Best Airline For Frequent-flyer From Usa-bkk

[RY12]

I'll be flying to BKK from west coast of USA up to 4 times a year for the forseeable future, what's the best airline to get a frequent-flyer discount for that? What kind of discount can I expect?

[bbw]

I'll be flying to BKK from west coast of USA up to 4 times a year for the forseeable future, what's the best airline to get a frequent-flyer discount for that? What kind of discount can I expect?

you probably won't get a discount, although if you're buying full fare tickets you may end up getting upgrades. even that may be unlikely. the threshold for high-level status is very high (like over 100,000 miles per year) and four RT trips to LAX per year won't be enough.

to qualify for a free ticket using frequent flier miles from US to SEA you need between 60k and 70k miles. so every fourth or fifth trip you can use miles for as long as you are flying the same company/group (Star Alliance or One World). obviously make sure you are signed up for each of them and know how to get miles credited, and check the fare rules, some discount fares won't get you full miles.

[bangkapiboy]

There are no discounts for 4 flights a year. But, you can pay attention to who will give you the most perks. I get a ton of miles on Northwest Airlines for my trips and so I am loyal with them. Are they the best? No. But I get the most miles with them.

[RY12]

to qualify for a free ticket using frequent flier miles from US to SEA you need between 60k and 70k miles. so every fourth or fifth trip you can use miles for as long as you are flying the same company/group (Star Alliance or One World). obviously make sure you are signed up for each of them and know how to get miles credited, and check the fare rules, some discount fares won't get you full miles.

Does 'miles' just equate to how many miles my flights are? So if I fly 4 times a year, your suggesting I could get that 4th flight free every year?

[jonniebkk]

Agree...not enough travel to earn much in FF discounts or any free flights. I would go with EVA Airlines. Just about all new 777-300ERs on flights to US west coast (LAX, SFO, and SEA) from Bangkok and best prices too. Economy about US$ 1000, Econ Deluxe about 1500, and business about 2600. Just bring your own food...even in business

Edited April 3, 2008 by jonniebkk

[britmaveric]

Normally 60K for economy free ticket on most airlines to Asia from yankland. So you'd get a free ticket every 4paid trips. If on Star Alliance be a gold member - so do get few perks extra baggage weight, bonus miles, and chance for upgrades.

[Shah Jahan]

Thai Airways give direct to LAX

16k Frequent Flyer miles per round trip

Need 80k to get a free ticket

you will end up spending approx $1500 per round trip

TG is good because can also earn with other Star Alliance airlines (UA.ANA.SQ etc...)

but good luck redeeming - that can take some patience.

China Airlines does with a Stop in Taipei to Seatlle/SFO/LAX (actually nice to break it up) about the same miles

about $1000 per round trip - but you will need at least 100k miles to get a freebie

not sure about the others, but I also heard the EVA is good.

[cclub75]

Thai Airways give direct to LAX

16k Frequent Flyer miles per round trip

Need 80k to get a free ticket

you will end up spending approx $1500 per round trip

You need to go further.

-1 what is the cost to redeem a "free ticket" ?

CDG/BKK with Thai... I remember 2 years ago... it was 200 euros.

With Emirates, much less.

-2 Availability of seats for free ticket.

The big trap. The big game. If you need some fixed dates, forget it. Airlines will tell you : "quota finished" (Air France for instance). Or they will give your chosen date, but at peak rate (Emirates) or will give you different times, with very long transit (Emirates), etc.

-3 other goodies

-With Thai Airways you have 654646 differents fares for economy class... They could tell you : "ah this ticket will get you only 50 % of the miles". So you save when you buy the ticket, but you loose on the miles. Emirates for instance don't do that : you get your miles whatever the class fare you use.

-more than miles, the upgrade factor linked to your frequent flyer status : silver, gold ? Each airlines has its own policy, and also its own issues with some routes (loading factor). Being gold, I got many free upgrades on Thai Airways... But never on Emirates.

My point : it's not enough to just look the obvious up front datas : how many miles do I get per round-trip, and how many miles do I need to redeem a ticket.

Eventually, it's just marketing... with airlines trying to maximise their gains... by distorting their promises.

[MJo]

I would get Star Alliance card from Thai. You qualify for gold status with 50k miles a year or 80k miles in two years. As it is Star Alliance you collect qualifying miles when flying any of the Star carriers. This is by far the best deal i have seen. European carriers you usually need like 100k in a year to qualify. Not sure for US carriers though.

Other perks include free upgrade on thai for every 50k miles (ie fly 4 times with any Star carrier and take 5th one with Thai and upgrade from free), more bagg allowance, priority bagg handling in Thai and the most important fast track "business" check-in and lounge access.

Nice to wait for your flight in airport when you have free drinks and some food available. Especially in BKK the lounges are quite nice. Used to be better in Dong Muang but Cobra Swamp is ok as well...

Edited April 3, 2008 by MJo

[Shah Jahan]

Thai Airways give direct to LAX

16k Frequent Flyer miles per round trip

Need 80k to get a free ticket

you will end up spending approx $1500 per round trip

You need to go further.

-1 what is the cost to redeem a "free ticket" ?

CDG/BKK with Thai... I remember 2 years ago... it was 200 euros.

With Emirates, much less.

-2 Availability of seats for free ticket.

The big trap. The big game. If you need some fixed dates, forget it. Airlines will tell you : "quota finished" (Air France for instance). Or they will give your chosen date, but at peak rate (Emirates) or will give you different times, with very long transit (Emirates), etc.

-3 other goodies

-With Thai Airways you have 654646 differents fares for economy class... They could tell you : "ah this ticket will get you only 50 % of the miles". So you save when you buy the ticket, but you loose on the miles. Emirates for instance don't do that : you get your miles whatever the class fare you use.

-more than miles, the upgrade factor linked to your frequent flyer status : silver, gold ? Each airlines has its own policy, and also its own issues with some routes (loading factor). Being gold, I got many free upgrades on Thai Airways... But never on Emirates.

My point : it's not enough to just look the obvious up front datas : how many miles do I get per round-trip, and how many miles do I need to redeem a ticket.

Eventually, it's just marketing... with airlines trying to maximise their gains... by distorting their promises.

I more or less agree with everything above, but practically his choices are limited. Going from BKK to West Coast, have to go direct or transit through a dragon - over Europe is impractical.

that narrows it down to direct with TG or transit with a cheaper Taiwanese airline - with either, you are still going to have to deal with the same crap restrictions.

forget the rest because they are same-same/different as TG and will have similar pricing and you just add an extra leg for nothing

btw.... In my experience China Airlines consistently has best quality of Cabin Birds in the world. go see for yourself.

Edited April 3, 2008 by Shah Jahan

[rchapstick]

I travel about the same and I use United, for the following reasons:

1. Once you hit 25,000 miles in a calendar year, you become "Premier" which gives you access to Economy Plus (with about 3 more inches of legroom) and a 25% mileage bonus.

2. Once you hit 50,000 miles, you get a 100% mileage bonus. So those 60,000 FF miles per year are now 120,000 miles. And you get business class lounge access on your international flights.

3. Currently, a free ticket in 60,000 miles in coach, 90,000 in business. You only pay taxes on the free ticket, no fuel surcharges.

4. FF award ticket redemptions are never easy on any airline, but with United you can also book Star Alliance airlines as well as United for your freebies.

[Shah Jahan]

I travel about the same and I use United, for the following reasons:

1. Once you hit 25,000 miles in a calendar year, you become "Premier" which gives you access to Economy Plus (with about 3 more inches of legroom) and a 25% mileage bonus.

2. Once you hit 50,000 miles, you get a 100% mileage bonus. So those 60,000 FF miles per year are now 120,000 miles. And you get business class lounge access on your international flights.

3. Currently, a free ticket in 60,000 miles in coach, 90,000 in business. You only pay taxes on the free ticket, no fuel surcharges.

4. FF award ticket redemptions are never easy on any airline, but with United you can also book Star Alliance airlines as well as United for your freebies.

you are probably right this is the best deal on paper-

but flying on a falang airline

[rchapstick]

I usually take an Ambien and sleep the whole way. That way I don't notice the ancient UA Trolley Dollys.

[KLExpat]

I agree 100% with rchapstick that United is the best choice.

To add to that:

• For every 10K miles flown, you get four 500 mile upgrades. If most of you flying is international long haul, that means any domestic USA United flights can be upgraded.
  
• They do a good job of offering you at least 100% credit for miles flown on discounted tickets. A lot of airlines do not.
  
• The Star Alliance not only has Thai, but Singapore airlines, giving them the best coverage in Asia. If you want to go to Europe, Lufthansa, Austrian and Swiss are not bad options (and you collect mileage good for status on them as well). Of course your United gold card gets you into the lounge on any Thai (or other Star Alliance member) flight.
  
• I am not sure about Thai, but on Singapore airlines and others, the miles expire. United miles never expire as long as you have account activity (earning or spending) within 18 months.
  
• You mention 5 flights/year. With a little additional travel, this would qualify you for 1K membership (100K miles/year). This assures you even more frequent upgrades and you get certificates for 2-3 system wide upgrades (1 certificate upgrades all segments from origin to destination).
  
• United is installing lay flat seats in business class.
  
• Do not underestimate the impact of the double mileage bonus after you reach the gold level. If you fly 5 times from BKK to SFO, that is 80,000K miles, with bonus, that is 160K miles (2.6 free flights/year)
  
• If you do not want to fly free, you can also spend those miles to upgrade (30K miles per)
  
• Don’t listen to people who say you cannot use your miles. I have never had any issues, it just requires a bit of flexibility. If you can shift plus or minus one day you can fly most anywhere. I suppose those who are complaining are trying to fly from New York to Chicago on Thanksgiving. You can even get to Thailand during high season if you are creative on routing (through SIN for example).
  

[lomatopo]

What class of service do you wish to fly? Approximate budget, per flight, round-trip. Also need more details re: home airport and travel patterns (how many days spent in Thailand and USA, per trip).

For economy travelers UA/MP might be the best choice? Discounts, such as they are, can be found via Consolidators. Look for ones in the local Asian community who specialize in Asian travel. They have access to bulk/APEX fares (Q/V/W) on UA (and NW). I pay ~ $1,100 all in for east coast-BKK-east coast. Purchasing and originating your round-trip in the USA is far less expensive these days.

On UA.MP you really need to get to 100,000 BIS (butt-in-seat, actual flight miles) before the massive bennies pour in, but at 50,000 you do get access to E+ (Economy Plus seating), and 2X RDM (double BIS for redeemable miles). An Economy award on UA (Saver or Star Alliance) is 60,000 miles

Will make more concrete recommendations when you provide details.

[sbk]

One way to rack up the United FF miles is to get a United Mileage plus visa. You get a signing bonus plus a mile for every dollar you spend. If you go through their mileage plus mall online, and shop through the sites there, you get more than that. And it keeps your account active as well. I flew two trips to the US in one calendar year, bought my tickets with my United credit card, plus all shopping while in the US and earned Premier status with that.

[lomatopo]

I usually take an Ambien and sleep the whole way. That way I don't notice the ancient UA Trolley Dollys.

True USA-NRT, but UA now has FA bases in SIN and BKK, staffed locally and outside the purview of the AFA Union, so the service NRT-BKK on UA (and most intra-Asia service) is equal to or better than CX, SQ, NH, TG, LH (airlines I fly) IME/O.

BTW, "ancient" is no exaggeration. The oldest UA FA retired a few years ago, she was mid-80's. He name is Iris Peterson and I flew with her many times SFO-NRT. She actually did quite a good job compared to the average UA FA. She was an FA 1946 - 2007.

[britmaveric]

Normally Asian flight crews on outbound UAL flights - you get the old trolley dollys on your return trip.

[geriatrickid]

In the past year I have had the joy of multiple trips on this route, during both low season and peak season.

EVA- The best priced deal but probably the worst FF plan around. However, all airline frequent flyer miles are a scam and you pay for them. Better to pay 25-50% less on BR and not worry about trying to get a reward ticket.

Downside of BR is that there are some equipment issues with the 777, the latest being another breakdown in LAX just this past saturday. PAX missed connections to BKK. Inadequate equipment inventory means PAX stay where they are until equipment is fixed. As mentioned previously, food awful, mediocre inflight service even in J/C.

You have to transit TPE which can be a hassle. One of the worst on time performance records on the route.

BR's frequent flyer membership card gets you rates 5% off what you see on website.

TG - Best routings but aircraft is often dirty. Food quality is similar to BR and if you get a 777 then its the same seat but at 25-50% more cost. TG relies on star alliance ground crews which means delays. TG has almost no reward tickets available on the LAX-BKK route. TG FAs are getting to be very american in their customer service - i.e. rude and inattentive.

UA - The airline may very well be in Chapter 11 again or fail which puts the FF plan in a precarious position. UA comments above are all valid with emphasis that FAs are nasty, rude and downright horrible. UA equipment is due for overhaul and is nearing the end of life cycle. Anticipate equipment problems in coming years. Best FF program options around with link to star alliance.

SFO is a better airport for US customs and luggage service. LAX is a craphouse with nothing positive to say for it.

Now for something different BR has special rates and deals available from SEA Consider Star Alliance special routings using Asiana and Air Canada using SEL or even YVR. I scored a 1 way J class fare from BKK to LAX via SEL & YVR using this route for $1200 USD in high season. Check the multiple search engines for a price indication.

The easiest airlines to get reward tickets on are US Air and AirCanada UA partners. However, Air Canada is mediocre and ok for connecting but not good for long haul, and US Air should be avoided at all costs.

[Shah Jahan]

Incidentally I was just reviewing mileage from a recent trip and

BKK-LAX direct on TG gave me 8,267 miles for each way

however I jsut did BKK-NRT-SFO on ANA and only got 5,500 for each way

its the same amount of time on the plane?

why less miles on this routing? - is it because I flew off TG?

[lomatopo]

Incidentally I was just reviewing mileage from a recent trip and

BKK-LAX direct on TG gave me 8,267 miles for each way

however I jsut did BKK-NRT-SFO on ANA and only got 5,500 for each way

its the same amount of time on the plane?

why less miles on this routing? - is it because I flew off TG?

NH (ANA) only gives 70% on some of the cheaper economy fare buckets. Which airline's frequent flyer program are you crediting the miles to? Mileage accrual rates can get complicated; you really need to check the details carefully. More and more airlines are matching accrual rates with the carrier-flown's own program.