Best frequent flyer benefits?

[Super_Geo]

I moved to the UK last year and flew back and forth a bunch of times, mostly on AC, but wasn't signed up for Aeroplan. Had a coworker tell me that you can get upgraded to business class on a flight or two at around 25-35,000 miles flown per year.

I've done some reading on it and it seems like they just changed their rules last fall to be more restrictive... just curious what people here use. Looking into British Airways, probably more useful for flying form London for, but at the same time most of my flights are to/from Canada so may stick with Air Canada.

Appreciate any insight into this. Thanks guys.

[cyra1ax]

For easy privileges sign up for Aegean Airlines, 20k miles will earn you Star Alliance Gold status.

[J-D]

Pretty much every program is being diluted these days. The Aeroplan upgrades your coworker mentioned can only upgrade the higher fare classes, so if you buy a cheaper ticket that won't work anyways.

As cyra1ax mentioned, 20k miles flown on Aegean is a pretty decent deal because it at least gets you free baggage, priority access, and lounge access when travelling on an international itinerary. Not great for upgrades though.

[Mckenzie]

Aeroplan is turning into a joke. I've been 50k gold for past two years. Last year I got first class upgrade using e upgrade credits to Europe and back. Now, you have to use the e upgrade credits AND pay $500 for international flights each way. And most of the redemptions now are being forced through rouge which is awful. The first stop for e upgrades and decent privileges is at 35k miles, but remember, all the cheap fairs you purchase through expedia, etc. are only 50% qualifying miles. Make sure you upgrade to the higher cost fairs to get closer to the status.

[cyra1ax]

Just a heads up, in the limited time that I've spent on the FT Aeroplan board, there seems to be alot of people that went to the Aegean Miles and Bonus just to get *G and once they got status, they just credit the miles to Aeroplan in order to build that up for upgrades and redemption flights.

[davidI]

The best program for you really depends on how much you expect to fly annually, what class of service you pay for, which airlines you tend to use, and what types of rewards you want.

I tend to fly over 50k/year and am happy to just redeem my points awards for reward travel (mini-RTW journeys especially) so even though AC has been diluted it still seems to be the best for me since the miles don't expire and I have historically done a lot of travel on AC. The biggest problem for me is the scam charges on reward travel through AC and now also getting enough flights / points on AC metal.

A lot of programs have lower thresholds for reaching *G but their accrual rules can also be more difficult.

If you fly less than 50k miles per year: it is almost guaranteed that your choice will be between Aegean Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Asiana Airlines. Please look up these airlines' frequent flier programs, and make a decision as to which best suits your needs.

If you read through the last 10-30 pages of this thread you'll get some good ideas I'm sure:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-...post-here.html