Best option for earning status in Star Alliance?

[Noah Count]

I may have a go with TK for MrsM as that may sort out the lounge dilemma I am facing for up coming travel with CA. As a *G (SQ) I can only bring in one guest and there are 3 of us travelling.

 

[HSB44]

Is there a quick reference somewhere showing which star ff alliance programs have points that expire after a certain period of time? (such as SQ), vs ones that don't (or require minimal activity to avoid expiry)

Thanks

 

[Noah Count]

If flying in J on a *A and *G status can you just use an alternate *A lounge. We are travelling SQ EWR-SIN and SQ use the Virgin Clubhouse and I noticed on the web UA have opened a new lounge at EWR which looks better than most. I am interested to know if Mrs&MissM will be able to get access to the UA lounge based on class of travel. As *G I have not thought about this in the past as I get access.

 

[Mattg]

If flying in J on a *A and *G status can you just use an alternate *A lounge. We are travelling SQ EWR-SIN and SQ use the Virgin Clubhouse and I noticed on the web UA have opened a new lounge at EWR which looks better than most. I am interested to know if Mrs&MissM will be able to get access to the UA lounge based on class of travel. As *G I have not thought about this in the past as I get access.

In general yes, you can use any *A lounge, although I'm not sure if the United Polaris lounge might have specific rules about flying J on United (a bit like the Qatar lounges in DOH).

 

[Noah Count]

although I'm not sure if the United Polaris lounge might have specific rules about flying J on United (a bit like the Qatar lounges in DOH).

I will find out in a couple of months. This 3 of us travelling with *A is starting to do my head in, I am confident in my understanding of the OW rules and even most of the QR, AA, BA quirks and it also helps that there are 2 OWE between the 3 of us. Also I did take onboard your advice posted up thread signing MrsM up to Miles & Smiles and requested a status match. She has around 9 weeks to find out if she will be sitting in the AC terminal or the lounge

 

[Mattg]

Just had a look - United does have different rules for its Polaris lounge compared to all the others. But an international J or F ticket on a Star Alliance airline is enough to get in. No guests allowed if you're on a J ticket.

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/airport/united-club-and-lounges/access.html

If flying SQ in Y and holding *G, you'd only be able to use the United Club lounges or another Star Alliance lounge (e.g. Lufthansa) under the *A rules.

 

[RooFlyer]

But an international J or F ticket on a Star Alliance airline is enough to get in.

Ummmm... Mrs and Miss M01 may need to be reminded of something at lounge time (if I have things correct - apologies if not)

 

[Noah Count]

If you decide on Turkish, you might like to try for their status match/challenge.

Matt thanks for the advice on the TK status match. I signed MrsM up to Miles & Smiles and then requested a match to her QF WP followed the steps suggested in the article and received notification that she has been upgraded to elite. The process was relatively painless and took about 2 weeks but some of this was our delays in getting the information they wanted. It is unlikely that she will retain post the 4 months however the purpose of the match was to get all of us into the AC lounges.

 

[Mattg]

Matt thanks for the advice on the TK status match. I signed MrsM up to Miles & Smiles and then requested a match to her QF WP followed the steps suggested in the article and received notification that she has been upgraded to elite. The process was relatively painless and took about 2 weeks but some of this was our delays in getting the information they wanted. It is unlikely that she will retain post the 4 months however the purpose of the match was to get all of us into the AC lounges.

Great!

Did TK say what MrsM would need to do to retain her status longer than 4 months? It used to be that you just had to take one TK flight.

 

[Noah Count]

Great!

Did TK say what MrsM would need to do to retain her status longer than 4 months? It used to be that you just had to take one TK flight.

These are the terms that came in the email.

There are a few details about your upgrade to Elite that we’d like to tell you about:

• The first 4 months of your Elite membership is considered as the trial period. Within this period, you are required to realize at least one Turkish Airlines international flight in which you gain miles.
• At the end of the trial period, if your membership account includes at least one Turkish Airlines international flight in which you gained miles, your Elite membership is prolonged for 8 months more.(i.e. it remains valid for 1 year in total after the match).
• If you reach 15,000 Status Miles in the international flights you will perform with Turkish Airlines in the first year of your Elite membership, your membership is extended for 1 more year (i.e. it remains valid for 2 years in total after the match).

It also had other information about the benefits which are pretty much standard *G benefits. Some other information about the match they were happy to accept her current digital card however I had included a photo of the last physical card she had with a 21 expiry. I did run into some challenges in providing flight history as the standard out of the box QF print version did not provide all the information they required. I did try just sending a screenshot but they would not accept that. Eventually I was able to get the information they were after in a single document.

 

[Mattg]

These are the terms that came in the email.

There are a few details about your upgrade to Elite that we’d like to tell you about:

• The first 4 months of your Elite membership is considered as the trial period. Within this period, you are required to realize at least one Turkish Airlines international flight in which you gain miles.
• At the end of the trial period, if your membership account includes at least one Turkish Airlines international flight in which you gained miles, your Elite membership is prolonged for 8 months more.(i.e. it remains valid for 1 year in total after the match).
• If you reach 15,000 Status Miles in the international flights you will perform with Turkish Airlines in the first year of your Elite membership, your membership is extended for 1 more year (i.e. it remains valid for 2 years in total after the match).

It also had other information about the benefits which are pretty much standard *G benefits. Some other information about the match they were happy to accept her current digital card however I had included a photo of the last physical card she had with a 21 expiry. I did run into some challenges in providing flight history as the standard out of the box QF print version did not provide all the information they required. I did try just sending a screenshot but they would not accept that. Eventually I was able to get the information they were after in a single document.

Cool, looks like no changes to the status challenge.

I would personally be looking at ways to get the 1 TK flight in if you can. Not sure where MrsM plans to fly in the next four months, but even if she won't be going anywhere near Turkey, TK does have some fifth-freedom flights. E.g. CMB-MLE or GRU-EZE.

 

[AFF Editor]

If anyone's currently looking for a Star Alliance program, I've just updated this comprehensive article:

The Best Frequent Flyer Programs for Earning Star Alliance Gold Status

This guide explains why Aegean Miles+Bonus and Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles are the best loyalty programs to earn Star Alliance Gold status.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[cbourl]

I personally maintained (and stil ldo) UA Premier 1K status AND Lufthansa Senator status - The Lufthansa is for lounge access in the USA when travelling UA, as well as easier upgratedes from Business to First on Swiss/LH . Of note, only with LH Miles and More can you book an award ticket in SWISS First, Lufthansa releases its First cabin to most other Star Alliance programs 14 days before United 1K status gives you plus points (the old Globals) which you can use on Lufthansa and ANA to upgrade to First (or Business if you are travelling Y) and PlusPoints (the old Regionals) on UA Domestic

 

[big al c]

Hi all
Just booked 3 flights on ANA Z class to Europe, so there should be some reasonable points earn there. Wondering which Star Alliance program is best to join/tag these flights to in order to maximise benefits for domestic tourism and/or another europe flight in the future... I'm Velocity gold till the end of the year but I know their partnership is not full in terms of points /status accrual. Is the ANA program the simplest/best to stick with? Thanks in advance

 

[Revenge]

If anyone's currently looking for a Star Alliance program, I've just updated this comprehensive article:

The Best Frequent Flyer Programs for Earning Star Alliance Gold Status

This guide explains why Aegean Miles+Bonus and Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles are the best loyalty programs to earn Star Alliance Gold status.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Hi Matt

Just read this very useful and through article. It's a great resource.

I do have a couple of corrections for you:

United members can access benefits when flying on Virgin Australia, however no Premier Qualifying credit is given for Virgin Australia flights.

I believe this has changed last week. I received an email from United MileagePlus suggesting that PQPs are earned on VA, and I checked the list of partners on the UA website and it appears that now VA is indeed a preferred partner. Please see this post for more detail.

it is not possible to earn Status Qualifying Miles, Segments or Dollars with Air Canada’s Aeroplan program for Virgin Australia flights.

I don't think this is true for SQM's. I credit my wife's VA flights to Aeroplan, and she does seem to earn SQM's for the flights. If you go to the Air Canada airline partners page and click on details for Virgin Australia you will see it says:

*Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) are only earned on Domestic flights, defined as flights within Australia.

 

[AFF Editor]

Hi Matt

Just read this very useful and through article. It's a great resource.

I do have a couple of corrections for you:


I believe this has changed last week. I received an email from United MileagePlus suggesting that PQPs are earned on VA, and I checked the list of partners on the UA website and it appears that now VA is indeed a preferred partner. Please see this post for more detail.


I don't think this is true for SQM's. I credit my wife's VA flights to Aeroplan, and she does seem to earn SQM's for the flights. If you go to the Air Canada airline partners page and click on details for Virgin Australia you will see it says:

Thanks and well spotted. I've updated the article.

That change to VA earning on United makes the United MileagePlus program significantly more attractive for Australians. Very good news!

 

[Revenge]

That change to VA earning on United makes the United MileagePlus program significantly more attractive for Australians. Very good news!

Yes I just wish we’d known that from the start. I’d already given up on retaining my UA Gold and have been crediting flights with VA and AC to Velocity. If I’d put everything on MileagePlus and taken one more UA sector while I was in the US I probably would’ve made it. I don’t like it when the rules change (same goes for Qantas with their unexpected status extensions making all the crediting to Qantas a waste this year). Oh well there’s always next year.

 

[gaz0303]

Any thoughts on where to credit AirNZ flights?

I’m heavily tied to QF due to my regional base, but a role change has me now flying to and within NZ a few times a year. Hoping to keep QF to cross the Tasman and stay clear of the codeshares. I’m unlikely to ever get gold status with NZ or another star alliance airline. Already enjoyed previous status matches with United, Turkish and Aegean airlines in the past.

I’m thinking of using KrisFlyer as it allows transfer to Velocity or better redemption prospects using points from credit cards.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Any thoughts on where to credit AirNZ flights?

I’m heavily tied to QF due to my regional base, but a role change has me now flying to and within NZ a few times a year. Hoping to keep QF to cross the Tasman and stay clear of the codeshares. I’m unlikely to ever get gold status with NZ or another star alliance airline. Already enjoyed previous status matches with United, Turkish and Aegean airlines in the past.

I’m thinking of using KrisFlyer as it allows transfer to Velocity or better redemption prospects using points from credit cards.

Don’t use Krisfyer unless you are flying in J.
Most Y flights earn zero on SQ on Domestic NZ and TT

 

[gaz0303]

Don’t use Krisfyer unless you are flying in J.
Most Y flights earn zero on SQ on Domestic NZ and TT

My domestic fares will be seat+bag minimum. My current ticket is Q class which the KrisFlyer charts say is 100% accrual.

Arghh - I just discovered the L,S,V,W,T class footnote. Might be ok as flights will only be booked a couple weeks out from travel. Just did a few dummy bookings and booking 14 days out and in classes that accrue.