Questions and Answers

Hi,

I travel several times between Asia & North America and I usually fly CX (amounting to around 50,000miles), earning miles in Marco Polo club and Asia Miles. However, with Marco Polo converting to a revenue-based points program, I see a diminished chance of achieving the same status as I do now. Therefore I’m thinking of moving to a different program and I was wondering which one of the below frequent flyer programs offer the best redemption value as well as the feasibility of achieving a high status within the airline’s own program with around 50000 miles (or if part of Star alliance, the gold status):

ANA
Singapore airlines krisflyer
Asiana
Air China
Turkish Airlines
Etihad
Alaska MileagePlus

*Note: I also have a Citi ThankYou Preferred card, so I don’t know how much that would benefit me with certain programs*

Thank you very much!

Best,
Winston

Hi [USER=1269]@Winston[/USER],

I think Singapore Krisflyer might be the best for you, however, it depends where you live in Asia. If you live in South East Asia definitely Singapore. But, if you live in China go Air China or if you live in Japan Singapore or ANA. Would not choose Turkish as the FAA have banned all flights out of Istanbul. Alaska (partners with Emirates) and Ethiad good if you live in the Middle East. It all depends on location. Pick the airline which has a hub close to you because you can be rewarded miles on all Star Alliance airlines but you can not get reward flights on all of them.

See if you can get a status match to the program you choose. You can see the odds at this [URL=’http://statusmatcher.com/airlines’]website[/URL].

Hope this helps!

Hi Tyler,

Thanks for the response!! While I understand the logic behind choosing the airline from which you are the closest to, I forgot to give out a couple key details that would change the circumstances. First, I do not mind transiting; I’m based out of Hong Kong and so I could get to NYC via TPE, ICN or NRT. Second, I believe that airlines within any alliance can get reward flights on other ones within the same alliance, and the fact that upgrades (in addition to straight up redemption flights) are available across the entire star alliance is another incentive to move to that group. Therefore I’m just trying to find one program where the redemption rates are reasonable and that achieving one of the higher statuses within the airline (or even the star alliance) is achievable. The range of partners outside of the alliance could be a key factor too.

Thanks for the help again!

Ok, if you are based out of Hong Kong then I would choose ANA. They are a good airline with good lounges and redemption rates. As well they are not to far out of the way. They have a wide range of partners out side of Star Alliance. Try and get a status match. As well, you can’t redeem flights and upgrades with all airlines in Star Alliance, only some. The Aliance means that you can get miles and EQM from the airlines.

Hope this helps!

Hello! Maybe another option would be OZ. Based on your 50k frequency, that could make your *A Gold for 2 years. OZ redemption rate for first class bt HKG-N. America is just 80K miles, so I would suggest that as well! ANA is pretty good too.