Who has the best frequent flyer program?

I'm enrolled in American's AAdvantage system, but are there any better
ones? Thanks.

>I'm enrolled in American's AAdvantage system, but are there any
>better ones? Thanks.

Yes. You're welcome.

R's,
John

PS: If you gave us some hint about what might make a FF program better
for you, you'll probably get longer answers.

I work for AA..just trying to get an overview of ff flyers.....some may
go out of business......thanks to Southwest.

In article <28861-42B582A6-838@storefull-3136.bay.>, Jimbo
Minn <jimbo51@> wrote:

€ I'm enrolled in American's AAdvantage system, but are there any better
€ ones? Thanks.
€

There are, but you can't get to them from WebTV.

Didn't you used to be a waitress named JoJo working for America West?

In article <MJednfxg9vS3IyjfRVn-vA@speakeasy.net>,
mnc@admin.u.nu (Miguel Cruz) wrote:

>
> As for the best FF program, I prefer United because I can collect miles on
> TG and SQ, and it's easy to make Star Alliance gold/platinum.
>

If your objective is to accumulate miles that you will use for upgrades,
then UA may be worth considering, especially if you want to do this on
an unusually wide variety of domestic and/or international routes.

But if your objective is to expend your accumulated miles on occasional
free "award travel" flights, then in my experience (FF member since
1981) UA's basic policy is to artificially limit award travel seats on
any given flight to a number totally inadequate to meet the demand,
rather than giving you an award seat if there are any unsold seats
available at the time you ask.

So before signing on with UA, I would strongly urge that you get in
contact with a _human being_ at UA who can speak for UA, and ask for
_exactly_ what clear and specific commitments they will make as to
providing such award travel seats _when you want them_, or within what
time ranges about the times you may want to fly.

If their answers seem sufficiently specific (which they won't), ask for
them in writing (which you won't get) -- then go elsewhere.

I hate to say this, but I can't see why you posted this question, as if
we don't list AA as having the best FF program you tend to find some
fault with our selection.

Michael

Jimbo Minn wrote:
> I'm enrolled in American's AAdvantage system, but are there any better
> ones? Thanks.

"AES" <siegman@stanford.edu> wrote in message
news:siegman-95E6F4.15592619062005@news.stanford.edu...
> In article <MJednfxg9vS3IyjfRVn-vA@speakeasy.net>,
> mnc@admin.u.nu (Miguel Cruz) wrote:
>
>>
>> As for the best FF program, I prefer United because I can collect miles
>> on
>> TG and SQ, and it's easy to make Star Alliance gold/platinum.
>>
>
> If your objective is to accumulate miles that you will use for upgrades,
> then UA may be worth considering, especially if you want to do this on
> an unusually wide variety of domestic and/or international routes.
>
> But if your objective is to expend your accumulated miles on occasional
> free "award travel" flights, then in my experience (FF member since
> 1981) UA's basic policy is to artificially limit award travel seats on
> any given flight to a number totally inadequate to meet the demand,
> rather than giving you an award seat if there are any unsold seats
> available at the time you ask.

I don't know any carriers (except, perhaps, Southwest) that don't use
capacity controls on award seats. For what it's worth, I never had too much
trouble clearing award travel on United, as long as I willing to be a little
flexible.



>
> So before signing on with UA, I would strongly urge that you get in
> contact with a _human being_ at UA who can speak for UA, and ask for
> _exactly_ what clear and specific commitments they will make as to
> providing such award travel seats _when you want them_, or within what
> time ranges about the times you may want to fly.
>
> If their answers seem sufficiently specific (which they won't), ask for
> them in writing (which you won't get) -- then go elsewhere.

That's just plain ridiculous. No airline will guarantee availability of
award seats as a general proposition, and certainly not in writing.

Joseph Meehan wrote:
> Jimbo Minn wrote:
> > I'm enrolled in American's AAdvantage system, but are there any better
> > ones? Thanks.
>
> I wonder what would happen if airlines would offer basic travel (econ
> and upgrade) with good schedules reasonable comfort and good prices rather
> than all the special deals, FF programs etc?

Sounds like somebody wants something for nothing.

If you want "good prices" (translation: cheap) you can't expect
upgrades, lots of convenient schedules, big wide seats, etc. Those
things cost money. Wider seats mean less passengers means higher fares.
More flights means less full flights means fewer passengers per flight
means higher fares.

I just flew from Singapore to Frankfurt and I got a bed (fully flat and
level) with a mattress pad, full size pillow, down comforter, Givenchy
pajamas, 15" TV, heated cashews for a snack, eggs cooked the way I want
when I ordered them for breakfast, the whole works. But I didn't pay a
cheap price for it.

You get what you pay for.

Joseph Meehan wrote:
> Tchiowa wrote:
> > Joseph Meehan wrote:
> >> Jimbo Minn wrote:
> >> > I'm enrolled in American's AAdvantage system, but are there any
> >> > better ones? Thanks.
> >>
> >> I wonder what would happen if airlines would offer basic travel
> >> (econ and upgrade) with good schedules reasonable comfort and good
> >> prices rather than all the special deals, FF programs etc?
> >
> > Sounds like somebody wants something for nothing.
> >
> > If you want "good prices" (translation: cheap) you can't expect
> > upgrades, lots of convenient schedules, big wide seats, etc. Those
> > things cost money.
>
> I don't expect anything for nothing. I expect to pay a reasonable price
> for what I want. However I think it is much more logical to pay for those
> wider seats and other "perks" directly, rather than being over charged for
> one flight so I can upgrade for "free" on another flight. After all that
> upgrade is really not free is it?

Never has been. Never will be. Nothing is free. The prices for economy
seats are pretty damn cheap, if you think about it. Compare the
domestic US prices with prices in Asia, for example, on similar
flights. A flight from Singapore to Jakarta is roughly as long as San
Francisco to Los Angeles. But the price is 5-10 times higher.

And remember that the extra in the price you are paying is for getting
perks for frequent flyers. Not fair? Maybe not. But that's the way the
business is and always has been. Same in hotels.

Joseph Meehan wrote:
> Tchiowa wrote:
> ....
> >
> > And remember that the extra in the price you are paying is for getting
> > perks for frequent flyers. Not fair? Maybe not. But that's the way the
> > business is and always has been. Same in hotels.
>
> You are too young.

Well, thank you. I'll tell my 2 grandchildren you said that. :-)

> That is not the way business has always been. I
> guess I am a bit older than you are. I can remember when price was
> important.

Price is still important. But there is more than one thing built into
the price. That is what has changed. Frequent Flyer programs and the
like aren't free. Those didn't exist 50 years ago. They do now.