying 24k miles per year with BD as well, but I think that gets you pretty far

I think they also have a few 20% bonus miles on purchases throughout the year - at least this year there were 3 of them so far?

 

[auriga]

You're limited to buying 24k miles per year with BD as well, but I think that gets you pretty far

....especially since they allow pooling of miles with family members!

 

[Aussie_flyer]

There has been no official announcement that this is even going to happen yet.

 

[SeaWolf]

True, but there was a presentation given the Lufthansa shareholders (I think) where it was touched upon. Pretty much all of the airlines that Lufthansa has a major stake in end up as Miles & More airlines. I think it's pretty much a sure thing that bmi will as well. But I think it's probably at least a good year or two away.

Asiana has very low status requirements as well (40k over two years) and if you're flying in economy all the time then the earn rate is much the same as other *A airlines. The burn rate isn't very good, but they do allow quite complex routing with stopovers etc. that a lot of other programs don't.

 

[clifford]

From the point of view of earning on the cheapest Y class fares, you can't go past UA Mileage Plus. I get at least double miles on all published fares and can redeem them for business class seats without too much trouble on most Star Alliance airlines.

Not sure what Continental will do to Mileage Plus, but their current FF program is referred to as (N)one pass.

 

[tyrolean]

LH had plans to integrate the BMI Program into M&M, but this may be delayed or canceled. UK is quite a different market and Diamond Club is just a good program to compete with BA.

So we see it maybe a bit longer.
If it will be integrated it will be quite a smooth process. You will keep your Status. The M&M *G (SEN) is valid for two years.

Yes I know the redemption levels are not so good with M&M (and they will be enhanced further on in 2011), but the program is not that bad - if you fly premium classes, if you fly a year a lot and then not so much (2 years of status).

If you want to have a cheap *G go for Aegean, Turkish, Air Canada.
If you want cheap Awards have a look at US.

 

[modandm]

From the point of view of earning on the cheapest Y class fares, you can't go past UA Mileage Plus. I get at least double miles on all published fares and can redeem them for business class seats without too much trouble on most Star Alliance airlines.

So if you are an annual traveller on Y class from say australia to USA or europe UA milage plus would be the best choice? Would you earn points for this on all star airlines? What about status or does that matter less than earning well?

 

[auriga]

So if you are an annual traveller on Y class from say australia to USA or europe UA milage plus would be the best choice? Would you earn points for this on all star airlines? What about status or does that matter less than earning well?

Mileage Plus would be quite a good choice since miles do not expire as long as you have activity every 18 months. Another benefit is you can purchase some miles to top up your account if needed.

You can earn on all star alliance flights, provided you buy a fare which earns mileage. Some discounted fares do not earn.

I doubt you can get much status if you only do an annual trip, perhaps except on Aegean.

 

[futaris]

I doubt you can get much status if you only do an annual trip, perhaps except on Aegean.

An annual trip to Europe will get and keep *G on Asiana. 40k miles every 24 months is sufficient.

 

[tyrolean]

It depends if you are after Status or Award Flights.

So if you are after Status and you have to travel in Eco
- Aegean
- Air Canada
- UA
- US
- Asiana

If you are after Awards you should stick to
- US
- UA

Still BMI is alive.

Be careful, as some booking-classes do not earn any miles!!

 

[StevePER]

Mighty sad that BMI is going to be M&M in the not too distant future. It is easily the best FF program in terms of burn miles value.

There is an "official update" on FT stating that Diamond Club will not be merged into M&M in 2011, Miles+Cash is "here to stay" and there are no changes planned to redemption rates. (link)

 

[anat0l]

Analysing all of those (information in purple I'm not too sure about):

So if you are after Status and you have to travel in Eco
- Aegean

Pros: Easy qualification. Like, really easy.
Cons: Benefits not much more than *G standard. Award burn is a bit steep.

- Air Canada

Pros: Comparable qualification to BD. Good array of benefits if you fly AC. Decent burn. Plenty of potential rewards if you fly a huge amount of miles.
Cons: Minimum mileage flown with AC required to qualify for status. Earning not as powerful as BD or other programs (although with Economy fares a good array at the same earn rate as others). Status timing is a little more complex to understand than other programs.
Neutral: Miles expire after 7 years. Accounts without activity for 12 months will forfeit all accumulated miles.

- UA

Pros: Good benefits if you fly with UA - even better if you get 1K status (although difficult): SWUs are very useful. Quite good earn and burn - former especially for premium classes. One-way awards and saver awards are possible.
Cons: Higher requirement for qualification of first *G tier compared to BD*G (but about on par with Miles & More on an equal time basis). StarNet blocking, but not a consistent problem. No complimentary access to RCC (or other *G lounges) for wholly North American itineraries.
Neutral: No one knows what will happen when the UA/CO merger takes full flight (pun intended).

US

Pros: Good earn and burn, especially with points buying offers (although these are drying up - thank God!).
Cons: High *G requirement and even higher for beyond-*G tiers. Not an exciting program because US isn't exactly a great airline itself. Except for hoarding points that were bought / shared, you might as well join UA. No complimentary access to US Clubs (or other *G lounges) for wholly North American itineraries unless you are a US Chairman's Preferred.

- Asiana

Pros: Easy qualification target on an equal time basis (40k miles in 2 years).
Cons: Earn is a bit slower than most other programs, and you must read all the classes (especially Economy) which earn either less than 100% miles or no miles at all. Burn is based on distance rather than continental zone, and are a little bit steep for long haul itineraries.

 

[JohnK]

I wish I had got on the BMI band wagon a few years ago but was too slow off the mark. It will have to be SQ for me now as I am not interested in status but rather being able to redeem award flights after earning the miles on the cheapest airfares. Being able to transfer Amex MR points is also a big plus.

An annual trip to Europe will get and keep *G on Asiana. 40k miles every 24 months is sufficient.

By Europe do you also mean ATH?

 

[SeaWolf]

Pros: Easy qualification target on an equal time basis (50k miles in 2 years).
Cons: Earn is a bit slower than most other programs, and you must read all the classes (especially Economy) which earn either less than 100% miles or no miles at all. Burn is based on distance rather than continental zone, and are a little bit steep for long haul itineraries.

Just thought I'd drop in a few notes about Asiana, since it's my main program at the moment. The qualification for *G is 40k miles in 2 years, not 50k.

The earn rate for Economy looks bad when you look at the table, but it's much the same as most of the other programs in *A, it just looks bad because they outline the "No Miles" fare codes, whereas most of the airlines just omit them from the table. Of course, all the programs do differ a little. And the earn rate for Business (125%) or First (150%) is pretty stingy compared to others, so if you're mostly NOT flying Economy then it's not the program for you.

Also, the burn rate based on distance is certainly a con for some routes, especially if you're going from the far side of one continent to the far side of another (e.g. PER-NYC and SYD-LHR) however it can be a pro if you want to build complex itineraries as there is no requirement that you take the most direct route. You simply burn more points if you take a winding circle or open-jaw type trip. For example, PER-SIN-MAD-LHR-ICN-BKK-SYD is perfectly valid, you're allowed up to 5 stopovers. That trip would be 120k in Y or 180k in J and would be impossible on most other programs.

One other advantage is that they participate in the *A wide upgrade program. It's not fantastic value on any program as you have to be booked into generally expensive booking codes before you're entitled to use it, but Asiana has quite good burn rates for long-haul routes compared to other *A programs that participate.

If anyone has any questions about the Asiana Club program I'm happy to share my experiences.

 

[anat0l]

Thanks for all of that SeaWolf

Just thought I'd drop in a few notes about Asiana, since it's my main program at the moment. The qualification for *G is 40k miles in 2 years, not 50k.

Not too sure why I kept thinking 50k. But I did check again and you're right, so I corrected my post.

The earn rate for Economy looks bad when you look at the table, but it's much the same as most of the other programs in *A, it just looks bad because they outline the "No Miles" fare codes, whereas most of the airlines just omit them from the table. Of course, all the programs do differ a little. And the earn rate for Business (125%) or First (150%) is pretty stingy compared to others, so if you're mostly NOT flying Economy then it's not the program for you.

Once again I checked the airline earn table for OZ and you're right again. It matches quite closely with BD's table and other tables, except for J and F of course.

I fly mainly Economy anyway but it would be nice for those cheap-ish F fares on USA domestic to get some decent credit, perhaps for MR or status run purposes. That is where something like BD or LH shine with 300% for F (although the latter's steep-ish qualification offsets this a bit). But, again, you're right - it's horses for courses...

Also, the burn rate based on distance is certainly a con for some routes, especially if you're going from the far side of one continent to the far side of another...

Sounds like all in all a good deal. Too bad all those Star Alliance awards must be booked on a return basis - no one-ways allowed. Then again, one-way bookings aren't common across the alliance either.

I guess those points amounts for premium awards start to look rather attractive if you can pull that much mileage together in time, i.e. up to 35,000 round trip miles in F for 320,000 miles, which even half-blows BD out of the water to an extent. Personally I'd be a little bit puzzled in how would I possibly earn 320k (and probably need double that because I'd probably be married by that time).

If anyone has any questions about the Asiana Club program I'm happy to share my experiences.

How are they to deal with, especially with regards to changing/making award bookings and requests etc.? I'm thinking not that their customer service is **** (it probably isn't, like most Asian carriers), but rather since most of us here are not fluent in Korean (yours truly included)...

All in all, you're probably posturing OZ as a good proposition for me post BD! If you're ever in BNE, I'll buy you a drink and then pick your brains on this one... :mrgreen:

 

[SeaWolf]

How are they to deal with, especially with regards to changing/making award bookings and requests etc.? I'm thinking not that their customer service is **** (it probably isn't, like most Asian carriers), but rather since most of us here are not fluent in Korean (yours truly included)...

I haven't actually made an award booking yet, however I know that it's impossible to do it online and you have to call up. One member on FT talked about having to fax in forms, but I've never heard anyone else mention that. Rest assured though that you won't need to speak Korean. Asiana's website always instructs you to call your regional office for Asiana Club queries and in our case that office is Sydney. I've called them a few times and found them very polite and easy to deal with other than the usual bumps you tend to get with any call centre. Whenever I've had missing mileage (pretty rare) they've just told me to put everything into an envelope (e-ticket and boarding pass) and send it to the Sydney office with a note explaining it and with my details. The miles have then always appeared within a week or two.

In December I booked a ticket on SQ in Economy (S) which was eligible for an upgrade. I used AwardNexus.com to check and found there were no seats, but I kept checking and one opened up about a week before departure. To get the upgrade you just follow a link on Asiana's website which takes you to a *A website where you login using your account details and fill in a form with all your flight details and submit it. I then got instant confirmation that the upgrade had occurred and the miles were immediately deducted from my account. Totally online and totally easy, I wish they could make it that easy to book at least simple awards straight up. The miles for the originally booked ticket didn't post automatically, but given that it was an upgrade award on another airline I wasn't really surprised.

All in all, you're probably posturing OZ as a good proposition for me post BD! If you're ever in BNE, I'll buy you a drink and then pick your brains on this one... :mrgreen:

Certainly for me, it's a program that's working well for me and gives me status that I'd never have been able to get without it, prior to Aegean. I think Asiana has a bit of an edge over Aegean anyway, I like the extra flexibility of being able to spread my 20k per year over two years as 40k instead.

I haven't been to BNE in ages, but if I'm dropping by I'll certainly take you up on that offer.

 

[wyvern]

Hello all. First post!

When my longhaul flying recently increased to a level I could look at maintaining *G as well as OWS, I went for Aegean for easy qualification. However I am unsure whether to credit any more miles than are needed for requalification to Aegean, or switch to Asiana, or stick with BMI while it lasts. At the moment I do 2-4 Australia-Europe round trips a year in econ or prem econ, plus some other long and short haul depending on work patterns.

Ideally I would like a to find *A programme with a lifetime gold element, low requalification, family membership, one way awards, miles and cash, *A upgrades and reasonable earn/burn ratio. BMI is/will be offering most of these (*A ugrades apparently coming soon). While the BMI reprieve is welcome, from what has been said they may merge with Miles and More still in the medium or long term. It would be a shame to credit miles to BMI for lifetime *G and then see the programme withdrawn.