[Pmc]

I am looking to move away from BA exec club membership. After a number of cancellations I have lost Silver status and at risk of losing bronze later in the summer and will no doubt ditch the Amex BA paid for card later in the year.

I have a trip planned which utilises Star Alliance (Singapore/Swiss/ Lufthansa) out to HKG and back from Singapore. Looking for thoughts on which airline loyalty would be best to accrue miles. London based and currently member of Kris and of Aegean but minimum points with both. Would be great to hear from more experienced flyers.

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Travelfoot

[cybertravller]

Aegean Miles and Bonus, hands down. Three tiers and getting to Gold is surprisingly easy. I don’t fly that much, and even in economy, I reached silver in no time, and then I just paid about €200 since I was very close to gold.

Upgrade vouchers on Aegean and lounge vouchers at Silver are great if you ever fly to Greece!

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Pmc

[Phil_Duncan]

There’s no doubt it’s relatively easy to reach *G with Aegean – provided you fly with them. If you don’t, you need 70 000 miles each year to retain gold and please be aware there are booking classes on Lufthansa that earn nothing in Aegean’s programme and relatively little with Swiss or Austrian. Singapore earnings are also mean. If however, you do at least four sectors a year with Aegean, once you are gold, you only need to get 12 000 miles to retain and you can acquire all of those if you fly in business on the longer routes e.g. ATH-HEL/ARN/LHR/DUB and a few more.

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Pmc, LuganoPirate, cybertravller

[MarcusGB]

Have you considered Thai?

i had silver with them for a few years, which does not offer much.
However, a One way 1st SYD-LHR (Just before) Covid boosted me to Gold.
You can also do this with 3x Star Alliance flights from Europe to The Far East annually.
I also received an upgrade voucher Biz to 1st or Econ to Biz for 2 sectors, and one half price redemption for the first miles booking i made.
Membership also lasts 2 years, so you can accrue over 1 year or for more flights an average for 2 years.

Surely worth a look, and you seem to earn on most other Star Alliance Flights also.

I still keep Platinum on KLM/ AF – Flying Blue for Skyteam, and will hold Platinum for life next year.

As i fly down to Australia a few times a year, the distance and Combination of Alliance flights is very useful, between these two Alliances.

[LuganoPirate]

Personally, looking at how you fly, I’d say Miles and More is the best choice. Depending on your fare / class of travel, you’ll almost be Silver with that one booking. Once at Silver you’ll receive 25% extra miles on each flight.

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Pmc

[sparkyflier]

I might be tempted to say United Airlines, as although their inflight service ranges from very poor to variable, their telephone customer service is actually very good. And when I have complained about something they did act on it, which shows they can listen.

My first thought when I saw this thread was that Aegean would be the best option, but replies above have given more context on them and hope these have been helpful.

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Pmc

[LuganoPirate]

It all really depends on where you are based and where you will travel to the most. If @Pmc’s travels are to the US, then M&M or United would be fine. But reading his post, and assuming he’s UK or EU based, making trips not just to the Far East but also inter Europe, then a non European mileage programme is likely not the best one to go for.

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Pmc

[EruditeSheep]

I would agree in general with LP that the choice should be driven by where you most frequently fly. However I would also suggest that a little research could inform what could be the best choice by looking at how mileage accrual varies for partner airlines across the different individual airline schemes. I chose UA for my Star Alliance flights and having flown over 2 million miles on most of the Star airlines, now have lifetime UA Platinum status and with it, lifetime Star Gold. With UA, miles accrued do not expire and that could be a deciding factor, but I’m not sure how much that is the case across the different Star airlines – perhaps someone else may be better informed here.

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Pmc

[cwoodward]

Why not stay with OneWorld but largely ignore BA?

With your routings and Qatar and Cathay- plus American for US travel in the mix plus the high quality of the carriers and very solid OW benefits its could well remain your best choice in my opinion.

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sparkyflier

[sparkyflier]

Pmc – in the last post in this discussion cwoodward actually makes a good point. It is easy to build status with BA/Oneworld through airlines such as AA, QR, CX, MH, JL and Finnair etc and on AA and QR you can fly on a BA code and so get multiplies levels of Avios etc, as well as the Tier Points.

The BAEC tier point calculator is very easy to work with and also transparent IMO – other airlines I have not found them as easy to work out what you will get with each flight segment etc. And with BA you have a huge amount of short haul flights on which to use your avios.

Last year I flew TP from Porto to Lisbon, which although a very short flight – I was expecting more than 18 miles on my United MP, and this ticket was not the cheapest level.

Also bear in mind Oman Air is due to join oneworld next year (why it has taken so long since it was announced I do not know), but this opens up another option to fly to the Gulf and or connect to Asia where they have a decent spread of destinations.

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Pmc

[cwoodward]

sflyer: I have read in one aviation newsletter that an airline within OW (QR?) has voiced some objection to Oman joining. Acuate or not I have no idea.

[sparkyflier]

cwoodward – I suspect you are right about QR although I do not know. I suspect they do not want to share the connecting business that they currently very much enjoy. I believe they actually sponsored them joining but perhaps have changed their minds now. Having said that, Oman joining was always going to be 2024 I think, which was still a long time after the announcement.

[fluffymitten]

I’ve been looking at the Turkish Miles & Smiles scheme. You don’t have to do any flying with TK, the status miles are distance based and you can keep status for up to two years in some circumstances.

[clark212]

As you transition away from BA exec club, focusing on Aegean’s Miles+Bonus for your upcoming Star Alliance trip is strategic. Given its Star Alliance affiliation, it aligns well with your travel plans. Before your international journey, take advantage of your London base and explore the captivating Things to do in Lisbon. Wander through historic Alfama, immerse yourself in the vibrant Baixa district, and enjoy the rich cultural experiences the city offers. Safe travels and happy exploring!

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