Which FF program to make the most of my trips?

[frenchieFF]

Hi guys,

I need your FF expertise to sort out my situation with respect to FF programs.

I basically do a couple of trips Perth WA - Paris every year and pretty much a monthly trip Perth - Bali.
I used to join a few FF programs but it has now become quite confusing to figure out what is the best way for me to make the most of it.

I joined:

FOR BALI TRIPS:
- Air Asia BIG Deal program: just joined for 5 bucks, I have no miles on it at the moment but use AA quite a lot.
- Velocity, I am Silver at the moment. I sometimes use Virgin.

FOR FRANCE TRIPS:
- British Airways Executive Club: Silver member, I spent all my miles in a couple of nights in a Perth 4 star hotel which was good I think for just a Silver. I want to quit it because I don't want to go to London as a stop-over after/before Paris anymore.
- Singapore Airlines Krisflyer: I can be Silver if I choose Singapore Airlines for my next trip to France by the end of this year, however I had a quick look to their program and it appears quite hard to get interesting benefits as a Silver and Gold seems to be out of reach given my situation but I'm not sure.
It does not seem possible to use miles to book hotels through the KF website like the British Airways EC does but I may be wrong.
Otherwise I usually claim SK flights in my velocity account.

So question is:
Do you reckon I should join Quantas FF/Quantas Club to benefit of perks on both France and Bali trips with Jetstar for instance?
Is Krisflyer worth it given my situation?

Cheers.

 

[markis10]

The only benefit you will get with Qantas on Jetstar to Bali is by paying extra to earn points and lounge access should you hit a status level, if your travelling that much you should be looking at status in at least one program, I would suggest Velocity given they credit Singapore flights. Joining Qantas is free via the Everyday rewards program, then it just comes down to what program provides the best benefits at the least cost, again Velocity is likely to be the answer for local benefits, alternatively the SQ flights can be credited to Aegean Airlines who have a very low limit to earn Star Alliance Gold.

 

[frenchieFF]

Just joined in AEGEAN, we'll see how it goes.
Thanks for the tip Markis10.

 

[Fantic125]

The other alternate *A program worth considering for someone seeking status but who doesn't fly a lot is Asiana.

20k miles for *Silver, 40k miles for *Gold.

2 years to achieve the required miles for initial status, and 2 years to achieve retention (compared to most which only allow 1 year for both)

7 years minimum before miles start to expire (compared to 3 years for most others).

 

[frenchieFF]

Fantic125 I just joined in AEGEAN FFP so should I join ASIANA's one too as it is still StarAlliance?
I try to get things more simple and I have the feeling that I don't need anymore FFPs to deal with.

 

[frenchieFF]

I also wonder whether I should join Qantas Club.

 

[markis10]

I also wonder whether I should join Qantas Club.

I would not bother being Perth based, and not being of much use in Bali, and often they are not open for JQ departures in many places.

 

[Fantic125]

Fantic125 I just joined in AEGEAN FFP so should I join ASIANA's one too as it is still StarAlliance?
I try to get things more simple and I have the feeling that I don't need anymore FFPs to deal with.

It doesn't matter how many you join, it's which one do you credit your flights to!

Certainly Aegean may be the better if you are just looking for *A status and will only fly 20k or less per year on *A carriers.

IMHO if you will be flying >20k per year on *A then I believe the Asiana FF program is more beneficial.

 

[frenchieFF]

Okay Fantic125,
say I join Asiana, can I claim SQ miles on both Asiana and Aegean FFPs or do I have to choose one only?

 

[frenchieFF]

Okay markis10 I won't get Qantas Club then, I get the feeling I might get access to Bali DPS's lounges with Velocity Gold later on when my SQ miles will be credited.
Otherwise I just joined Asiana Club and I can't claim SQ miles directly on their website I sent an email in the air to a couple of Asiana Club potential emails found on the net but I reckon I might wait quite a while before I get something out of it.

 

[seanpodge]

Okay Fantic125,
say I join Asiana, can I claim SQ miles on both Asiana and Aegean FFPs or do I have to choose one only?

No, you have to choose.

 

[frenchieFF]

ok thanks seanpodge I guess that's the same for Velocity i.e. I can't claim SQ miles on both Velocity and OZ/A3.

 

[frenchieFF]

I'm looking at fares with MH PER-CDG return for September & December and they look quite good compared to SQ's (is it better to book just 3 months before departure BTW?).
I wonder if I should join MH FFP Enrich and just go with it from now on.
I still have BA EC Silver till March 2013 (i.e. OW Sapphire so lounge access) but I am unsure whether I'll be able to claim MH miles from the end of this year onto my BA EC account as I suppose it will expire before?
Otherwise is it possible to transfer SQ KF miles on my Velocity Silver as I forgot to give my Velocity number to the person at the counter for SQ flights (so all those points went to KF and not Velocity)?
I'd rather quit KF where Gold seems quite hard to get to pool everything onto Velocity for my trips to Bali.
Hope that makes sense.
Cheers.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Stick with 1 Star alliance and 1 OneWorld freq fly program and also Velocity (if you fly VA)
MH joined OneWorld on 1 Feb 2013 so miles/points from egligible MH flights can be credited to BA (or QF)

For many ffp's you can claim for past flights (subject to conditions), if that ticket did not have another ffp listed on it'
Miles/points may expire but your account does not.

You cannot (for practical purposes) transfer miles/points between different frq flyer programs.

If you do not fly much the cost of airfare is more important than freq flyer miles, especially if never get enough to use the miles.

 

[ht20]

Hi guys,

I just have a silly question which I'm still not sure about the answer. Will I earn the Tier miles with AEGEAN when I travel on J fare award flight booked by using miles in Avianca "Life Miles"?

Cheers

 

[smit0847]

Hi guys,

I just have a silly question which I'm still not sure about the answer. Will I earn the Tier miles with AEGEAN when I travel on J fare award flight booked by using miles in Avianca "Life Miles"?

Cheers

No - no points or SCs earnt on redemption flights on LMs.

 

[frenchieFF]

Guys,
I plan to book a MH Economy flight in September return from DPS - KUL - CDG.
If I stick with BA EC Bronze (I lost Silver a month ago) on the whole journey I'll get 3850 Avios and 100 Tier points according to BA website.
I wonder if I could get more points by joining MH Enrich (I couldn't find a point calculator on Enrich website) with 125% maybe?
My issue is that I don't have any Avios/Tier in BA EC anymore and getting Silver back again seems out of reach now so I think I'd better use the Bronze card to get the priority check-in and claim those points with Enrich.
I can't claim MH on Velocity anymore apparently.
What do you reckon?