What are the Best FF programs?

[billymach4]

Not sure if I have seen this comparison before? But I would like to know if anyone has any idea what program Credit Card, Airline, Hotel rewards is the most beneficial?

Right now I am using the JetBlue TB program. This really ties me down to JetBlue of course. Now I hear they will be changing the program soon. I am sure this will devalue the current program. I would like to begin accumulating points in another program.

I need your suggestions. Please share your experiences on the better programs out there.

[DeniseM]

If you want to earn miles using a credit card, I like the Starwood AMEX card, because the points can transfer to almost any airline. So you are not locked into one airline's program. Continental, however, is 2 pt.s per mile, so not a good deal for people who regularly fly Continental. SPG Airline Partners

1 pt. = 1 mi. and you get a 5K bonus when you transfer 20K miles to an airline, so 20K points = 25K miles.

[LisaRex]

I strongly recommend that you check out FlyerTalk, the quintessential website for frequent flyer programs.

There is no right answer to your question. Each person is different. I'd start with a basic question: What do you want more: free flights or free hotel rooms? If it's the latter, do you live near a hub for one of the major airlines? If so, concentrate your spending on that airline. If you combine personal and business travel, will you be close to earning elite status and thus free upgrades? If so, see if you can find an airline cc that will boost your MQMs with spending.

Personally, my biggest expense is flying so I concentrate my cc spending on my airline loyalty card. If you're biggest expense is lodging, then I'd figure out where I wanted to travel, investigate which hotel chains have a presence there, and then educate myself about that hotel chain's credit cards.

In my case, I own a timeshare in Maui, so I don't need hotel points. Flying is my biggest expense. So I've signed up for the United Mileage Plus Premiere card, which gives me double miles on things like groceries and restaurants. Since they own 60% of the Hawaiian market, I'm much more likely to get a saver award seat come booking time. They also offer a class called economy plus which gives you 5 more inches of legroom for a few hundred buck upgrade fee. Well worth it to me considering how long we're on a plane.

[Carolinian]

Where you want to go is a big factor. Compare the award charts for those places. Generally the two programs that seem to always want to be out front in leading the race to the bottom are DL and US. I would pick one of the others.

[Talent312]

I have FF membership in two airlines (the ones I fly the most) and I am flying from the States to London soon for free. However, its obvious that, due to increasing mile requirements, fewer seats, user fees, and the advent of low-cost carriers, the usefulness of their programs have greatly diminished.

So, I'm not using their affinity CC's for extra points. I've found that the benefits offered by other CC's are simply a better value and more user-friendly. Therefore, I'm using a flexible-rewards MC and a Hilton AmEx.

[Carolinian]

Originally Posted by Talent312

I have FF membership in two airlines (the ones I fly the most) and I am flying from the States to London soon for free. However, its obvious that, due to increasing mile requirements, fewer seats, user fees, and the advent of low-cost carriers, the usefulness of their programs have greatly diminished.

So, I'm not using their affinity CC's for extra points. I've found that the benefits offered by other CC's are simply a better value and more user-friendly. Therefore, I'm using a flexible-rewards MC and a Hilton AmEx.

If I were flying from the states to the UK, I would do an open jaws with the return from Dublin or Frankfurt to avoid the hefty UK ''save the planet'' departure tax on long haul air tickets, then use a LCC to bridge the jaws.

[Carolinian]

Unfortunately, one of the better ones, BMI's Diamond Club, is likely going to be assimilated into Lufthansa's lousy ''Miles and More''.

BMI allows you to do one way tickets at half of what the milage would be for R/T. I recently used 6K of my BMI miles for a R/T back from Vienna to my home base in eastern Europe this coming summer. The cost was the 6K miles plus taxes and fees of US$89 for a ticket on their partner Austrian Airlines which priced out on any summer date at a minimum of €600 (US$750.00). Usually getting a return of 2 cents a mile is consided acceptable, but this amounted to 12.5 cents a mile.

[rosebud5]

I have Chase TravelPlus and I think I could do better. For 50000 miles ($1 charged on my card = 1 mile), I can get a R/T airline ticket any class, any destination, no blackout dates, max value $800. I believe they pick the airline. I can also buy into Continental, United or British Airways, but it is not and 1 to 1 transfer. 12K Chase miles = 10K airline miles for all three.

Can't I do better and if yes, how?