Air line loyalty cards

duchy

omelette451 wrote: »

That's not true. With StarAlliance you can earn 'membership status miles' flying on any fare (only on SA carriers though, not partners such as Virgin), though of course the rate of accrual will vary according to the type of fare purchased. You'd have to fly a lot but it is technically possible to be upgraded to the next tier by only ever flying economy. I've never met anyone who's made gold but plenty have got silver, and bmi frequently uses this in its advertising to show how it's better, more generous, etc. than BA.

Agreed-I'm mid tier this year with a sky team airline and was mid tier with one world last year and I only pay the cheapest y fares although often get upgraded.

mad_rich

guygamps, it sounds like you do enough travelling that, if you work the system, you can get something out of it. And you do enough travelling that it will be worth it when you do.

But you do have to work the system.

You can't use miles to upgrade a booking you've already made unless it was made directly with BA. Them's the rules, I'm afraid. You might of course persuade your employer to allow you to book tickets yourself. You can also use the miles for a leisure trip, paying wholly or partly in miles.

The folk at the BA forum on flyertalk have pretty much every loophole and scam worked out. They also have the tricks to watch out for (such as no MFU - miles for upgrade - on travel agent bookings). They can also offer suggestions for getting your hands on those elusive final few tier points - buy a quick last-minute fare to AMS in order to get Gold etc.

You have to decide what works for you (and your employer). Don't confuse status (= tier points = perks = shiny cards) with miles (= 'free' trips or upgrades). They are effectively two separate schemes to reward two different types of flyer (the business traveller who wants to get through the airport with more comfort and speed vs the leisure traveller who is saving up for the 'trip of a lifetime'). Some travel patterns allow you to chase both, some neither.

And whatever you do, you need to be informed. Nobody ever got rich by doing all their shopping in Sainsburys and then spending their Nectar points there. The same principle is true for BA miles/ BMI miles/ AIRMILES and pretty much any loyalty scheme. You have to find the sweetspots and the loopholes as well as the pitfalls.

khizman

try emirates, you can earn miles on any flight.

tummy_tank

AFAIK Emirates seem to be best for points up-grades as there is no black out periods. Can't comment on other airlines.
We have had quite a few up-grades on emirates with points (apparently they are not good at random up-grades). You can also buy points to make up if you fall a little short for a reasonable amount of cash

fifeken

tummy_tank wrote: »

AFAIK Emirates seem to be best for points up-grades as there is no black out periods. Can't comment on other airlines.
We have had quite a few up-grades on emirates with points (apparently they are not good at random up-grades). You can also buy points to make up if you fall a little short for a reasonable amount of cash

No black out periods but no availability on some flights classified as Peak Economy instead of Economy. I still think they are one of the best as they appear to have the lowest of taxes and charges which are still payable no matter which airline/alliance your are with I think.

cjt105

Hello,

In their annual investor day, BA confirmed that they would be changing the rules, so that you will be able to use your miles to upgrade your booking from a work / a travel agent from May.

Cheers,



Chris.

guygamps

cjt105 wrote: »

Hello,

In their annual investor day, BA confirmed that they would be changing the rules, so that you will be able to use your miles to upgrade your booking from a work / a travel agent from May.

Cheers,



Chris.

Do you have a link to that announcement?