what is the easiest ff program to earn points and what are the easiest to get to ‘elite’ status (highest alliance-wide status level)?
What are the best Airlines Frequent Flyer Programs?
LAcelito on 31/05/2019 - 13:03
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domestic and international flights, domestic credit card spend, car rentals and hotels.
Also depends on which part of the world you want to fly. No point getting FF program in S7 if you won't be travelling around Russia regularly.
I guess I will be flying mostly between Brisbane and Sydney. As well as overseas to America.
If that’s the case Qantas and Velocity, not the best but the best for your needs. As others have said really depends on your location cabin class and the expected trips. None of these memberships are really good unless your spending someone else’s money. If your making booking decisions out of loyalty to one of these memberships your a sucker.
Maybe KrisFlyer as well all depends.
Any case, to answer the very generic question.
Star Alliance - The Aegean program is the easiest to get to Gold. You only need to fly 36000 miles to get Gold.
One World - American Airlines status challenge is the easiest way. $200 plus $2000 in flights or 16 flights on American in a 3 month period and you will get Platinum
SkyTeam - Delta Status challenge - 18750 miles on Delta within a 3 month period.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought I read somewhere that American Airlines does not give out lounge access to their top tier lounges as a platinum member and that you have to be flying business/first class.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/clubs/admirals-club-acce… says Platinum do have access if flying international. No access if flying domestic.
Probably the biggest question is do you fly for work? As a private traveller you are probably better off cherry picking deals and prices. I like Star Alliance and Singapore Airlines but had a bunch of work United points to make it worthwhile. Privately I would consider discount Jetstar and Air Asia no frills flights over chasing points.
If you fly to America often, Air New Zealand and United often have good sale fares and are with Star. Problem is I think you don't get full miles with the super cheap airfares.
I wonder if I have one more first class trip via points left in me or just take a discount flight option. With $700 cheap fares to Greece, maybe points aren't the way to go.
Unless you are flying business or first, status will require a tonne of economy flights.
What I would do is a RTW business or first class on OneWorld and you can hit Qantas Platinum quite easily.
My first RTW in business back in 2010, earned myself Qantas Platinum and that started my ongoing pursuit for premium travel.
Loyalty programs tend to benefit the airline and not you.
Choose the airline offering the best fare and schedule for your needs.
Buy points and miles when they are on sale and redeem for business class seats. You then get the same benefits as someone with status.
Based on what you’ve said (which is basically SYD-BNE flights and the US only), then your best bet is Qantas. The general rule with Velocity vs. QFF is that Velocity has (only very slightly) cheaper redemptions and a fair amount lower taxes. Qantas, on the other hand, has much better award availability and, generally, their partners are better than Virgin partners. For example, you can redeem Qantas points for Emirates. Virgin’s previous best partner was Etihad, but they’ve really devalued their points for Etihad bookings.
However, all I’ve said so far is for points accumulation, not for status. If you’re chasing status, I think you need to think about why it interests you. Basically status is just for economy flyers to get some of the nice perks of Business before boarding a plane - i.e. lounge access, priority check-in and boarding…etc., and also to get slightly higher point accumulation on flying.
With Qantas, basically I think you should go for two strategies for the SYD-BNE:
1) If you travel for business and you either have to travel at certain times or your company books your flights, then you can use your points for upgrade - 10,000 to business with the Red e-Deal and 5,000 with Flex. This will get you all of the perks of higher status AND also the actual business class seat.
2) If you’re relatively flexible with your travel, then you can just go with a 16,000 point classic reward for business. Generally there will be availability every day.
The business class on the Qantas A330 is amazing (much better than many international business, let alone domestic). Their B737 and Virgin’s B737 fleet are nowhere near as good. I’m not sure how many A330’s fly the SYD-BNE, but I fly MEL-SYD a lot, and the A330 is miles better in both business and economy.
The US flights can be booked pretty easily with Qantas, but you might have a hard time finding business class to LAX, because that’s a popular route. An alternative is to fly to SFO, where availability is much better and their B787 is better (newer) than the A380 to LAX. Alternatively, you can also have a look at flying into Dallas or flying with American Airlines. Generally there’s less availability with AA (and only from SYD), but the taxes are around half as much as Qantas.
Basically, I guess my whole point is there’s no point chasing status, it’s a ploy by airlines to keep you loyal and not just fly with whoever is cheapest. My general suggestion is to target one FF program for points through CC and/or sign up bonuses and other perks. Then, focus on using your points in the best way for your travel. If you travel in business, status is irrelevant anyway.
Sorry about the long post, hope this helps :)
More info required. Do you hope to get their by domestic flights, credit card spend, hotel stays etc?