Miles or More or Star Alliance

[takenbyaliens]

Hi Fellow FFs
Long time since I have posted and indeed a while since I have seriously flown. I have a BNE>LAX return with QF in Sept /Oct but I have finally gone away from QF.

Have booked BNE>SIN ( SQ )>FRA>MRS on LH and return OSL>ZRH>SIN>BNE (SQ) on LX. So which FF should I join... Miles and More via LH/LX OR Star Alliance via SQ???

Your opinions would be valued so please let me have them.

 

[Mattg]

What is your main motivation - do you want to earn miles that you can redeem for a free flight/s or do you want to earn status?

Miles&More is a fairly poor value program - would not recommend.

KrisFlyer is better but with both of the programs you've chosen, miles expire after a fixed period of time.

Have you checked to see whether the fare classes you've booked on LH/LX are eligible to earn KrisFlyer miles, and did you investigate any other options? Also, are you flying Y or J on this trip, do you think you'll continue flying Star Alliance regularly after your upcoming trip and do you still have Platinum status with QF?

 

[odysseus]

Mattg's questions above are very relevant. Best to consider what you plan to do with these miles after... will they grow slowly, or not at all and you just want to redeem ASAP, planning for status, something else?

Without that, hard to suggest anything specific and there's no standout.

However, one to consider would be United, for two reasons.

1) They're a Virgin partner so even if you don't get much more, you can still redeem at some point (with enough miles) with Virgin so you should be able to use the points. (Unlike locked up with a partner you don't fly with in future/can't get redemptions).
2) Add to above, points don't expire.

So I'd suggest they're a safe fallback if you don't find anything more suited to what you're looking for.

 

[takenbyaliens]

Hi Matt and Odysseus
Thank you for your replies:

Travelling in J all the way
Not sure of booking class but it will be the lowest as these tickets were part of the RTW Lufthansa deal currently on the market. Open jaw EU ticket also qualifies. Actually just been informed OUTBOUND it is P, INBOUND it is Z

QF Plat....I doubt I will be able to hold onto any status at QF as my travel has been severely curtailed to say the least!!

I will have a look see at United

 

[Mattg]

United MileagePlus is also good because it earns with all LX/LH fare classes.

Where to Credit | Where to Credit Lufthansa Flights in P Booking Class

Find the best frequent flyer program for Lufthansa flights in booking class P!

www.wheretocredit.com

There's also a United status match challenge. If you matched your Qantas Platinum status before the trip you'll get Star Alliance Gold for 4 months. But you only keep it for 4 months unless you do a certain amount of flying on United during that trial period, and you can only start one match/challenge every 5 years. Possibly not worth it as you'll get most of the *G benefits flying in business class anyway.