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Answers (17)

Best airline alliance?

Best airline alliance?

  1. Cole Member

    What would you guys say is the best alliance to try and earn points for? Im am based around chicago currently. Would like to earn point to redeem for travel to Europe, Asia, Australia, and and possibly Dubai. Dont want to start gathering miles that will not help me in the future.

  2. Jacob McCarthy Member

    [QUOTE=”Cole, post: 14251, member: 1430″]What would you guys say is the best alliance to try and earn points for? Im am based around chicago currently. Would like to earn point to redeem for travel to Europe, Asia, Australia, and and possibly Dubai. Dont want to start gathering miles that will not help me in the future.[/QUOTE]
    I’m Chicago based and in my opinion, I would go for Oneworld specifically AA, Qantas for Austrailia, Cathay Pacific and JAL for Asia, Etihad (AA partner) for Abu Dhabi which is very close to Dubai, and British Airways, Ibera, Air Berlin and Finnair for Europe

  3. Jacob McCarthy Member

    [QUOTE=”Jacob McCarthy, post: 14268, member: 104″]I’m Chicago based and in my opinion, I would go for Oneworld specifically AA, Qantas for Austrailia, Cathay Pacific and JAL for Asia, Etihad (AA partner) for Abu Dhabi which is very close to Dubai, and British Airways, Ibera, Air Berlin and Finnair for Europe[/QUOTE]
    all those airlines I listed you can use American Airlines AAdvantage miles on

  4. PhatMiles Member

    With your needs and location, I can see that OW works out better for you.
    AA’s partners help you get places easily.
    Star’s ORD presence is strong too, but AA’s partners and their program works out better for you in my opinion.

  5. Jacob McCarthy Member

    [QUOTE=”PhatMiles, post: 14272, member: 522″]With your needs and location, I can see that OW works out better for you.
    AA’s partners help you get places easily.
    Star’s ORD presence is strong too, but AA’s partners and their program works out better for you in my opinion.[/QUOTE]
    yep, i agree 🙂

  6. Donna Diamond

    I’m an AA person who works in the EU countries and I can’t argue with any of the good advice above. My biggest problem with AA’s Euro partners is British Airways. They treat AA passengers like garbage and their food in economy is beyond bad. Delta has better partners in the EU with Air France, KLM and Alitalia. Not enough for me to go back to Delta, I’ll stick with AA because of the many other great program advantages. I guess you have to take the bad with the good….

  7. Cole Member

    Due to my career I may end up in Houston in the next few years, would that affect which alliance you suggested? Or would that stay the same.

  8. Jacob McCarthy Member

    It would definitely as Houston is a UA hub which is in Star alliance.

  9. Anonymous Guest

    Keep in mind though, a few years is an eternity when it comes to airline programs. Do what makes sense for now, and re-evaluate should you end up moving.

  10. Jacob McCarthy Member

    [QUOTE=”Tiffany, post: 14328, member: 7″]Keep in mind though, a few years is an eternity when it comes to airline programs. Do what makes sense for now, and re-evaluate should you end up moving.[/QUOTE]
    yep

  11. Cole Member

    I don’t travel for work, and only travel a few times per year. So I don’t really earn miles that quickly. Most of mine are earned through credit card spend. Would it make more sense for me to rack up the credit card spend than stay loyal to one specific airline alliance?

  12. Anonymous Guest

    [QUOTE=”Cole, post: 14350, member: 1430″]Would it make more sense for me to rack up the credit card spend than stay loyal to one specific airline alliance?[/QUOTE]

    Yes, absolutely: [URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/12/04/miles-and-points-for-infrequent-flyers/[/URL]

  13. Cole Member

    So I know basically all the cards transfer to Singapore Airlines. And I know you can use Singapore Krisflyer miles to book on United. But can you also use Krisflyer to boon on AA and most other airlines?

  14. MidSouthSkier Community Ambassador

    Nope. Singapore is part of Star Alliance so you can use their miles on [URL=’http://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/ppsclub-krisflyer/redeem-airpartners/’]other airlines in that alliance[/URL] (like United) and Singapore also has [URL=’http://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/ppsclub-krisflyer/redeem-airpartners/redeemmiles-nonstar/’]non-alliance partners[/URL] (like Virgin America/Australia/Atlantic) so you can use them on those airlines too.

    I believe all the cards also transfer to British Airways which is part of the [B]one[/B]world Alliance. That means you can use BA’s miles (they call them Avios) on AA flights. But you need to be careful as Avios are distance-based and each segment is priced individually. So a non-stop NYC-LAX would be 12,500 Avios each way whereas if you changed planes in Chicago it would be the cost of NYC-ORD (7,500) + ORD-LAX (10,000) = 17,500 Avios. Plus, if you use Avios for international flights, BA will pass along the fuel surcharges, meaning your “free” flight can end up costing hundreds of dollars. So Avios are best used for short-haul, non-stop flights.

  15. Cole Member

    So by building miles on all credit cards, i can transfer them to either Singapore Airlines or British airways. Through those 2 I can book United/Star alliance(Singapore) or AA/Oneworld (British). Can i also book Emirates, Air France, Alaska, Delta, and Cathay since Alaska is partners British Airway?

  16. MidSouthSkier Community Ambassador

    Look at the mileage currency you want to spend and that will determine whose flights you can book.

    If I follow your example above, you’re asking if you could use BA Avios on Delta, for example, since Delta is a partner of Alaska and Alaska is a partner of BA? The answer there is “no” because Delta is not a partner of BA. However, Cathay is part of [B]one[/B]world so you could use your BA Avios there. But again, international long haul is not necessarily the best use of Avios due to fuel surcharges and the fact that each leg is charged separately.

    Does that help?

  17. Cole Member

    Yeah that helps, thanks. Im sure when it comes to actually booking something ill have more questions haha.

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