Star alliance

[flighty]

We have just booked SQ (H class) ADL to Copenhagen and returning Swiss Air to Zurich and then SQ to ADL.
To get maximum benefits which FF program should we join?

 

[auriga]

That will net you just under 20K miles, which is not quite enough for anything.

The best program for you to put them to will depend on your flying pattern in the coming months/ years, and what you intend to do with the miles. Also whether you have a credit card where you can transfer points from.

 

[flighty]

Thanks.
I forgot to mention that we are returning from Stockholm to Zurich.
It may give us just over 20,000 pts.
I have an ANZ credit card and have redeemed a rtn trip for 2 to Frankfurt 2 yrs ago with Qantas.

 

[anat0l]

The best program in *A is a difficult one, and does depend on a few factors like your current and proposed flying patterns and what you would like out of the program (free flights, upgrades or the like).

For example, if you join SQ Krisflyer, your miles will expire in 3 years - no exceptions. Obviously not good unless you can earn (flying or credit card) and burn the miles fast enough.

Joining Miles & More, which is the natural program for LX (as well as the LH and their group, which are quite a few in *A), is only really good if you fly lots of premium class (Business & First), where the multiplier effect (200% or 300%) on mileage earnt is very handy, especially when qualifying for status (e.g. you need 35,000 LH status miles to get FTL (*A Silver) or 100,000 status miles to get SEN (*A Gold) - not a trivial feat if you're flying Y or discount Y).

Programs like AC, OZ, TK and BD provide status for some of the lowest requirements across the alliance. BD is good although you will really only benefit partly from the cheaper redemptions (e.g. Miles+Cash awards) and small status qualification target (38,000 status miles for *A Gold), because BD have a very small network of their own metal (which almost renders the Gold Upgrade credits pretty useless) and might even be enveloped into Miles & More soon. OZ aren't the easiest to get status with (not the hardest, mind you), but the status lasts for 2 years.

NZ aren't a bad program and also a great airline, although Airpoints has a sign up fee unless you can find or know a way to get it waived. You need to fly with them at least once every year or you must pay an account maintenance fee. Airpoints aren't exactly the best airline for awards either (Airpoints Dollars are awarded based on zonal travel rather than mileage, which can be depressing at times, as can redeeming those awards) - note that all cheap Trans-Tasman, intra-Pacific and New Zealand domestic flight on NZ does not earn anything across the alliance and only status points with NZ Airpoints.

UA I think are a jack-of-all-trades FFP on *A - status isn't dead easy to get, but upgrade instruments you get with UA once you hit their nominal top tier are much valued by their members. Not well qualified on this one.

Being a recent and still passive entrant into the world of *A, I unfortunately can't share any field experience with any *A program (e.g. ease of earning points, burning awards and the chances, etc.)

Of course, it is nice to belong to the program of the airline in *A which you will travel with most (an airline will almost always love their own FFP members rather than those of other airlines in the same alliance), but sometimes that's not possible or practical. But a lot will come down to how much you fly.

Some members might like to chime in with advice for a FFP in the *A that would be good to "bank" points in if one is not a very frequent flyer and just wants to store points gradually.

 

[Bang4Buck]

The best program in *A is a difficult one, and does depend on a few factors like your current and proposed flying patterns and what you would like out of the program (free flights, upgrades or the like).

For example, if you join SQ Krisflyer, your miles will expire in 3 years - no exceptions. Obviously not good unless you can earn (flying or credit card) and burn the miles fast enough.

Joining Miles & More, which is the natural program for LX (as well as the LH and their group, which are quite a few in *A), is only really good if you fly lots of premium class (Business & First), where the multiplier effect (200% or 300%) on mileage earnt is very handy, especially when qualifying for status (e.g. you need 35,000 LH status miles to get FTL (*A Silver) or 100,000 status miles to get SEN (*A Gold) - not a trivial feat if you're flying Y or discount Y).

Programs like AC, OZ, TK and BD provide status for some of the lowest requirements across the alliance. BD is good although you will really only benefit partly from the cheaper redemptions (e.g. Miles+Cash awards) and small status qualification target (38,000 status miles for *A Gold), because BD have a very small network of their own metal (which almost renders the Gold Upgrade credits pretty useless) and might even be enveloped into Miles & More soon. OZ aren't the easiest to get status with (not the hardest, mind you), but the status lasts for 2 years.

NZ aren't a bad program and also a great airline, although Airpoints has a sign up fee unless you can find or know a way to get it waived. You need to fly with them at least once every year or you must pay an account maintenance fee. Airpoints aren't exactly the best airline for awards either (Airpoints Dollars are awarded based on zonal travel rather than mileage, which can be depressing at times, as can redeeming those awards) - note that all cheap Trans-Tasman, intra-Pacific and New Zealand domestic flight on NZ does not earn anything across the alliance and only status points with NZ Airpoints.

UA I think are a jack-of-all-trades FFP on *A - status isn't dead easy to get, but upgrade instruments you get with UA once you hit their nominal top tier are much valued by their members. Not well qualified on this one.

Being a recent and still passive entrant into the world of *A, I unfortunately can't share any field experience with any *A program (e.g. ease of earning points, burning awards and the chances, etc.)

Of course, it is nice to belong to the program of the airline in *A which you will travel with most (an airline will almost always love their own FFP members rather than those of other airlines in the same alliance), but sometimes that's not possible or practical. But a lot will come down to how much you fly.

Some members might like to chime in with advice for a FFP in the *A that would be good to "bank" points in if one is not a very frequent flyer and just wants to store points gradually.

That's a great post. One addition is that you could consider joining US Airways. That way, if you're short of gaining award redemptions, you could buy miles using their 100% bonus miles promotion before 31st March; info available here: https://www2.usairways.com/en-US/dividendmiles/programdetails/purchasemiles/buymiles.html