Stick with Airpoints or change?

[plantain]

Hi all,
Short time reader, first time poster.
Because I didn't know any better I've somehow ended up with AirNZ airports as my FF program. I'm a silver with AirNZ and have ~600 airpoints. I now understand Airpoints isn't very good value.
I also have Gold (I think just for a year?) with Aegean through a promo a while ago, but have never actually flown with them...

I mostly do AU->US on my work's dime (which is where I earn most of my points), and AU->Central Europe on my own (which is where I spend them!).
I have a very significant upcoming SYD-NYC-SF-SYD trip probably in J that I'm about to book, and I'm wondering if it's better to start using my Aegean, stick with the Airpoints, or choose a new (probably star alliance) FF program.

I have also started collecting QFF points from various CC signup bonuses, so maybe I should even jump to oneworld... else I'll just burn the QFF points on domestic flights.

Does anyone have some advice for me?

 

[Hvr]

Hi plantain and welcome to AFF.

As for what direction to take with your points well what are your travel goals? Status or flying a premium cabin or just getting any flight? And what resources to you have to support your goals?

Unless you travel a huge amount you're probably better sticking with one alliance.

 

[Mattg]

Welcome plantain. As you've discovered, there is a reason that Airpoints is regarded as one of the world's worst value FF programs! There was a recent discussion about this on the forum here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....d-airpoints/does-anyone-aff-use-nz-68979.html

I think that, with certainty, you'd be better off using a different frequent flyer program. Of course, you can credit most Air NZ flights to another Star Alliance program (except NZ domestic, but the Airpoints earned are pretty abysmal anyway). A few popular alternatives would be Singapore Airlines, Aegean (as you've discovered) and Virgin Australia, who isn't in an alliance as such but partners with NZ.

If I were you, I would do the maths and work out whether you'll be able to requalify for Aegean Gold based on your travel to the US. If you already have gold, then the requirement for requalifying is only half (I believe 24,000 miles if you don't take 4 annual A3 flights - in which case it halves again to 12,000 miles). If you're flying internationally a lot, especially if that's in business class, then you should be able to requalify. But I would definitely do the maths if I were you.

If maximising points earn is what you're after, then another program like KrisFlyer (SQ), Velocity (VA) or maybe something a bit more left-field like United might be better for you.

Another option, if you decide to move on to another alliance, would be to leverage your Aegean status and get a status match with another airline. Status match promos come and go... I believe Alitalia (in SkyTeam) is having one at the moment. SkyTeam status may not be that useful to you, but you could then use this for another status match in the future, and so on.

If/when AA or QF start flying from AKL to the USA, then moving all of your flying over to oneworld might be another possibility. AA in particular has quite a good program at present (though many expect it to be devalued sometime in the next year or two).

Good luck!