Frequent Flyer Mileage Expiry

Edited to add - this post is no longer being maintained. However, my new site at Boarding Area has a mileage expiry post which is being regularly updated.

Prompted by US Senator Charles Schumer's attempt to regulate frequent flyer program mileage expiry, the latest Inside Flyer includes a piece on mileage expiry of frequent flyer and frequent stay programs.

They not only look at the expiry policy, which varies widely between programs, but also at how well it is communicated. I agree with Randy's wish that programs simply state the facts as they apply to each member.

Your miles will expire on {date} unless you {do this}.

Far too many programs either do not make the expiry explicit (forcing their members to hunt for the policy) or just state the policy and leave it to their members to work out what the expiry date actually is.

Here is a quick summary of frequent flyer program mileage expiry policies, in a subjective ranking from least to most restrictive. I've included rather more frequent flyer programs than are included in the Inside Flyer article, but I have not included any of the frequent stay programs expiry policies.

No expiry
Shanghai Airlines
TAP (with fee every 3 years)

No expiry for grandfathered miles
Asiana (miles earned before 30 September 2008)
Korean (miles earned before 30 June 2008)

No expiry with program issued credit card
Lufthansa et al

No expiry with elite status (any elite status unless otherwise mentioned)
Air France/KLM
Air New Zealand (gold and gold elite only)
ANA (diamond only)
Lufthansa et al
Malaysian (platinum only)

3 years after last activity
British Airways
Czech Airlines (redemptions do not count as activity)
Midwest
Qantas (until 30 June 2010)
Spanair
Virgin Atlantic

2 complete calendar years after last activity
Frontier

2 years after last activity
Alaska (account cancellation is not necessarily enforced)
bmi
Delta (12 months for brand new members)

18 months after last activity
American
Continental (account cancellation is not necessarily enforced)
Hawaiian
Mexicana
Qantas (from 1 July 2010)
United
US Airways (can pay fee to extend 18 further months)

10 years after earning
Gulf Air

7 years after earning
Asiana elite members (miles earned before 1 October 2008 are grandfathered)

1 year after last activity or 7 years after earning, whichever comes first
Air Canada (at 7 years after earning can be extended for a fee)

5 years after earning
Asiana non-elite members (miles earned before 1 October 2008 are grandfathered)
Korean (miles earned before 1 July 2008 are grandfathered)
SAS

4-5 years after earning
Air New Zealand
Qatar

3-4 years after earning
Emirates
Malaysian (can be extended 12 months for a fee)
South African
Thai

3 years after earning
Cathay Pacific
El Al
Lufthansa et al
Singapore Airlines (can be extended up to 12 months for a fee)
TAP (can be extended indefinitely, by 3 years at a time, for a fee)
Turkish Airlines

2 years after last flight activity
Aeroflot

2 years after last status earning flight (on own metal)
Aeromexico

20 months after last status earning
Air France/KLM

1 year after last earning
JetBlue (only earning from JetBlue flights or JetBlue Amex counts)

2-3 years after earning
ANA

2 years after earning
Air China
Southwest

2 years after earning with elite status or airline issued credit card
AirTran

18 months after earning
Virgin America

1 year after earning
AirTran

6 months after last time earnt 2000+ miles
Spirit

I'm not sure why Aeromexico got an Inside Flyer thumbs up when Air France/KLM got a thumbs down. Sure Aeromexico has 24 months expiry versus 20 months, but neither are particularly long and Aeromexico requires earning on an Aeromexico flight in that period whereas Air France/KLM's requirement is for any Sky Team flight.

I don't think the Inside Flyer explanation of how Singapore Airlines miles expire is clear or correct. Expiry is based on the date each mile was earned, regardless of how much or little other account activity there has been since then.

Summary

Some of these expiry policies are downright mean. Anything tied to date of earning, or requiring activity more often than once every 2 years has the effect that the frequent flyer program provides very little value for infrequent flyers. It is natural and right for the programs to concentrate on members who are high value to the airline and try to save costs by eliminating low value memberships. However, it is worth them remembering that travellers' circumstances change and an unduly harsh expiry rule can jeopardise a potentially valuable future relationship. Or, if Sen Schumer has his way, result in government interference. No one wants that!

Updated for Aeroflot and Mexicana.

Star Alliance Gold Plus

The majority of Star Alliance frequent flyer programs (FFPs), including all the main ones, have more than one elite status level that is Star Alliance Gold. Oneworld has 3 elite status tiers across the alliance (although some programs do not have every alliance tier represented), so I'm not sure why Star Alliance couldn't also introduce an extra tier with additional benefits over Star Alliance Gold.

Star Alliance Gold Plus

(AC) Aeroplan - Air Canada Super Elite
(NZ) Airpoints - Gold Elite
(OZ) Asiana Club - Platinum
(US) Dividend Miles - Platinum Preferred
(MS) EgyptAir Plus - Platinum
(SQ) KrisFlyer - PPS Solitaire, PPS
(NH) Mileage Club - Diamond
(UA) Mileage Plus - Premier Executive 1K
(LH) Miles and More - HON Circle
(TK) Miles and Smiles - Elite Plus
(CO) OnePass - Platinum Elite
(CA) Phoenix Miles - Platinum
(SA) Voyager - Platinum

Programs with only one Star Alliance Gold status

(FM) Crane Club
(BD) Diamond Club
(SK) Eurobonus
(TG) Royal Orchid Plus
(JK) Spanair Plus
(TP) Victoria

Lifetime elite airline status

As part of a review of my frequent flyer strategy for the year ahead I have been thinking about lifetime elite status. If one year of elite frequent flyer status is good then a lifetime is better - travel can be focussed on purposes other than requalification of elite status.

As the term suggests, lifetime elite status gives status benefits for the rest of your life, or the life of the frequent flyer program, whichever ends first. In respect of alliance benefits there is an additional caveat that the host airline remains in the airline alliance.

In 2007 I achieved lifetime Oneworld Sapphire status through Qantas Frequent Flyer. I was also well on the way towards lifetime Star Alliance gold status through Singapore Airlines before they pulled the plug by grandfathering existing lifetime PPS Solitaire members and stopping any new qualification of the status. Since then I haven't paid too much attention to lifetime statuses, since most of the programs I use either do not have lifetime elite status, or have a long time period qualification (in one case decades for me).

The last couple of years my travel patterns have changed markedly, and as I continue to seek out more difficult to reach places they will keep changing for the foreseeable future. Thus, removing the requalification hassle will be welcome. I haven't yet finalised my approach but in the meantime, here are some lifetime elite airline statuses that are available together with their requirements.

Lifetime status earned by a period of time with high status

Air France/KLM - 10 years platinum for lifetime platinum (Sky Team elite+)
bmi - 10 years gold for lifetime gold (Star Alliance gold)

Lifetime status earned by a period of time with high status and minimum status mileage

Lufthansa - 10 years senator/HON circle at or above age 60, and 1 million status miles for lifetime senator (Star Alliance gold)
SAS - 10 years gold at or above age 60 for lifetime gold (Star Alliance gold)
South African - 6 years of platinum earned by flying 100,000 miles per year on South African or by the requisite tier points (only South African flights count) for lifetime platinum (Star Alliance gold)

Lifetime status earned by lifetime status mileage (restricted)

Air China - 1 million status miles on Air China for lifetime platinum (Star Alliance gold)
Alaska - 1 million status miles on Alaska and Horizon for lifetime gold
Asiana - 1000 flights on Asiana for lifetime platinum (Star Alliance gold)
EgyptAir - 1 million status miles on EgyptAir for lifetime platinum (Star Alliance gold)
Philippine - 1 million status miles on Philippine for million miler
United - 1 million status miles on United for lifetime premier executive (Star Alliance gold)
United - 2 million status miles on United for lifetime premier executive (Star Alliance gold) and lifetime Red Carpet Club membership
United - 3 million status miles on United for lifetime 1K (Star Alliance gold)

Lifetime status earned by lifetime status mileage (unrestricted)

Asiana - 1 million status miles for lifetime platinum (Star Alliance gold)
Continental - 1 million status miles for lifetime silver (Star Alliance silver)
Continental - 2 million status miles for lifetime gold (Star Alliance gold)
Continental - 4 million status miles for lifetime platinum (Star Alliance gold)
Delta - 1 million status miles for lifetime silver (Sky Team elite)
Delta - 2 million status miles for lifetime gold (Sky Team elite)
Delta - 4 million status miles for lifetime platinum (Sky Team elite+)
Korean - 500,000 status miles for morning calm premium club (Sky Team elite+)
Korean - 1 million status miles for million miler club (Sky Team elite+)
Qantas - 7,000 status credits for lifetime silver (Oneworld ruby)
Qantas - 14,000 status credits for lifetime gold (Oneworld sapphire)

Lifetime status earned by lifetime mileage (any source)

American - 1 million miles for lifetime gold (Oneworld ruby)
American - 2 million miles for lifetime platinum (Oneworld sapphire)

Comments

Sky Team appears to be the easiest to earn lifetime top tier status. For me that isn't much help as I very rarely fly Sky Team airlines.

Star Alliance has a number of options for lifetime top alliance tier status. Easiest would have been bmi, if you've already had bmi gold status. The expected merge into Lufthansa Miles & More within the next year scuppers hopes of lifetime status for most people. For someone starting now Asiana may be easiest except for those who predominantly fly United.

Oneworld has no lifetime top tier status. Lifetime middle tier status is most easily earnt with American since all mileage counts.

In all cases lifetime status requires a significant commitment and a lot of flying (except for American). So an important consideration is whether or not the lifetime status benefit will still be available for long enough to earn it, and whether the requirements may go up significantly in the meantime.

Something for me to think about.

More changes at bmi and Diamond Club

bmi has announced some changes to UK and Ireland product and to their frequent flyer program Diamond Club (a favourite among many on Flyer Talk for the ease of getting elite status and the generous redemption rates).

From 27 January 2010, business class on UK domestic and Ireland flights will be replaced with Flexible Economy. The main changes here are that business class mileage will not be earned unless crediting to Diamond Club (and then only while they have special earning rate), seating is no longer 3-2, higher rate of APD tax will no longer apply (because there will no longer be a separate business cabin), and heavily discounted business class fares are gone.

Passengers who have business class tickets should not only get the extra APD refunded (as advised in the bmi notice), but also 30% refund of the fare as compensation for the downgrade under EU regulation 261/2004.

Also on UK domestic and Ireland flights the free meal for passengers with bmi elite status is gone. This was a prime differentiation with Aer Lingus on the Dublin to London route for example, and so the removal is rather unpopular.

The other change announced was that Blue Plus status will be removed. As this status provided few benefits other than the free meal which is now removed, this makes sense. The Wandering Aramean thinks the closure of Diamond Club will not be long in coming.

Emirates Skywards major devaluation

About 6 weeks ago I posted the news that Emirates Skywards will have a major overhaul effective 1 January 2010.

In short the frequent flyer program will be more closely aligned to revenue than it currently is. Earning rates depend on fare basis and the class of service factors for business and first class are higher.

Since the announcement, Emirates has drip-fed more detailed information including the new geographic zones (from 2010 both earning and redemption is zone-based), and new earning & depemption charts. After crunching the numbers on hundreds of routes, the conclusion is unmistakeable - this is a significant devaluation.

Geographic zones

The current program has 13 geographic zones for awards. From 1 January 2010 there will be 18 zones for both earning and redemption. Mostly these are unchanged from the existing zones, except:

• America split into 3 zones - North America west (which includes Houston), North America east and South America
• Australia/NZ split into 3 zones - Australia west (ie Perth), Australia east and New Zealand
• Cyprus switches from Near East to Europe South
• Cities near to Dubai (ie Bahrain, Doha and Muscat) switch from the Home zone to Middle East

The consequences of the America & Australasia zone splits are to make some awards cheaper for cities closest to Dubai, and some awards more expensive for cities further from Dubai.

Cyprus awards are more expensive.

Cities near to Dubai now have a small extra award mileage cost relative to the equivalent award to/from Dubai.

The new charts have a disclaimer that the figures are based on the most direct route between zones. Since Emirates has lots of tag flights (ie flights between cities other than Dubai), it is unclear how to interpret the new earning & redemption rates on some routes. For example between Asian Sub-continent south and Far East there are some direct flights (Male to Jakarta for instance) but between most city pairs travel would need to be via Dubai (eg Colombo to Seoul). How are the rates determined in those cases?

As the Emirates route map changes frequently, Skywards members will need to pay attention to changes in the zone earning rates. This could be a positive or a negative depending on changes to the routes and how quickly Skywards reacts. It certainly is a nuisance and is a drawback of using geographic zones so heavily in a frequent flyer program (incidentally Air NZ Airpoints also uses zones, but the issue is less relevant for them due to their much more limited route network and less active changes in that network).

Awards relatively unchanged

The good news is that on the whole award costs are the same in the new chart as the existing one. There are some increases (mostly associated with the zone changes) and some decreases.

This is particularly reassuring to those who have a sizeable stash of miles, given the short notice to cash them in on the old award charts if the rates had increased significantly.

The new ability to redeem one-way awards is a genuine improvement.

Upgrades costly

The new upgrade costs are much higher than the old costs. Upgrades from flexible fares are generally slightly higher than the old upgrade cost (with some slightly cheaper and some much higher), and upgrades from saver fares are generally 30-40+% higher than the old upgrade cost.

In most cases the new mileage cost to upgrade from economy saver to business is almost as high as the cost of a business award.

Earning rates slashed

The most significant change is to the earning rates. Emirates spun the changes as being an enhancement to the class of service bonus. While it is true the mileage earned for first class relative to economy class (flexible fares) is higher from 1 January 2010, this has been achieved by reducing almost all the earning rates as outlined below.

The 2009 earning rates are 100% mileage in economy, 150% in business and 200% in first.

The 2010 earning multiples are 50% for economy saver, 100% for economy flexible fares, 125% for business saver, 175% for business flexible fares, 200% for first saver and 250% for first flexible. However the base mileage earning between the zones is roughly 80-90% of the typical distance flown.

The result is marginally higher earning on flexible first and business fares, a 15% drop in earning on saver first fares, a 30% drop in earning on saver business fares and a whopping 55% drop in earning on saver economy fares. Some routes have smaller or bigger changes in earning than these generalisations. Most people fly on saver fares because the definition includes all fares not fully refundable, fares which are available for a limited period or are non-published, and all fares which include other airlines.

Status more difficult to achieve

In more PR spin, Emirates trumpeted that the elite status requirements were unchanged. Of course now we see the detail of the earning rates it is immediately obvious that from next year it will be harder to earn Silver or Gold status.

Summary

The changes remove most of the anomalies in the existing program, and at the same time represent a significant devaluation.

With both earning and redemption being fixed amounts based on zone and fare, the earn to burn ratios are relatively constant. The earn to burn ratios on Skywards from 1 January 2010 are generally in the 8-10% range, with some as poor as 5% and some as good as 15%. This represents much worse value than most US-based frequent flyer programs, for example.

These changes are big enough for me to rethink my plans for some premium longhaul trips on Emirates for 2010.

Get expert tailored frequent flyer advice + tickets to "Up in the Air"

Wendy Perrin of Conde Naste Traveler has teamed up with frequent flyer guru Randy Petersen in a great giveaway. For the winners, not only will their frequent flyer questions be answered by experts but they also get tickets to the New York preview of the FF movie of the year "Up in the Air" starring George Clooney. There are 10 pairs of movie tickets, and at time of writing less than 40 entries, so the odds are great.

To enter post your FF problem or question over at The Perrin Post (you may want to subscribe to get Wendy's great travel advice and news while you are there).

United eggs on extreme mileage runners, again

No I'm not referring to double or triple EQM (elite qualifying miles) promotions. Last year United Mileage Plus had an Elite Choice Team competition, where the winning 50 teams (of 4 people) earned 1 million redeemable miles (all these to be shared between each team) plus some other lesser prizes.

The 2010 individual Elite Choices are not as lucrative but once again appeal to competitive insane Flyer Talkers. Top billing is for the first 50 people to reach 250,000 EQM or 250 EQS (elite qualifying segments) - they get 50,000 redeemable miles (on top of the pile of miles earned) and also get 1K status (with all the attendant Star Alliance gold benefits) to gift to a nominated person.

Another great, but hard to get, prize is for the person who in a calendar month earns the most EQM from United flights - 2 SWUs (systemwide upgrades good for any one-way trip between stopovers) and also Premier Executive status (also Star Alliance gold) to gift to a nominated person.

To show how lucrative this could be for someone flying an insane amount, take the following hypothetical.

Suppose you win both of the prizes mentioned above (most United flying in a calendar month and also in the first 50 to reach 250,000 EQMs in 2010). Suppose also you currently do not have any United status. While reaching 250k EQMs you would earn at a minimum (ignoring everything other than the Elite Choices promo):

• up to 250,000 redeemable miles from flying depending on fare class and airline
• potentially a significant amount of redeemable miles from credit card spend
• 25,000 redeemable miles or gift of Premier status at 125k EQMs
• 25,000 redeemable miles or gift of Premier Exec status at 175k EQMs
• 50,000 redeemable miles from 250k EQMs prize
• gift of 1K status from 250k EQMs prize
• 2 SWUs from most United flying in a month prize
• gift of Premier Exec status from most United flying in a month prize
• up to 6,250 redeemable miles from the Premier 25% bonus miles on United flights (between 25k and 50k EQMs)
• up to 200,000 redeemable miles from the Premier Executive and 1K 100% bonus miles on United & Continental flights (after 50k EQMs)
• up to 88 of 500-mile region 1 upgrades from the 4 500 mile region 1 upgrades per 10k EQMs on United after 25k EQMs
• up to 2 confirmed region 1 upgrades (CR1s) from flying 10k miles on United in a quarter
• 6 SWUs on qualifying for 1K (credited at end of 2010)
• 6 SWUs from 2 SWUs per 50k EQMs starting at 150k EQMs in a calendar year
• up to 25% of the way to Million Mile status (if all EQMs are from United flights)

I've assumed all this flying happens in the first quarter & so have ignored the new unlimited United domestic upgrades system.

If all the flying is on United, and assuming take the bonus miles option this comes to a total of:

• up to 556,250 redeemable miles (before any other promotions, minimum mileage, credit card earn, etc)
• 14 SWUs (8 of 2010 vintage and 6 of 2011 vintage)
• 88 500-mile upgrades
• 2 CR1s
• 1 gift Premier Exec status
• 1 gift 1K status
• 1 sore butt

I'm not an expert on United Mileage Plus, so hopefully my maths is right. Please correct me if not.

That is a lot of bennie for some crazy enough to do a lot of flying on United (or slightly less benefits if flying other Star Alliance airlines). How much flying? Well 250k EQMs in a premium cabin is at least 167k flown miles, or roughly 7.5 times around the world. I have flown that distance in under 2 months, although admittedly not on United.

Frequent Flyer Friday #9

Celebrating Friday with a short interview with a frequent flyer.

Steven Frischling
Steven is globe hopping photographer who has branched out into travel and airline consultancy. He has an active blog, Flying with Fish, runs a small business, The Travel Strategist, and is a Director of Emerging Media [ed - ie he is on twitter a lot] for Innovation Analysis Group. When not travelling the world earning a stiff back and numb butt, Steven spends time with his family, watches the Boston Red Sox and shoots photos.

First, some questions to see what kind of frequent flyer Steven is.

What is your home airport?
Steven - New Haven-Tweed. This is a lovely little airport which currently has five flights a day all Dash-8 turboprops to Philadelphia. However, New York JFK always feels like home to me, having grown up right at the end of runway 4R/22L.

What is the airline you usually fly?
Steven - US Airlines, since it is the only airline to fly to New Haven so nearly all my trips include at least 2 flights on them. Prior to 2006 I mainly flew Delta but then they stopped flying to New Haven.

Which of the following best describes your flying pattern?
- infrequent (eg annual) leisure trip
- jetsetting for pleasure
- frequent (eg monthly) business travel
× road warrior
- mileage runner
× I live on planes
Steven - until last year when an unexpected health issue decreased my flying significantly I lived on planes. My travel will soon be picking up again but I plan to adjust my lifestyle to road warrior.

I hope you have a full recovery soon.

How do you mostly earn your frequent flyer miles?
- promos
- credit card spend
× business and leisure travel
- taking extra flights on trips I need to take
- mileage running
Steven - business travel, butt in seat (BIS) miles.

Please describe how you travel in 4 words.
Steven - Fast and light (OK, that is 3 words, sorry).

Now for some travel advice from Steven.

Flying with photography gear has its own challenges. What are the most common issues and how do you overcome them?
Steven - The most common issues most photographers face, both professional and hobbyist, is the desire to pack everything they own. This ads unneeded weight and decreases valuable space. Since checking camera gear can be risky, the biggest challenge is hauling everything you need on your back on the plane as carry-on. To avoid weight restrictions on certain European and Asian airlines I pack everything into a photo vest. I have managed to fly with a photo vest stuffed with 2 full-size pro bodies 8 lenses, a flash, a 12” Apple PowerBook and batteries. This is possible because a vest is clothing and is not weighed or counted as a carry-on bag.

Nice one. I can think of some non-photographer chronic overpackers who could benefit from that trick.

What is inside your carry-on bag right now?
Steven - Right now my Mountainsmith Endevour briefcase is loaded with a Sony PSP (Darth Vader limited edition!); eight UMD movie disks for the Sony PSP; my technology-run pack (CF card reader, USB cord, charger for laptop, iPhone, Blackberry, noise canceling headsets, 4 AAA batteries, international power outlet adapter, etc etc); Canon battery charger; Canon 20D; Canon 28-70f2.8; National Geographic Magazine; 2oz bottle of Purell; pack of disposable wipes; Kit Kat bar and a Moleskine notebook.

What is your preferred airline for regular travel, and why?
Steven - US Airways could be my preferred airline because it gets me home to kids. On the other hand I used to fly Delta on most of my domestic and international flights, which I always enjoyed. My preference for Delta dates back to when I was a kid watching their L-1011s fly over my house all day long.

What is your preferred airline for a special trip, and why?
Steven - I am not sure I have an answer to this question. If the Concorde were still flying I’d say British Airways or Air France just to get a shot on the Concorde, but now the airlines, even the great ones, are all pretty much the same. If I wanted a great layover experience I might say Virgin Atlantic for their arrivals lounge at London Heathrow; Korean Air for their lounge at Seoul Incheon or possibly KLM for the pure enjoyment of Amsterdam. If I was able to swing a first-class seat I might add Lufthansa to the list due to their First Class Terminal at Frankfurt, which I have been spoiled to use in the past.

Please give one of your great tips on travel.
Steven - When transiting through airport security enter the line completely prepared. Make sure your mobile phone, keys, wallet, pens, etc are off your body and secured. Place them in your bag or a zipped jacket pocket so they are out of sight and reach of airport thieves. Be as prepared as possible for the airport security process and never take your eyes off your items. The most common place to get targeted by an airport thief is in the security line.


Sound advice. It is much more difficult for the whole carry on bag to be taken than slipping, say, a wallet out of a tray.

What is your preferred frequent flyer program, and why?
Steven - Of all the programs I have used, I prefer British Midland/BMI’s Diamond Club. The program has a relatively low threshold, is low maintenance and offer fantastic value for mileage redemption.

Please give a tip on frequent flyer programs.
Steven - When choosing a frequent flyer program keep in mind the best program for you might not be that of the airline you fly most frequently. I fly US Airways most commonly and for the past few years I have chosen to place all my miles with BMI.

Thanks Steven Frischling for sharing some great travel advice and all the best for your evolving career. Have a great weekend.

For other frequent flyer friday posts please check out the index. If you have any questions you'd like answered, or wish to nominate someone for an interview, please drop me a line using the please use the contact me link. For all sorts of reasons I can't make any guarantees, but if you're interested chances are others are too and so we'll get some good interviews.

Learn the basics of frequent flyer programs

Fellow nomad Chris Guillebeau has launched a guide how to use frequent flyer miles and has requested for a quick review*. I like what he does so I'm happy to oblige.

I like the guide. It covers the basics well, and includes practical, real, examples. This will save someone unfamiliar with frequent flyer programs from making simple, common, mistakes. It will also save a lot of time on researching how to get the best value out of them. All the information in the guide is available on Flyer Talk and elsewhere, but it is hard to find because you have to know what to look for and the right questions to ask - tricky.

As with real life mileage earning opportunities, the guide does have a US bias. Most of the promotions referenced are current US-based ones (although some are also available to global residents). There simply are more ways to earn much more frequent flyer miles through non-flying activity if you live in USA and/or have USA-issued credit cards than if you live in Asia-Pacific for example. Chris acknowledges this towards the bottom of his sales pitch.

If you don't know the ins and outs of frequent flyer programs, or how to earn significant sums from non-flying activities, the $49 fee can easily be recouped in time & money saved, and not only covers the guide but additional resources such as updates on significant promotions for the next 6 months.

Chris offers a guarantee so you can try it out and be refunded if it doesn't work for you.

Since the guide is targeted for non (or newly) frequent flyers there is no discussion of elite status benefits. I don't think that is a problem, but it would be nice to point out that those flying more than 1 intercontinental trip or half a dozen transcontinental trips in a year have additional factors to consider.

There is also little mention of mileage upgrades, although I understand this will be coming in an update.



* as with all my reviews I receive no reward for making the review, and also do not accept any restrictions on what I can or can't say. I simply tell it how I see it.

Kris Flyer redemption changes 1 December

Singapore Airlines' Kris Flyer program has some changes from 1 December 2009.

Kris Flyer has joined the trend for frequent flyer programs to allow cheap one-way awards - at 50% of the cost of return awards. This is a big and long-awaited improvement.

They have also simplified the star alliance award chart by reducing the number of zones. Generally most award costs remain unchanged, but some have increased a little. A few significant anomalies in the old chart have been fixed (routes where the award cost is very cheap for the distance travelled) - these will cost substantially more miles from 1 December so book now to get the old award mileage cost.

For awards on Delta, the changes are to add more zones than previously to more closely align with the star alliance award chart, and to generally increase the mileage costs (particularly in business class). Presumably this is to reduce arbitrage opportunities.

Mexicana awards have less zones and increased award costs.

For Virgin Atlantic the major change is to allow awards on the entire journey. Previously a route for say North America to Africa required 2 awards, now it can be done in one award. As with the other charts, in general costs have increased.

The Air India awards are not being changed.

Overall there is a slight devaluation of miles - the extent of which depends on routes awards are used on. However, the significant reduction in cost for one-way awards reasonably offsets this in my view.

Frequent Flyer Friday #8

Celebrating Friday with a short interview with a frequent flyer.

Anglo Large Clawed Otter (ALCO)

ALCO is a Flyer Talk addict who enjoys (in truth is addicted to) flying. ALCO's work has little or no travel, and night law school also doesn't provide much travel opportunities. Weekend travel to the Caribbean or Europe provides ALCO with stress relief and a chance to catch up on coursework. Getting away for the weekend often means catching up with friends scattered around North America and Europe.

First, some questions to see what kind of frequent flyer ALCO is.

What is your home airport?
ALCO - Houston Bush International Airport.

What is the airline you usually fly?
ALCO - Continental Airlines, as they offer the most nonstop options from their Houston hub.

Which of the following best describes your flying pattern?
- infrequent (eg annual) leisure trip
× jetsetting for pleasure
- frequent (eg monthly) business travel
- road warrior
- mileage runner
- I live on planes

How do you mostly earn your frequent flyer miles?
- promos
- credit card spend
- business and leisure travel
- taking extra flights on trips I need to take
× mileage running
ALCO - To pad my frequent flyer balances I prefer to book QUP fares on either United or US Airways to earn miles in bmi's Diamond Club program, which offers extremely favourable earning rates for first class fares. It is often possible to earn on such fares at 3 cents per mile or less, and the first class seat and service make spending an entire weekend doing transcontinental mileage runs bearable.

Please describe how you travel in 4 words.
ALCO - as much as possible

Now for some travel advice from ALCO.

How will Continental joining Star Alliance impact on your travel?
ALCO - Continental's move to *A is a welcome change.

Some things won't change for me. Most of my Continental flights will continue to be credited to OnePass so I can continue to qualify for the plentiful elite upgrades. I'll continue to use United and US Airways domestic first class fares for their less restrictive routing rules than Continental first class fares (which tend to require nonstop or one-stop flights), and continue to credit these to bmi for the better earning & redemption value.

However, the Continental RTW award, which is already great value in first and business class requiring far less miles than other frequent flyer programs, will be further improved by the access to Star Alliance flights. I expect Continental will soon lift the RTW award mileage level to match that of United. I'll take advantage of these while I still can.

What is inside your carry-on bag right now?
ALCO - A weekend's worth of clothes (for a mix of climates depending on connecting cities), several kilos of textbooks, my macbook and ipod, and my trusty Canon 40D (photography and in particular travel photography are hobbies).

What is your preferred airline for regular travel, and why?
ALCO - For regular travel, I prefer Continental Airlines. Their upgrade scheme suits my travel habits (primarily to leisure destinations on weekends), and I rarely find myself sitting in coach even on the cheapest fares. Continental's upgrade scheme (miles and copay) for international business class is far less generous than their domestic upgrade scheme. Despite this I generally earn enough miles for longhaul trips to either be on a business class award or be upgraded to business.

What is your preferred airline for a special trip, and why?
ALCO - Without a doubt, Emirates. I recently had the pleasure of flying Emirates in business class between Capetown and Houston (via Dubai). Despite spending over 24 hours in the air on that itinerary, I didn't want the flights to end. I thought the seat and service were flawless.

Please give one of your great tips on travel.
ALCO - Never be afraid to try out a new destination simply because it hasn't garnered the sorts of favourable reviews that many staple vacation destinations have. I have found reviews of destinations, hotels and airlines on sites like Trip Advisor and Flyer Talk that vary wildly, depending on the reviewer's unique perspective. Though I value such reviews, and may even use them as a planning guide, I have found that I can't really judge a place until I have been there myself. Based on the accounts of others, I was not really expecting to find much of interest on recent trips to Lima, Peru and Seoul, South Korea. I was pleasantly surprised with both places, finding many interesting activities, landmarks and culinary adventures in each destination. I would highly recommend a tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to anyone visiting Seoul, even if you are in Seoul only for a long transit. The experience was one of the most fascinating tours I have ever undertaken.

What is your preferred frequent flyer program, and why?
ALCO - bmi Diamond Club. The earnings rates in premium cabins are stellar, and the redemption opportunities and rates within Star Alliance and on partner airlines are good. I like that the program offers one-way awards, and also offers cash + miles redemptions. Having access to United and US Airlines lounges on domestic itineraries as a bmi Gold card holder is also a great benefit.

Please give a tip on frequent flyer programs.
ALCO - It is very difficult to generalise in this area, as flying patterns and frequent flyer goals vary so much from person to person. I have found sites like FlyerTalk to be an invaluable resource for investigating the relative merits of the various programs. The knowledge and experience shared on FlyerTalk has helped me immensely in furthering my own goals of pursuing ever more travel.

Ahh yes, FT is good for feeding travel addictions. Thanks Anglo Large Clawed Otter for sharing. Have a great weekend.

For other frequent flyer friday posts please check out the index. If you have any questions you'd like answered, or wish to nominate someone for an interview, please drop me a line using the please use the contact me link. For all sorts of reasons I can't make any guarantees, but if you're interested chances are others are too and so we'll get some good interviews.

Low cost airline Jetstar launches frequent buyer program

Jetstar, the low cost subsidiary of Qantas, has launched a new program today. It is not a frequent flyer program (because they are too expensive) but instead a frequent buyer program launched to a branded Macquarie Bank credit card (Mastercard).

For every A$1 spent you get one Jetstar Dollar (jetbucks?) cent, or two on the more expensive platinum card. Like Air New Zealand Airpoints (with Airpoints Dollars), the Jetstar Dollars are used directly to pay fares of that value. However, there are some gotchas:

• vouchers are issued automatically when 100 Jetstar Dollars are accumulated
• vouchers can only be issued in multiples of 25 Jetstar Dollars
• when a voucher is issued you have 3 months to ticket and 6 months to fly it before the voucher expires
• Jetstar Dollars can only be redeemed on Jetstar flights
• earning cap at A$50,000 a year (or A$100,000 a year on the platinum card)

When using the Jetstar branded credit card on www.jetstar.com to make a flight booking the credit card charges are waived.

You can use a mixture of credit card and Jetstar Dollar vouchers to pay fares. It is unclear whether the excess of voucher value over fare is lost or retained for future use (I'm guessing it is lost).

Conversion of Jetstar Dollars to Qantas Frequent Flyer points is planned for next year.

Overall, it is a cheap pale imitation of most frequent flyer or credit card rewards programs. However if you fly Jetstar a lot it may be worthwhile. For more information, check out the Jetstar Mastercard page.

Frequent Flyer Friday #7

Celebrating Friday with a short interview with a frequent flyer.

Felix

Felix does some highly technical stuff [editor - my words] in medical and biological imaging. As a result he travels frequently between Asia and Australia, Europe and USA.

First, some questions to see what kind of frequent flyer Felix is.

What is your home airport?
Felix - Singapore then the main Star Alliance European hubs (Zurich, Frankfurt, London and Munich) and then Sydney.

What is the airline you usually fly?
Felix - Still United these days.

Which of the following best describes your flying pattern?
- infrequent (eg annual) leisure trip
- jetsetting for pleasure
× frequent (eg monthly) business travel
- road warrior
- mileage runner
- I live on planes
Felix - More like every 3 weeks but monthly is close enough.

How do you mostly earn your frequent flyer miles?
- promos
- credit card spend
× business and leisure travel
- taking extra flights on trips I need to take
- mileage running
Felix - I don't do mileage runs, and promotions are mostly available to people who live in large countries.

Please describe how you travel in 4 words.
Felix - longhaul commuter between homes.

Lufthansa and Miles & More are in your bad books. Why is that?
I feel that a former quality airline has been emptied by a modern crew of managers who offer flimsy marketing propaganda instead of tangible value. Most displeasing is the culture of relying on the customer being an idiot. For example calling detrimental changes "enhancements", taking benefits away from most customers in order to make them appear more desireable for the lucky few customers who get to keep the "exclusive" benefits, blaming the airports for providing poor service (buses at Frankfurt when you get a remote stand).

[Editor note - the August 2004 Miles & More changes are a classic example of such marketing double-speak.]

Now for some travel advice from Felix.

What is inside your carry-on bag right now?
Felix - Air because it is empty. I have three drawers two of which will be poured into the carry on before I leave my home depending on the trip's destination. I always bring ipods, books, at least one computer, mobile phones, eyeshades, medication, breathing mask, books, and cameras with me.

Please give a tip on travel.
Felix - Do the maths and avoid low cost carriers (unless you are a USA domestic flyer). Only five times in my life, I have calculated a low cost airline as being cheaper all in than a legacy airline on the same route. Each of those 5 times I paid with high blood pressure - too small seats, canceled flights, hidden charges. The only ones which weren't terrible but a huge hassle to check bags were Air Berlin and JetBlue.

What is your preferred airline for regular travel, and why?
Felix - I don't have one anymore. United used to be my workhorse as I always travel with LOTS of equipment (personal score was 185kg) and UA was most accommodating with great discounts in the past. But these days Singapore Airlines is more flexible, has better prices, their coach product isn't that much worse than United's old business class cabin. By flying Singapore Airlines I can sometimes avoid the at times hostile USA border scheme which makes me fly them more and more often.

What is your preferred airline for a special trip, and why?
Felix - Thai. I just like them and don't have unpleasant moments with them.

What is your preferred frequent flyer program, and why?
Felix - I am historically stuck with (United) MileagePlus, (Lufthansa) Miles & More, (bmi) Diamond Club, and (American) AAdvantage. If I had to choose again, I'd spread things much more evenly, would never have joined Miles & More, and I would have put more emphasis on Oneworld than I did before.

Please give a tip on frequent flyer programs.
Felix - Optimize them for your needs. I have all the predictions in my spreadsheet ready by March. Do not over-credit any program and make sure your upgrade instruments & mileage will not expire. I was very skillful in utilising all my certificates and very naive and dumb in collecting far too many miles.

Thank you Felix for sharing. The advice about not being over-reliant on an airline or frequent flyer program is particularly important for those who fly a lot. Have a great weekend.

For other frequent flyer friday posts please check out the index. If you have any questions you'd like answered, or wish to nominate someone for an interview, please drop me a line using the please use the contact me link. For all sorts of reasons I can't make any guarantees, but if you're interested chances are others are too and so we'll get some good interviews.

Emirates Skywards program moves to revenue basis

Emirates has announced there will be some sweeping changes to their Skywards frequent flyer program from 1 January 2010. The changes can be summed up as a move from a traditional mileage basis to a more innovative revenue basis. In a post a few months ago I described the various types of revenue-based frequent flyer programs (FFPs). The new Skywards program does not match any of those types but instead has fixed earning and fixed awards.

The key changes announced to date include:

• no new status tier, yet, and no change to earning requirement
• fares categorised as flex (normal published fares) and saver (sales and fares brought through other airlines)
• earning fixed amounts based on whole journey using geographic zones
• earning related to profitability - higher for first and business class, lower 50% rate for saver fares
• status mileage earning to match redeemable mileage earning (yet to be seen if this also applies to bonus mile promotions)
• status earning based on membership year rather than calendar year, with year reset on attaining a higher level
• awards categorised as flex (more availability) and saver (limited availability)
• flex awards at double cost
• one-way awards introduced
• upgrades cost more from saver fares than from flex fares

Other than awards being fixed amounts based on the journey and geographic zones (instead of variable per flight), it looks very similar to NZ Airpoints program. This is good for those who travel on expensive fares, not so good for others and useless for mileage runners.

I like how the Skywards page announcing this overhaul has an option to get email updates for any further changes posted.

Frequent Flyer Friday #4

Celebrating Friday with a short interview with a frequent flyer.

Seth - Wandering Aramean

Seth is a self-described chaotic traveler. He has an active blog, the Wandering Aramean, covering travel thoughts, news, and his many & varied journeys.

First, some questions to see what kind of frequent flyer Seth is.

What is your home airport?
Seth - I'm based out of New York, equidistant from all three airports, and I use all three regularly. That being said, I find myself at Newark slightly more frequently than the others based on the train access and an affinity for Continental.

What is the airline you usually fly?
Seth - Continental is my main airline, although I'll fly anyone if the deal is right. I also fly a lot on United, generally crediting miles to bmi Diamond Club.

Which of the following best describes your flying pattern?
- infrequent (eg annual) leisure trip
- jetsetting for pleasure
- frequent (eg monthly) business travel
- road warrior
- mileage runner
× I live on planes

Seth - In the next month I'll be flying lots thanks to the JetBlue All You Can Jet deal. I like to fly and I like being on planes. I'll do whatever it takes to further that pursuit - given the opportunity to fly, I'll take it.

How do you mostly earn your frequent flyer miles?
- promos
- credit card spend
- business and leisure travel
- taking extra flights on trips I need to take
× mileage running

Seth - Some trips aren't pure mileage runs but rather a short weekend vacation. 12-36 hours anywhere generally seems like a good idea.

Please describe how you travel in 4 words
Seth - observant, fast-paced, anywhere, anytime

I'm getting the picture you'll go anywhere for a day or two at the drop of a hat. Does your unusual travel pattern cause any problems for you with security, immigration or customs?
Seth - I've yet to experience a problem. I came close once in Luxembourg of all places where I took 5 minutes to convince them I really was only spending 16 hours there (see Luxembourg report). Other than that it has all been smooth - I've been lucky thus far (knock on wood).


You've bought a JetBlue All You Can Jet Pass for one month of travel. Why did you buy this?
Seth - Even though I have to work the entire month of the JetBlue deal, I know there are opportunities for me to fly, see more airports and some cities along the way. It won't be a "value" play for me because I could just as easily not flown those weekends.


[Editor - I have my doubts that you wouldn't have been flying anyway!]


Having access to so many flights was too hard to pass up. I aim to visit around 25 JetBlue destinations during the month, all without missing any time from work. I love to fly and this is a great opportunity to do it on the cheap, even if it does mean showing up at work directly after flying for roughly 60 hours straight.

We can follow Seth's All You Can Jet adventures on his blog.

Now for some advice from Seth.

What is inside your carry-on bag right now?
Seth - Passport, netbook, kindle, DSLR camera, eyeshades and a toothbrush. Everything else is optional, but the "go" bag is always ready.

Please give a tip on travel.
Seth - Your flights are going to be delayed or cancelled every now and then. Remember that it isn't happening because the airline is out to screw you, and that sometimes life doesn't run smoothly. Use the opportunities presented to see something new or otherwise derive value where you might initially want to freak out and scream.

A great example happened to my wife and I in Paris a few years ago. I misread the train timetable and we managed to find ourselves in a 3-hour gap between trains instead of a 30 minute gap. Initially I was frustrated but we regrouped and soon managed to find a beautiful cemetery right around the corner from the train station. We filled a very pleasant and peaceful hour or so there.

What is your preferred airline for regular travel?
Seth - I generally fly Continental. Based in New York City they offer a great number of non-stop flights - not worrying about misconnections is nice. I also enjoy their domestic product and they have good partners with plenty of redemption options (almost all internationally, half in premium cabins).


United is my second choice, generally on QUP fares for the purpose of collecting insane amounts of bmi miles.


[Editor - QUP is a cheap form of first class fare for USA domestic flights, and favoured by many people on Flyer Talk for their mileage earning potential at relatively low cost.]

What is your preferred airline for a special trip?
Seth - I don't really have one. I enjoyed Air France l'Espace Affaires (business class) on my last "special" trip but it wasn't that special. One of my goals is to fly more in proper first and business class. Sadly most US-based airlines are not in that class.


What is your preferred frequent flyer program?
Seth - bmi Diamond Club provides great value in a number of ways - premium cabin awards, cash+miles redemptions, one way awards and allowing stopovers on most routings. Combined with the high earning rates for paid first and business class, they are a great program.


Second choice for me is Continental OnePass. It certainly has limitations (notably lack of certificate-based upgrades for elites) but the program is very consistent and transparent. I like that a lot.


Please give a tip on frequent flyer programs.
Seth - Never underestimate the value that partners of the program may add. In some cases these are more valuable than the host airline. Learning the nuances of the programs to be able to leverage your points for maximum value is well worth the time invested.


Thanks Seth for sharing some great advice. I look forward to reading about your adventures flying JetBlue on the AICJ Wandering Aramean and in the media. Have a great weekend.


For other frequent flyer friday posts please check out the index. If you have any questions you'd like answered, or wish to nominate someone for an interview, please drop me a line using the please use the contact me link. For all sorts of reasons I can't make any guarantees, but if you're interested chances are others are too and so we'll get some good interviews.

Frequent Flyer Friday #3

Celebrating Friday with a short interview with a frequent flyer.


Megan


Megan chronicles her frequent travels through photos instead of words. She discovered the online frequent flyer community Flyertalk by clicking through a Smart Travel e-newsletter back in 2005 and her life hasn't been the same since.


First, some questions to see what kind of frequent flyer Megan is.


What is your home airport?
Megan - Monterey is the most convenient but often too expensive. San Francisco has lots of flight options, lower fares and is a nice airport. Sometimes I use San Jose.


What is the airline you usually fly?
Megan - Now it is most often on United. Until 1 January 2009 I also flew frequently on Northwest, but I've stopped cold turkey flying on Sky Team. This was because the merger with Delta means the valuable WorldPerks frequent flyer program has been devalued.


Which of the following best describes your flying pattern?
- infrequent (eg annual) leisure trip
- jetsetting for pleasure
- frequent (eg monthly) business travel
- road warrior
- mileage runner
× I live on planes


Megan's full answer was "I sometimes live on planes, mileage running, in order to jetset for pleasure". I figure the bottom choice fits best. What do you think?


How do you mostly earn your frequent flyer miles?
- promos
- credit card spend
- business and leisure travel
- taking extra flights on trips I need to take
× mileage running


Please describe how you travel in 4 words
Megan - More passport pages, please


How original! What is the story behind that?
Megan - Last year I had pages added to my then 2.5 year old passport at the US embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia.


Good move - it is much quicker and simpler to add pages to a US passport at an embassy abroad than at home. Now for some advice from Megan.


What is inside your carry-on bag right now?
Megan - Since I am home for the next two weeks, my carry-on backpack is near-empty at the moment. It usually contains: a plastic baggie of toiletries; a book or two; an amenity kit filled with batteries, chargers & SD cards; and hopefully destination-appropriate clothing. (Every once in a while, I pack something silly like a cashmere sweater for New Orleans in July.)


I also need to add my basic handheld GPS into my travel essentials and start geocaching again.


Please give a tip on travel.
Megan - I would suggest people who always travel with companions try going solo every once in a while. Single travelers can experience things differently especially if open and receptive to their surroundings.


What is your preferred airline for regular travel?
Megan - Before this year it used to be Northwest. Service onboard and on the ground was top-notch. As a Platinum member, my domestic complimentary upgrade success rate was 90-something percent, and it was processed automatically, usually 5 days out. Connecting through Detroit was always a treat too - a big, beautiful glassy terminal with the red Northwest train, the fountain, the WorldClub lounge.

A few years ago, on a trip to Europe, my luggage went missing for 2 days. By the time it was located, I had shopped for essentials and was ready to board a ship for 3 weeks. Bag & I were reunited in Reykjavik, Iceland a week later. When I returned home, I submitted my receipts and was promptly reimbursed almost US$700. Hardly a question asked. No hassles. It was terrific. That trip was also especially memorable because of a friend I made on the transatlantic flight - the captain.

Since I no longer fly Northwest, my preferred airline is now United. As a California resident, it makes sense. I've really enjoyed having 1K elite status and twice this year flying their new Business Class lie-flat seats. My San Francisco to Sydney flight on the upper deck in May was by far the most comfortable & restful flight I've had so far.


What is your preferred airline for a special trip?
Megan - My special trips are almost always award itineraries. I have no favorites, but look forward to flying carriers I haven't traveled. I flew Sydney to Vancouver in Air Canada's Executive First this year with the herringbone configuration and blue lighting. The meals were okay but I found myself quickly bored with the inflight entertainment system. Not a comfortable trip. Maybe it was me or maybe my expectations were misplaced. No regrets though.


What is your preferred frequent flyer program?
Megan - It used to be Northwest WorldPerks. United Mileage Plus perks are good as well, but the inability to access & book partner awards through starnet filtering is unfortunate.


You've used a lot of great fare bargains. Can you please give a couple of examples and explain how you found them?
Megan - Yes, I have been fortunate in the travel bargains department. The key is being vigilant in monitoring fares & rates and having a circle of like-minded fellow travelers to alert me, by email or phone, to things I may have missed.


The most bang-for-buck airfare I've used was a business class fare to Larnaca, Cyprus flying Alitalia for US$180. I did two roundtrips in two weeks on an airline I wouldn't normally fly and to a destination I surely wouldn't have chosen. It was great.


My favorite hotel deal has to be the Conrad Bangkok Deluxe Executive 1 Bedroom Suite for THB635 (US$18) per night. It was my first trip to Thailand and I did it in style! Never have I had a hotel room with six interior doors.


Thank you for sharing, Megan. You sure have a varied and interesting travel tale to tell (and show - see her pics from all over the world).


For other frequent flyer friday posts please check out the index. If you have any questions you'd like answered, or wish to nominate someone for an interview, please drop me a line using the please use the contact me link. For all sorts of reasons I can't make any guarantees, but if you're interested chances are others are too and so we'll get some good interviews.

How to get to | Turkmenistan

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.


Turkmenistan

Source: Jozef Lang

Visitors to Turkmenistan arrive by taxi from all neighbouring countries (change taxi at/near the border) or fly. There is no land transport across the border. A few airlines fly to Ashgabat the capital of Turkmenistan, including:

• Star Alliance - Lufthansa, Turkish
• Oneworld - none
• Sky Team - China Southern
• Other selected - S7

TIP Turkmenistan is currently impossible to visit on a Star Alliance around the world ticket due to back-tracking rules because Turkmenistan is in Asia and the only flights are from Europe. A surface segment between Ashgabat and somewhere else in Asia is required. Turkmenistan is also virtually impossible to visit on a Sky Team around the world due to the enormous distance to double back to an Asian hub.

TIP On some Star Alliance frequent flyer programs longhaul awards to Turkmenistan are a bargain (the ones which ignore the transit through Europe) and on others very expensive (the ones which take the routing into account).

TIP Some longhaul fares to Europe include Ashgabat for a relatively small surcharge.

How to get to | Guam

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Guam

Source: Hajime Nakano

Other than a long sail in a yacht, the only way to reach Guam is by air. Airlines flying to Guam include:

• Star Alliance - Continental (from Hawaii, Japan, Micronesia and Cairns Australia)
• Oneworld - Japan Airlines
• Sky Team - Delta (from Tokyo), Korean
• Other selected - Philippine Airlines

TIP It is impossible to use awards to Guam on some frequent flyer programs due to zoning (sometimes in Oceania zone and others in Asia zone) and back-tracking rules.

TIP On some Star Alliance frequent flyer programs, awards to Guam are a bargain due to zoning. Take advantage of these anomalies quickly before the zones get updated.

TIP On Oneworld around the world fares Guam is part of Asia and thus cannot be visited if starting in Japan (since cannot return to country of origin until the end of the ticket).

TIP Fares to Guam from anywhere other than Japan are expensive, and similarly fares from Guam are expensive except to Japan.

UPDATED November 2009 - Continental switch from Sky Team to Star Alliance.

How to get to | Trinidad and Tobago

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Trinidad and Tobago

Source: Wikimedia Commons

There is a ferry across the strait from Venezuela, and many cruise ships stop over at Port of Spain. Airlines flying to Trinidad and Tobago include (all to Port of Spain on Trinidad unless otherwise specified):

• Star Alliance - Continental
• Oneworld - American, British Airways (Port of Spain and Tobago)
• Sky Team - Delta (Port of Spain and Tobago)
• Other selected - several Caribbean based airlines, Virgin Atlantic (Tobago only)

TIP On the Caribbean airlines the cheapest fares tend to be only available booking directly (on website if airline has one).

TIP Port of Spain is a useful stop on a Oneworld RTW or award ticket. The prohibition on mileage earning and redemption for American AAdvantage on British Airways trans-Atlantic flights and BA Executive Club on American trans-Atlantic flights does not apply for flights via the Caribbean.

TIP A few European low cost airlines fly to Tobago.

UPDATED November 2009 - Continental switch from Sky Team to Star Alliance. No change to advice.

Revenue Based Frequent Flyer Programs

Most frequent flyer programs (FFPs) are based on the traditional mileage concept. Each of the 3 main aspects (earning, status and redemption) are based on mileage flown.

United Mileage Plus is an example of a traditional mileage-based FFP.

• Earn a multiple of distance flown, with minimum mileage, status bonus and class of service bonus.
• Status is achieved by passing elite qualifying mileage thresholds.
• Redeem awards at fixed mileage amounts based on the zones flown (loosely proportional to distance).

There are some frequent flyer programs that have switched to a revenue based system. There are also some mileage-revenue hybrid systems in use. So far there isn't a standard way these work as each FFP has taken a slightly different approach. I'll explain more below.

The least different to the traditional programs are what I call enhanced mileage based FFPs, such as bmi Diamond Club. These work just like traditional programs except the earn and burn rates are much higher in premium cabins (eg 300% mileage in first vs 150% in the traditional FFPs), and sometimes also in certain high demand/high fare zones. The earning rates are also be very low or zero on cheap economy booking classes, and sometimes also for cheap business and first class booking classes. Thus there is a greater spread of earning rates and award costs.

Analysis: With the altered earning and redemption scales, the value equation is altered. Those who buy cheap/economy fares and wish to redeem in premium cabins are usually worse off. Elite status can be much easier or much harder to achieve depending on what kind of paid fares you use.

Inherent problem with a revenue basis

While a revenue-based frequent flyer program may appear attractive to beancounters at the airlines (by rewarding proportional to the "worth" of a customer), there is a fundamental inherent problem. FFPs work as a loyalty device in large part because they give rise to an appearance of getting something for nothing. The program rules are deliberately set to muddy the value equation for consumers - ie allow FFPs to appear to give more value than they cost the airlines, overall. A true revenue-based FFP with earning, status and redemption as functions of revenue makes the value equation transparent. This is not good for airlines.

Each FFP that has moved to a revenue or hybrid basis has tackled this problem in slightly different ways.

Revenue with fixed earning & variable award cost

The one I'm most familiar with is Air New Zealand Airpoints. They reversed the way traditional programs work by making earning fixed amounts (based on zones and class of travel) and redemption variable amounts based directly on fares. Both earning and redemption have a greater spread than the traditional FFPs - for example the amount earned in first class is typically is 4 times (or more) the amount in full (ie expensive) economy class. Awards on Air New Zealand cost the same as the fare, and on partner airlines a high fixed amount. The fixed amounts for earning and partner redemptions are loosely based on typical fares. Status is loosely revenue based in line with earning.

Analysis: Spending for awards on their own flights is simple & requires no chart. In common with all revenue based FFPs, you don't know how much you need until you look. The partner awards is complicated and very expensive. Hopefully in time this can be simplified.

Revenue with variable earning and fixed award costs

Virgin Blue started Velocity Rewards after Air New Zealand converted Airpoints from a mileage basis to a revenue one. With Velocity Rewards you earn a multiple of the fare and the award cost is a fixed amount based loosely on the fares available at the time you wish to redeem. Here earning is extremely simple but the cost to redeem is unknown as is just how much your points are worth (compared with Airpoints where you know your balance is good for a fare of the same value). Status is directly related to how much you spend.

Analysis: This program manages to be both transparent (in earning) and non-transparent (in redemption) at the same time. It would be more reassuring, and thus more attractive, if there was a commitment from Velocity Rewards as to the minimum worth of points (ie it will never cost you more than x points per $ fare).

Mileage-based but with additional revenue-based awards

While traditional mileage-based FFPs have long had additional awards available at double the mileage cost, some programs have gone a step further. These hybrids have added variable cost awards to their traditional fixed cost awards. In general the variable cost awards are more expensive (sometimes by a large multiple), but not always.

For example Qantas Frequent Flyer has Classic awards (mileage based) and also Any Seat awards. Any Seat award cost is function of available fares, but they are not restricted to high fares, and so if a sale is on the award cost can be less than for a Classic award. The rate is set so that on non-sale cheap fares the Any Seat award will generally cost a little bit more than a Classic award.

Analysis: The rate for variable cost awards is such that generally poor value. When the mileage cost is relatively low the fares are super low. Good only for those who can accumulate vast sums of miles (eg through business credit card spend).

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines are difficult to categorise because they have the PPS status recognition for business and first class passengers, and also have a traditional mileage based FFP in Kris Flyer. The PPS status has been purely revenue based for a couple of years. Arguably it is even more extreme than any of the other programs because only spend in premium cabins are counted, and then only on Singapore Airlines flights. Kris Flyer looks a little like an enhanced mileage based program in that there are 3 levels of fixed awards depending on availability of certain booking classes. However, earning rates are not similarly "enhanced" with the exception of 300% earning in A380 and 77W Suites (first class).

Round-up of revenue based frequent flyer programs

There are also other FFPs which are revenue based. I've categorized some below:

• enhanced mileage based - Air France/KLM Flying Blue, bmi Diamond Club, British Airways Executive Club, Lufthansa Miles & More
• Singapore Airlines - see above
• fixed earning & variable award - Air New Zealand Airpoints
• variable earning & fixed award - JetBlue trueBlue (new version), Virgin America eleVAte, Virgin Blue Velocity Rewards
• mileage based with additional variable awards - Qantas Frequent Flyer

I may have missed other revenue based programs. Please let us know in the comments.

Updated 14 October 2009.

Emirates has announced Skywards will move to a revenue basis from 1 January 2010. For more information check out my post discussing the Skywards changes. The revised program can be categorized as fixed earning and fixed award.