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  • Soon to be in SIN, with stingy employer: which FFP?

    Hallo everyone,

    this is my first post on here after having found you via a hint on FlyerTalk.

    If possible, I would appreciate your advice on the situation I will be finding myself in soon. I am moving out to SIN from LON in Feb/Mar 2009 with work and will be doing a lot of travelling in SE Asia. Most of this (90%) will be done in whY, with the very occasional trip in J and none in F.

    Main destinations will be Jakarta, Manila, Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai, Beijing, Colombo, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok (if they will have opened their airport again by then), amounting to 3-4 rtn trips per month. In addition, there will be around 4 roundtrips to Europe (Switzerland and Germany) per, annoyingly also in Y.

    I noticed from a few random fare comparisons on Kayak that SQ almost always seems to come out twice as expensive as MH, for instance. As a consequence, my employer will prefer to put me on Malaysia Airlines, so I won't be able to accumulate miles on * Alliance too often. Similarly, CX are also quite pricey in comparison.

    I have no status in any FFP apart from soon Silver on BA EC.

    I would like to use the FFP benefits mostly to access lounges in airports and to use accumulated miles to upgrade to J on long flights within Asia (e.g. China) and Europe.

    Unfortunately, from what I have read, Malaysia's Enrich program seems not to be a good FFP, although they are a good airline.

    Since I will be based in SIN, do you think it would be a good idea nonetheless to aim for PPS on KF, or Elite Gold, in particular if I get a KF AmEx card and take advantage of other "local benefits"? Or is there a trick to funnel my miles on MH into M&M? I saw that Enrich does credit miles flown on LX to their members accounts, but vice versa?

    I hope you can see my predicament and would appreciate your advice a lot!

    Many thanks,
    Wally

    Comment


    • Welcome to SQTalk, Wally.

      Apologies for not being able to help much as I am not an expert in M&M / MH Enrich etc.
      But I think definitely you should give KrisFlyer Elite Gold a shot - it is a very good status to have if you will do most of your travels in Y. Mileage upgrade seats within Asia is reasonably easy to get except peak times, however do know that it is very expensive to upgrade to J on flights to Europe as most flights are operated with new aircraft - 77W & 380 (which means double the usual miles required).

      Hopefully others will be able to add more suggestions.

      Comment


      • Welcome to SQTalk.

        IMHO I'd join KF if I were you for the following reasons:

        KF Gold should be attainable with the frequency of flying you will be doing
        (giving you priority check in, priority luggage tags and *Gold lounge access )

        Avoid stress. Fly non stop by using Changi as your hub, SQ as your carrier. No missed connections. No airport invasions. No strikes.

        Try to use your KF miles to upgrade for long haul. Expensive but a KF Amex card can help you earn miles. Alternatively, pay for the emergency exit seat. Well worth it.

        Hope this helps.

        Comment


        • Welcome to SQTalk, Wally.

          Obviously flying SQ will make your travelling life easier as you can fly direct to all those destinations, but as you say, you'll pay for it. They do very well out of the large regional corporates based in Singapore.

          At this moment I would say BD's Diamond Club would be the best, due to the unrivalled redemption opportunities. But LH are taking over so they will almost inevitably merge DC into Miles&More next year.

          As an airline I would highly recommend MH, their crews are fabulous and right up there with SQ. However, while it has improved in recent times, Enrich is a hard programme to deal with from the customer service side. I have made Enrich Gold this year so have dealt with them a lot and while some aspects have improved, they are currently playing the old 'head in the sand' trick over some miles I am chasing from July.

          I would probably (and a little reluctantly) also recommend KrisFlyer, for now. Even though SQ seem to be doing their level best to kill the programme by devaluing the miles. Mainly due to the fact that you can top up your earnings with a KF earning credit card locally.

          Comment


          • Welcome to SQTalk, Wally. I agree with MAN flyer, and I'm based in Kuala Lumpur.

            Enrich is a PITA, really. I've given up on it long time ago and given the few domestic flights I've done recently, things have not seem to change much.

            Unfortunately, the disparity of the level of the service between domestic / regional / long-haul routes on MH is really glaring.

            Like you, I'm also doing around 4 - 5 round trips long haul (mainly FRA, on SQ) and that is coupled with a lot of regional Europe (on LH, LO and SK) and yes, it takes significantly more miles to redeem upgrades on SQ but considering you have new products (speaking from SIN/FRA 77W experience), I think it justifies (to a certain extend) the miles spent.

            Otherwise, there's always TG for *A redemption (IF the airport reopens) hehe.

            And like you, I like the nice little extras that come with KFEG or any other *A Gold. On long-haul, SQ certainly beats MH, LH and CX in terms of fares available.
            Last edited by leo; 27 November 2008, 04:10 PM. Reason: Out of context...

            Comment


            • Good morning (here in the UK), and thank you all for sharing your thoughts with me!

              It seems to me that it would indeed make most sense to join KF and aim for Elite Gold status with them, to gain the perks that I look for and for the higher availability of upgrades with SQ. Whilst there may be other FFP around where it will be cheaper to upgrade or redeem, I can imagine it to be quite frustrating if you never find flights to redeem your miles on. Fortunately, I have not been in that situation yet.

              And then as for the other flights, most of which I reckon will be done on MH, I will just have to accumulate their miles in Enrich and later worry what to do with them - hopefully there won't be too many of them.

              May I just ask: do you tend to get the best fares on SQ on their own website, or are there often better fares achievable if you go to a TA in town, as is often the case in China, or maybe if you book on a different website?

              Comment


              • You can also earn miles flying MH into you Flying Blue or Sky Team card (only International flights, domestic not included).

                Usually, miles-earning classes are the same, my TA quotes the same fares as published on internet.

                Comment


                • Some responses for Wally.

                  If you are based in SIN then it will be unlikely that your employer will put you on MH flights since they hub out out of KUL - it will add hours of travelling to every trip. They might get you to drive over to JB occasionally to get flights to East Malaysia.

                  Traveling in whY with SQ as a KFGold or StarAGold can be a bit frustrating as the SQ program is heavily focused on their PPS folk. As a KFGold you get not much more than would if you are StarAGold with TG or UA.

                  The SQ website fares tend to be the cheapest possible with many conditions and no flexibility. I would be surprised if your company does not have an agent who can weave their way through the maze!

                  Comment


                  • Best FFP for me?

                    Hi guys! My first post here

                    Would like a recommendation on the best FFP for my case. I will be attending post-graduate come next year at Pittsburgh and will be flying frequently between SG and JFK. Will also be flying domestic flights within US frequently.

                    Which FFP would be best for me? I would love to fly SQ between SG and JFK so it seems KF would logically be the best choice for me. I understand that United is also a Star Alliance airline, so if i fly mainly United domestically, I would be able to chalk up points too?

                    Thanks!

                    Comment


                    • i'll suggest u join UA mileage plus. Even u fly SQ, will still clock UA...

                      Comment


                      • What COS will you be travelling on?

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by Nick C View Post
                          What COS will you be travelling on?
                          Sorry but what does COS stand for?

                          Comment


                          • Class of Service
                            zxcvbn

                            Comment


                            • Mostly whY unfortunately as dictated by scholarship conditions. Airline and cost of flight does not matter (but must be in Y)

                              Comment


                              • Little OT, If you can buy Y fare, then it shouldn't cost much to upfare to Z (and many times less expensive than Y).
                                I'd buy Y fare on airline that offers Z fare, and change to Z out of my pocket.
                                And use DC or M&M as my choice of FF program.

                                Comment

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