Which airline is best for air miles

lottie3000

I am looking at flying back and forth to america a few times a year and would like to build up my air miles. Which airline would be the best to build up miles for upgrades?

Thanks for any advice.

richardw

Will you be able to afford economy flights that are suitable for upgrade SFU?

lots of info over on https://www.flyertalk.com

Doshwaster

lottie3000 wrote: »

I am looking at flying back and forth to america a few times a year and would like to build up my air miles. Which airline would be the best to build up miles for upgrades?

Thanks for any advice.

Well, it you are going to fly regularly then it makes sense to choose the same airline (or alliance) and stick with them. Factors include what routes you will be flying, in which class and how often and what perks you are looking for.

If you are going to be going to different destinations and making internal flights then BA or AA makes the most sense as they probably have the biggest choice of destinations and you earn points/miles on each other's Frequent flyer (FF) schemes through OneWorld. If it's just going to the major destinations of NYC, LAX, SFO etc then you may be OK with Virgin.

Personally, I'd avoid the other US carriers such as United, Delta etc.

I'm a Silver card holder with BA and it's pretty tough to maintain the status when you are flying in the cheap end of the plane on discounted tickets. If you can stretch to Premium Economy then it makes a big difference to your points earning ability. For me, the benefits are lounge access, priority seating and preferential free upgrades. I've racked up almost 200,000 miles but I'm saving them for a once in a lifetime trip.

Flyertalk.com is a fantastic resource but just be warned that it's full of travel geeks with their own language of acronyms.

jamesbrownontheroad

richardw wrote: »

lots of info over on https://www.flyertalk.com

Doshwaster wrote: »

Flyertalk.com is a fantastic resource but just be warned that it's full of travel geeks with their own language of acronyms.

+1

Now until a short while ago I would have recommended (perhaps strangely, because they no longer fly trans-Atlantic) BMI British Midland. Their Diamond Club has long been regarded as one of the best programmes in the Star Alliance, especially for earning & burning. Sadly, IAG got the go ahead from the EU to buy BMI on Friday, and by the end of April it will have begun to be merged into BA.

So, my recommendation is, as above, to log into FlyerTalk. Right now in the BMI Diamond Club forum there is a long conversation about where to shift loyalty.

An important question is this: are you more interested in earning miles for redemptions, or are you more interested in earning status for traveling perks (namely lounge access, extra checked luggage allowance, occasional upgrades, etc)?

Heading across the pond, the airline alliance with the biggest choice of airlines and routes is the Star Alliance (also referred to as the *A).

The consensus among many on that BMI forum is that Aegean Airlines (FlyerTalk forum here) probably have the next best programme to earn miles and status in the *A. You can reach Gold status by flying 20,000 miles in economy (fewer in business or first) in one year. A UK - East Coast US roundtrip usually earns around 7000 miles, so you could be there in three trips. You never need fly Aegean Airlines, like all member airlines of the *A, you can earn and burn on any member airline.

The class of travel and/or the precise fare bucket of your ticket will influence your earning potential. Read, for example, the Aegean Airlines Miles and Bonus earning table here. You will see that some of the discounted economy class fares will have a percentage multiplier, so fly Air Canada in an Economy Discounted" ticket, identified by the fare letters N, G, P, E, or A, and you'll earn 50% of the actual distance flown. On the other hand, fly full fare business class (fare codes J, C, D or Z) and you'll earn 200% the actual distance flown.

I think *A membership might be your best bet because it includes Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Lufthansa, Swiss, SAS, United Airlines (now fully merged with Continental) and US Airways, all of whom are well suited to offer UK > US connections. United offer the best choice of direct regional flights from the UK to the US, through their hub at New York Newark. US Airways have slightly fewer options (and, in my experience, worse service in the air) but crucially for redeeming flights, they still don't impose a fuel surcharge (I think this is also true for Air New Zealand between LHR and LAX). This is important when redeeming miles, because if you book an award flight using air miles, you are still liable for the taxes and charges. All the other airlines within the Star Alliance will include their hefty fuel surcharge as part of those taxes.

As an example, around this time last year I flew from Dublin to San Francisco with US Airways (via Philadelphia) paying the one way fare in BMI Diamond Club milles and just £36 in taxes (it obviously helped to start my trip in Ireland, and avoid the UK's nasty long haul departure tax).

That was only bettered by my return trip - Air New Zealand business class from Los Angeles to Glasgow (via Heathrow) for miles plus £15.20 taxes.

aadamjohan

i think it depend on you what class you choose and how much baggage you carry with you, a lot of airline are there that provides low airfare like Emarates, Jet Airways or KLm Airlines. Apart from this to take advantage of Cheap fares , you have to plane your journey well in advance. A lot of sites are there that offers cheap flifgts services and comparision services. You Can have a look on them.

w211

Also look for a scheme where you can build up points without flying. You can get Avios points if you also use a Tesco Clubcard and Shell's Driver's Club.

Doshwaster

jamesbrownontheroad wrote: »

That was only bettered by my return trip - Air New Zealand business class from Los Angeles to Glasgow (via Heathrow) for miles plus £15.20 taxes.

Yes, if you learn how each FF scheme works (again lurk around Flyertalk.com to learn the tricks on maximising earning of miles/points) then you can get some great deals. About 2 years ago I did LA to Heathrow in business for an extra £14 + 12,500 miles. That's not counting the free operational upgrades you get occasionally.

When travelling for work, I'm only allowed to book economy (or premium economy if over 8 hours) so I often use my miles to upgrade to business class. On BA you get to the stage when they are almost self-sustaining. I spent 25,000 to upgrade a business trip to Delhi to business but got around 20,000 back for the booking so the net cost was only about 5,000.