Where do I start? New regular international flyer

[BettyBoop]

Hi All,

I'm in a bit of a quandry and hoping I can get advise on what to do.

I have to travel at least 4 times a year return from Mel-Lax, Mel-Vegas, Mel-Berlin, Mel-London, Mel-Shanghai. All separate trips, they can't be combined. Preferably business class, actually definately business class. Thats just for work. There's also the typical family holidays domestic and international occasionally. I don't have a frequent flyer program. It doesn't worry me to fly RTW at all. I really want access to airport club lounges.

So my questions are:

Which frequent flyer program is the best one for me?

Should I get a FF program credit card?

Should I join a hotel rewards program or stick with the FF program? (I like real nice hotels plus being female travelling alone I am particular)

Are the One World fares the cheapest/best option for business?

If so do I book through AA to save $?

If not which fare/airline?

Any help is muchly appreciated.

Cheers!

 

[moa999]

Couple of questions for you:
What matters
- Price (ie are you paying or corporate, and do you have preferred corporate deals)
- Routing (ie can you take an extra 24 hrs to get somewhere/ come home from the US via London)
- Comfort (not all airline seats, even business, are made equal)

Hi All,

I have to travel at least 4 times a year return from Mel-Lax, Mel-Vegas, Mel-Berlin, Mel-London, Mel-Shanghai. All separate trips, they can't be combined. Preferably business class, actually definately business class. Thats just for work. There's also the typical family holidays domestic and international occasionally. I don't have a frequent flyer program. It doesn't worry me to fly RTW at all. I really want access to airport club lounges.

So my questions are:

Which frequent flyer program is the best one for me?

In J should be able to get decent status on most programs.
Based on your travel plans would appear either QF or AA may be most suitable

Should I get a FF program credit card?

So long as you are putting enough $s on the card, it is generally worth the annual fee.

Should I join a hotel rewards program or stick with the FF program? (I like real nice hotels plus being female travelling alone I am particular)

Yes, Pick a hotel chain and stick to it. The benefits of high status in hotel chains can be even more valuable than airline status

Are the One World fares the cheapest/best option for business?

They are a good fare and cheaper than a direct business class fare, BUT, you must travel around the world (taking more time) AND they book into a booking class that has less availability

If so do I book through AA to save $?
If not which fare/airline?

If travelling OW, Yes.

 

[BettyBoop]

Couple of questions for you:
What matters

- Price (ie are you paying or corporate, and do you have preferred corporate deals)
.........I am paying.

- Routing (ie can you take an extra 24 hrs to get somewhere/ come home from the US via London)
.........Yes I can.

- Comfort (not all airline seats, even business, are made equal)
.........Only ever been on UA business and that was 10 years ago.

They are a good fare and cheaper than a direct business class fare, BUT, you must travel around the world (taking more time) AND they book into a booking class that has less availability.
..........Less availability, so I may have to be flexible with my travel days?



If travelling OW, Yes.

...........Should I consider another RTW fare like Star Alliance?

Thanks so much! Any other help is greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

 

[serfty]

G'day BettyBoop, welcome to AFF.

From your questions, you obviously have dome some research.

To add to aubs helpful comments, I suggest the following:

If starting from Scratch, the AAdvantage

Certainly! With that sort of travel, such a credit card would be a very good idea. If you can charge your travel to it, even better.

A good hotel rewards program can give some very useful benefits. I suggest you look at HHonors, Starwood Preferred Guest or Priority Club ...

Personally, I use HHonors, I can earn both HHonors reward points and Airline points with stays. I have HHonors Gold status which at the very least generally provides complimentary breakfast whenever I stay.

They certainly are a cheaper option, for your indicated travel you could look at the oneworld

• Explorer (Berlin, London),
• Circle Pacific (Las Vegas, Los-Angeles) and
• Circle Asia and SWP (Shanghai)

Absolutely (You would need, however, to plan for long hold times when calling them.)

You certainly could, however, due to the lack of *A carriers in Oz, any status benifits would be limited unless travelling internationally.

 

[dajop]

...........Should I consider another RTW fare like Star Alliance?

Yes you should. With the pattern of travel you mentioned, I would recommend that you should at the very least consider doing one * alliance RTW to get you * gold status (accruing status on one of bmi, Lufthansa or Air NZ FF programs which rewards business class travel quite well). That would leave the rest of your travel to maximise one world status/earning. You never know when that * gold status may come in handy!

It may even be worth splitting your travel 50/50 between oneworld and star, as anecdotally it seems easier to access award bookings ex Australian on star alliance than on one world (on the proviso you achieve oneworld emerald with any split).

I note a comment about choosing a hotel program and sticking to it - sound advice - but before doing so check the destinations you will be travelling to, for the presence of a suitable hotel in terms of where you want to be. There is nothing worse than being stuck in an inferior hotel on the wrong side of town an hour from where you want to be! Having said that for most programs (eg Starwood/Sheraton, Hilton, Marriott, Priority Club)this isn't a probelem in the US, but it can be patchy in Asia & Europe depending on where you travel.

 

[drron]

Welcome betty.I will back up the previous posters.I am with AA so cant comment on Star-I have still not forgiven AirNZ.
Reasons for AAdvantage.Earn rates are roughly similiar to QFF.
-A bit harder to get to top status but offset by the ease of getting mid tier status via plat challenge.Also life time status at present still counts all miles earned.
-burn rates usually much better with AA and I have found awards to have better availability.
-upgrades easier to understand IMHO and much more certain especially when top tier and you can confirm your upgrades months out.
Specifics-Plat Challenge.Make sure your first flight to LAX is on the AA codeshare flight no and by the time you arrive in LAX you will have platinum status and so business lounge access and 100% bonus miles for the flight you have just completed and all segments in the future whilst you retain status.
_Flight Costs.I always ticket through AA as less fuel fines.There are however usually specials in premium cabins to the USA.I always look at www.bestflights.com.au
This way I know what specials to ask for.At the moment you can get a special to LAX via NRT through AA for approx $8500 ++++.However you can use airlines such as Air Pacific or Air Tahiti Niue for some really good deals-though you get miles but dont qualify for status with these airlines.They can be used for awards though.
As to hotels I use Hhonors and SPG.The great benefit with hhonors is the ability to earn both points and FF miles.SPG has better upgrades if top tier.
Credit cards.If you do join AA this is the greatest drawback.However I use Diners which does let you transfer directly to AA though better to do it via SPG.Amex can also let you transfer to AA but it has to be done via SPG.
Travel plans-with your suggested business travel you should easily make Explat on AA especially if you fly to the US via NRT.3 US or Europe return trips in J plus 1 to Asia should see you over the 100000 EQP you need for top status and that will then mean access to first class lounges and if doing the NRT-LAX segment on AA a good chance of free upgrade to F.

 

[BettyBoop]

Yes you should. With the pattern of travel you mentioned, I would recommend that you should at the very least consider doing one * alliance RTW to get you * gold status (accruing status on one of bmi, Lufthansa or Air NZ FF programs which rewards business class travel quite well). That would leave the rest of your travel to maximise one world status/earning. You never know when that * gold status may come in handy!

I'm SO new to this could you explain this further.

It may even be worth splitting your travel 50/50 between oneworld and star, as anecdotally it seems easier to access award bookings ex Australian on star alliance than on one world (on the proviso you achieve oneworld emerald with any split).

Which do you think is better? OW or SA?

Cheers!

 

[BettyBoop]

I've taken all the advice on board.

So my next question is.....

Where do I book? I've used bestflights before for quotes when they've had specials but trying to get the itinery I want has been really difficult or the price quoted nowhere near the special price. But it has been handy getting an idea of specials available.

For OW (oneworld, is that the right abbreviation?) if I book through AA, do I ring the AA number in the USA? Can I book through the USA but fly in and out of Melbourne? I've noticed that some of the OW fares are cheaper in China, is it possible to book a OW fare on the phone in China to fly in and out of Melbourne?

Again, all help is much appreciated.


Cheers!

 

[serfty]

Here's a thread on booking and ticketing an ex Oz economy oneworld Explorer fare through AA:

• http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...advantage/detail-using-aa-rtw-desk-12473.html

 

[dajop]

I'm SO new to this could you explain this further.

With say four trips a year, all in business class you should easily achieve oneworld emerald status - the top tier in oneworld - with just three trips (in fact you can achieve it in a single carefully constructed round the world if using Qantas). That means with one of your trips you may be able to try and get to gold on star alliance (eg if going to Berlin, you might do that trip on star alliance, as Germany is well serviced by Lufthansa).

If you were to join bmi's program (Diamond Club) many business class fares earn 2pts/mile travelled (except on Singapore Airlines) - and you need 38,000 to get to gold (so you could do this with just 19,000 miles - a return to Europe on Thai in business class would get you there). On Air NZ, you could join Airpoints and a round the world with a few sectors in US in domestic "first" class gets you there fairly easily to * gold. What * gold gives you is priority luggage, boarding & checkin, lounge access etc should you find yourself travelling a star alliance carrier in economy class. This opens more options if you use economy for holidays etc (that many of us do!)

Which do you think is better? OW or SA?

A good question! From an Australian perspective, OW is really the main option for Australians, as it gives you access to lounges when travelling domestically, as there is no star alliance partner in Australia (yet - maybe one day if Virgin Blue sees an opportunity there, but don't hold your breath.) Also gives you good access to domestic flight awards. Now if that wasn't a consideration, both alliances have their good carriers (Qantas, Cathay, BA in oneworld and Singapore, Thai, Air NZ in star) and not so good carriers (although probably more of these in Star).

The main upside with star, as I said, anecdotally it easier to obtain reasonably valued international awards departing Australia on Star than on Oneworld. This is probably due to less competition for the limited awards seats - as there are many millions of Australians who have Qantas FF accounts and earn QFF points through flying and credit cards (noting that even if you join AA's program you are still competing for the same seats).

I hope this isn't too confusing. If it's getting too complicated, my underlying advice would be stick to oneworld. But with this pattern of travel if you want to spread your risk - put a small deposit in the Star Alliance camp as well.