How to get best value from star alliance miles

[smala01]

I just topped 100k points with bmi diamnod club (Star Alliance) and thought i had better redeem some miles.

It appears the taxes and charges were higher than simply booking a flight without using any miles on a different airline!

So this leads to my question - whats the best way to get value out the miles ?

Thanks

[ZFT]

IMHO Upgrades

[GwynM]

100k mile with SAS is getting me and the wife to Greenland and back for a holiday (hotels will cost, but still less than the flights) - and we gert a weekend in Copenhagen as well

[VAFFPAX]

Excess luggage and upgrades are pretty much the only thing you can use miles for (definitely NOT reward flights). Reward flights don't earn you miles; upgrades do on your original check-in class (i.e. if you upgrade from Y, you still get Y-level miles), except on VS with Miles And Money which are also considered reward flights.

Non-airline rewards are also useful occasionally. I'd suggest using the miles to upgrade. It's usually worth it, but you are at the mercy of the airline's revenue group who allocate the number of mile-upgrade seats available. AF in the past has upgraded me at departure on request (with appropriate miles) if enough business class seats were open.

S.

[Mr Quite Happy]

its upgrades, also, you might find that longhaul is far more rewarding that shorthaul.

[PAXboy]

Yes, upgrades it is. I go to South Africa fairly regularly (on my own account) and buy a Y ticket for cash and then upgrade to PE or Upper with Miles. Because they are glad to have some cash - you get a better rate. i.e. it is far less Miles to get to the bigger seats.

However, some carriers will not upgrade the cheapest Y seats (VS being one) and you have to buy a Y with a higher ticket class (= more money) and then upgrade. So don't just buy on-line and then call customer services to upgrade. Ring the relevant customer service people first and tell them that you want to buy a Y and upgrade with Miles.

[GwynM]

An upgrade on SAS from cattle to economy plus gets you a cold meal and a beer. Business class gets you a hot meal and a beer plus a G+T. The seats are the same across all 3 classes.

Much better to use the miles for a flight you wouldn't otherwise do, and take the Mrs away for a holiday.

[gdiphil]

With great respect to some very knowledgeable contributors to this thread I really do not agree. With 150K United miles I flew 1st class return LHR to Sydney with Thai a couple of years ago, no way could I have afforded that ticket. Tomorrow, myself, Mrs gdi and child are flying LHR to Nashville return on United, back on Air Canada for 50K United miles each plus £230.80p total for taxes etc. No way could I have paid only £230.80p for the 3 of us. So my experience tells me to use the miles for the longest possible journey.

[Crowe]

bmi DC doesn't offer upgrade as such.

What you want to do is go business (or first) class long haul using cash & miles. Best routes for burning miles are the Americas and South Africa.

eg Buenos Aires on LH for 37,500 plus a couple of hundred quid (plus taxes) rather than about £2,300. and the ticket is flexible for a small fee!

[PAXboy]

It is certainly true that the longest haul is the best ratio. However, those routes are also very popular and you may have to book far in advance as they have a maximum number of redemption seats for each flight. i.e. if they allow a max of 4 seats in C to be redemptions - then once they are booked - the flight is 'full' for you.

I never use FFMs for short haul.

[blaggerman]

My motto is "earn in Y, burn in F and J".
As others have said, always use your miles for long haul awards. BMI's cash+miles is a great deal - use it to extend your miles for F and J awards. But don't hold on to your miles for too long... if LH takes over, then Diamond Club will change... and definitely not for the better :(

[Momo]

The "Upgrades" discussion makes no sense to me, unless you only just have that many miles. (I have 600k miles available at the moment, and have spent about a million in the past.) On Star Alliance, going from Europe to North America, Southern Africa or India costs 90k miles in business class. Upgrades from economy are charged each way and therefore cost 70k miles, meaning that there is only a 20k difference, which is not a lot. The difference for first class is 40k (140k vs 100k). In addition, Senator holders (LH Gold) get 50% off the first accompanying person. This means, for example, that I can go with my wife from GVA to SFO for 135k miles in business. Before LH had flatish seats in C, I used miles for F with my kids (one at a time) on three occasions, which blew 210k miles each time, and they slept well, which was very welcome.

I suppose the rip-off charging of fuel supplements when flying free changes the comparison a bit. (I don't follow the logic for this, since we pay fuel supplements on the flights for which we earn miles too.)

Within Europe, I tend to wait for the summer promotions on LH and Swiss. They usually have a period of time when you can use miles for business at the economy rate. I used them with the family twice last summer and plan to do so again. They feel special, and Swiss/LH no longer allow you to take more than one guest into the lounge with a gold card.

[rmac]

I only use mine for long haul business flights, better value per mile when taxes and extras are taken in to consideration.

[Sultan Ismail]

My recent experience using Star Alliance Miles earned on SWISS, is a Business Class trip from Kuala Lumpur. Lufthansa to Bangkok, Thai to Zurich and SWISS to London City. Return SWISS to Geneva, Lufthansa to Frankfurt and Singapore Airlines to Singapore, finally SQ to KL. Stopovers in London and Geneva.
120,000 points plus 1,600 Ringgits Malaysian (approx. £250.)
The Thai seat bed was very comfortable and I will look out for that route again, however the SQ seat was completely non-intuitive and uncomfortable at any angle.
SQ get first prize for food with a Rack of Lamb leaving Frankfurt.
I agree with others that the best value lies in long haul, and anyway that is where you need to be when the schedules go pear shaped.

[spiney]

I look at Miles like cash. I've used them both short and long haul and I feel you get a better deal on the latter. I travel frequently Business for work but I never spend my own money on Business Class travel - I just don't think the differential is worth it on something as variable as an airline seat. I want it to get me there safely, to take-off and land approximately on time, in reasonable comfort, with my bags at the end. Food and drink? It's airline food - if you had to pay separately for it, would you? I wouldn't - in any class. IFE? Take an ipod or a good book. I neither want or need a memorable 'experience' good or bad - it's only a journey and merely a means to an end. Mrs spiney travelled last month LHR-ICN, Airmiles Economy, nice food, 3 seats to herself, armrests up, slept all the way - no way Business would have been better. Luck of the draw? Sure - just like lots of other things to do with travel.

[SpringHeeledJack]

I would concur completely with spiney's post, succinctly put better than i could have.

I too would use FF miles for economy longhaul rather than shorthaul and if you're travelling out of peak periods, you'll probably get a comfortable ride. For my money when the 'benefit' of airmiles has been diluted by all the taxes that one is obliged to pay, it hardly seems worth it to have to use them for a flight purchase other than for upgrades. I have used my surplus for events and products that are available through the FF programme, namely Star Alliance.

The good old days are gone when you could really push the boat out. If you're a mega-miler then i suppose you still can, but for the average frequent flyer it gets worse as each year passes.


Regards


SHJ