Questions and Answers

Hi all,

I searched to see if this question was answered before but couldn’t find anything so sorry in advance if this question was asked already.

Also this is my first post so I’d like to say hi to all of you here and thank in advance anyone who will answer my post.
I’ve started collecting points last year only (last May to be precise) so I’m still a newbie and I’m still learning on how to maximize my travel.

[B][U]My story:[/U][/B]
I live in Hong Kong and my family lives in Lyon, France. I’ve only been flying Emirates this past year because they have a line HKG-LYS which is perfect for me.
Since my first trip with Emirates last May I have done 2 return trips HKG-LYS and one return HKG-BKK. I’m doing one more return HKG-LYS before the end of May and these 4 trips are making me achieve Silver status when I return to Hong Kong.

[B][U]My question:[/U][/B]
From now on, do you guys have any tips on what I can do to maximize my Silver status and collect more miles? Should I try to reach Gold status within the next year or not?
My ultimate goal is to save up enough miles so I can do a long-haul international flight to the US in a premium cabin sometime in the coming years.

Any advice would be welcome!

Thanks! 🙂

Are there any other airlines that you fly regularly? I would check to see if they partner with Emirates so you can attach your Skywards number to them and earn miles. Aside from that, it looks like you get Business Class lounge access in Dubai. Upgrade with miles is also available, which [USER=7]@Tiffany[/USER] says is a better use of Skywards miles, compared to award bookings.

Going for Gold might be worth it. It’ll allow you to access any of Emirates lounges worldwide when flying EK as well as guests.

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 16043, member: 29″]Are there any other airlines that you fly regularly? I would check to see if they partner with Emirates so you can attach your Skywards number to them and earn miles. Aside from that, it looks like you get Business Class lounge access in Dubai. Upgrade with miles is also available, which [USER=7]@Tiffany[/USER] says is a better use of Skywards miles, compared to award bookings.

Going for Gold might be worth it. It’ll allow you to access any of Emirates lounges worldwide when flying EK as well as guests.[/QUOTE]

Hi David,
Thanks for your answer. I don’t fly any other airlines but I’m open to joining any other FFP if that advantages me in the long run.

I’m thinking about the Alaska Airline Mileage Plan for example which would give me more options in terms of airline choices since my base if HKG and I fly mostly to Europe and I’m planning trips to the US in the coming years.

But since I’m achieving Skywards Silver next month, should I just keep going for now with them?
I suppose there’s no way I can ask Alaska Airline to match my Skywards Silver to their Mileage Plan MVP if I sign up for their program right?

AS MileagePlan is a pretty good option and they may do a status match if you ask and send in your EK credentials. Also, AS partners with Cathay, which is particularly useful. However, almost all mileage redemptions thru AS MileagePlan has to start or end in North America, with few exceptions. Furthermore, you wouldnt have access to lounges in DXB unless you were in Business or First class.

[USER=1503]@Kaycee[/USER]

Sadly AS only seem to match US and Canadian FF programs
[URL]http://statusmatcher.com/company/alaska-airlines[/URL]
And certainly not EK when the last poster tried in Dec last year.
[URL]http://statusmatcher.com/report/54146[/URL]

AS miles can also be used for Cathay flights to Europe from HKG, intra Asia or to Australia from HKG on Cathay.

Flights on EK can also be credited to JAL and I think Korean Airlines.

JAL EK earning charts
[URL]https://www.jal.co.jp/en/jmb/earn/travel/flight/ek.html[/URL]
JAL uses a distance based chart for awards.
[URL]https://www.jal.co.jp/en/jalmile/use/partner_air/p_jmb/jmb_mile.html[/URL]

Hi everyone,

Thank you to everyone who answered some of my questions before.

I’m writing again here because I’m now officially a Silver status and with that comes others questions 🙂

Basically I thought that once I get my 25000 miles to qualify for Silver status, I would have the next year to build on those and just add 25000 more miles to reach 50000 and qualify for Gold status. I didn’t realize that I had to get the 50000 in the past year to get Gold status, so if I earn again 25000 miles this year during my travels, I will only renew my Silver status and not qualify for Gold.
I’m still a newbie to this whole miles collecting hobby and don’t yet quite understand all the intricacies of the business.

Also I discovered that you don’t earn miles on award tickets (I guess that makes sense lol)

So how do people manage to accumulate so many miles to spend on business and first class award tickets? You must spend A LOT of money on either paid premium cabins fares, on daily spending to rack up transferable credit cards points, or by buying miles online.

I’m reading all the First Class and Business Class reviews that Lucky makes, and I can’t figure out where he gets the millions of miles he gets to use.

Am I missing something?

Sorry for my beginner’s questions and thank you for all future responses.

I don’t think you’re missing anything. Lucky flies as much as he does from mix of purchased miles, maximizing everyday spend, and buying cheap premium cabin fares.

Each airline program I atbit different on how you qualify but almost every program requires to you to start from zero to requakify the next year. However, that silver status might mean that you earn a higher bonus, which you wouldn’t otherwise earn as a base member. That bonus could help you reach silver and gold faster than before.

This post is from 2014 but it should help illustrate how Ben earns his miles:

[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/01/21/earned-miles-2014/[/URL]

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 17111, member: 29″]I don’t think you’re missing anything. Lucky flies as much as he does from mix of purchased miles, maximizing everyday spend, and buying cheap premium cabin fares.

Each airline program I atbit different on how you qualify but almost every program requires to you to start from zero to requakify the next year. However, that silver status might mean that you earn a higher bonus, which you wouldn’t otherwise earn as a base member. That bonus could help you reach silver and gold faster than before.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=”Gaurav, post: 17116, member: 79″]This post is from 2014 but it should help illustrate how Ben earns his miles:

[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/01/21/earned-miles-2014/[/URL][/QUOTE]

Thanks guys for your answers! 🙂

Unfortunately I don’t think we have that much choice of credit cards in Hong Kong to get many miles.