I've gone round trip from SFO to HKT seven times since 2015 but nearly every time I've gone with a different airline depending upon the best deal I get. Planning another trip and airline prices are much higher at the moment of course. Wondering if there is an airline with a solid rewards program which would benefit me traveling to and from Thailand regularly.

I fly to the US (mostly Chicago) two or three times a year. I travel internationally often and have Emerald (the highest status) with the OneWorld alliance, and Silver with SkyTeam and Star Alliance.

 

Before Covid, I could fly Phuket to Seoul on Korean Air and then on to the US while earning SkyTeam points. Currently I fly from Phuket to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore to connect to the longer international flight to the US. You could fly via the Middle East from Phuket on Qatar, Emirates or Etihad, but flying that direction will add several hours to an SFO journey. Last week I flew LAX to Doha, then to Phuket on Qatar. That took 15 hours and then about 7 more to Phuket. 

 

If you're hoping to earn points, pick one of the alliances and exclusively fly those carriers, crediting miles to one airline in the alliance. But be warned that it can be difficult to use points for free flights since free seats are capacity controlled. Obviously have miles credited to a frequent flyer program, but I'd suggest the strategy of booking the cheaper option, and incidentally earning points, is a better option than choosing flights based upon the carriers frequent flyer program. 

sfo- hkt
Singapore airlines Prices ( HKT-SFO return)  for Oct are around $1,000
or Korean

Pre covid also Cathy via HK

1-2 times per year ain't "regularly" ...regarding rewards.

 

it's 2022, open skyscanner.com, punch in the month and you'll see prices for each day, voila. Also fyi, if you fly soon i would chose sfo-zrh-bkk (or hkt direkt) because that's about the only airline not stupid enough to make you wear a mask inbound to thailand

2 hours ago, daviddunham said:

1-2 times per year ain't "regularly" ...regarding rewards.

 

it's 2022, open skyscanner.com, punch in the month and you'll see prices for each day, voila. Also fyi, if you fly soon i would chose sfo-zrh-bkk (or hkt direkt) because that's about the only airline not stupid enough to make you wear a mask inbound to thailand

I don’t really agree with your politicizing an airline’s mask policy. They’re only trying to keep people safe and lower the likelihood of an infection. Of course I’m an old sod and these things matter more to me than if I was several decades younger.  From what I’m reading, Omicron BA.5 is a whole different animal.  My 46-year old son thought he was impervious after four vaccinations and two previous infections.  He’s just now starting to feel better three weeks after catching BA.5 but still hasn’t had his senses of taste and smell restored. Totally shocked him because after his prior infections and shots, he assumed he was ‘golden’.  
 

As Willy famously sang….”not necessarily so.!”

3 hours ago, daviddunham said:

Also fyi, if you fly soon i would chose sfo-zrh-bkk (or hkt direkt) because that's about the only airline not stupid enough to make you wear a mask inbound to thailand

You would add hours to your flight time by going that way rather than across the Pacific. Leaving out the mask bit as that is nonsensical. 

15 minutes ago, marin said:

You would add hours to your flight time by going that way rather than across the Pacific. Leaving out the mask bit as that is nonsensical. 

also i bet twice as expensive

9 hours ago, DFPhuket said:

I fly to the US (mostly Chicago) two or three times a year. I travel internationally often and have Emerald (the highest status) with the OneWorld alliance, and Silver with SkyTeam and Star Alliance.

 

Before Covid, I could fly Phuket to Seoul on Korean Air and then on to the US while earning SkyTeam points. Currently I fly from Phuket to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore to connect to the longer international flight to the US. You could fly via the Middle East from Phuket on Qatar, Emirates or Etihad, but flying that direction will add several hours to an SFO journey. Last week I flew LAX to Doha, then to Phuket on Qatar. That took 15 hours and then about 7 more to Phuket. 

 

If you're hoping to earn points, pick one of the alliances and exclusively fly those carriers, crediting miles to one airline in the alliance. But be warned that it can be difficult to use points for free flights since free seats are capacity controlled. Obviously have miles credited to a frequent flyer program, but I'd suggest the strategy of booking the cheaper option, and incidentally earning points, is a better option than choosing flights based upon the carriers frequent flyer program. 

Equally, perhaps more importantly is to check how long the Airmiles are valid for, I find that I need to fly at least 3 round trips a year to even get one leg of a flight upgraded etc.  The best benefit I find is the business class lounges.

 

Good luck!

The US based carriers have all modified their frequent flyer programs so that points/miles awarded are directly proportional to the fare you pay.They're no longer interested in attracting the loyalty of casual travelers, instead focusing on retaining frequent business customers who typically pay higher fares. At the same time, they've raised the number of points required for free flights and upgrades. The typical casual passenger will book using lower economy fares, and as a result will be lucky to be awarded 20% of the actual miles flown.  At that rate, it's very difficult to amass the number of points required to redeem a free flight or upgrade.

 

Years ago when I was flying for business with a roundtrip every week, I had attained elite status on multiple airlines, and was able to routinely get business class upgrades for my trips to Thailand. I even recall paying $258 on a special promotion to fly SFO to Singapore and back for a long weekend, and receiving the number of miles actually flown. Those days are long gone, and even though we fly Florida to BKK 2-3 times a year, we just go with the cheapest and quickest flights, since the frequent flyer programs offer little incentive for loyalty.

 

With that said, my wife flew roundtrip to BKK on Aisiana last month on the lowest available economy fare and was awarded 100% of the miles flown (about 18,000). The fare, however, was about 2-1/2 times what we normally pay, and no miles were awarded for the codeshare Delta feeder flights.

Put me down as voting for EVA AIR

Qatar also flies to many US cities.  HKT-DOH- US cities,  

On 7/27/2022 at 4:50 PM, Pdavies99 said:

Equally, perhaps more importantly is to check how long the Airmiles are valid for, I find that I need to fly at least 3 round trips a year to even get one leg of a flight upgraded etc.  The best benefit I find is the business class lounges.

 

Good luck!

You could also use your reward points for hotel stays.  I burned all my remaining TG/UA reward points that way staying at Sheraton, knowing I wouldn't be flying with them any more.

On 7/27/2022 at 11:12 AM, The Old Bull said:

Put me down as voting for EVA AIR

I second that.  EVA gives a little extra in legroom.  I find the seat more comfortable.  They also have a flight from San Francisco to Bangkok transiting thru Taipei  for under $700.00 dollars.  

Assuming you're in Economy Class, you're not flying enough to make a FF program worthwhile.  Concentrate on airline quality, cost and timings - only you can decide what priority to give to each.

 

If you're flying Business or First Class you'll get most (if not all) of the benefits a FF program elite member will get anyway, so not worth chasing the points and again choose your carrier by the measures above.

32 minutes ago, ourdon said:

I second that.  EVA gives a little extra in legroom.  I find the seat more comfortable.  They also have a flight from San Francisco to Bangkok transiting thru Taipei  for under $700.00 dollars.  

SFO_  Phuket:
when: i just checked and its  $1,093 for Nov 1-10
cheapest is Singapore at $938 but 1 long layover

to bangkok Eva is $843

I wouldn't recommend EVA, old 777 planes now, when I flew from US - Thailand - food is well below average, entertainments is also just poor - average, No alcohol on the flight from what I can remember or just beer if there was any atoll