Frequent Flyer - Loyalty Fraud

[WilliaminBKK]

Interesting read about airline loyalty fraud- FFP points are no longer just for travel. Many of us on here have a nice balance & status and are saving the points for that First Class special trip, I know I don't follow my accounts as often as I do credit card statements.

I've always objected to the membership number being printed on boarding passes, gold/silver bag tags especially the ones that allow you to enter your address. Often on review sites people will photo their 1A boarding pass with their name and FFP #, or leave the BP in the seat pocket.

http://www.tnooz.com/2012/11/29/news/airlines-face-new-and-unexpected-security-threat-loyalty-fraud/?utm_source=Tnooz+Mailing+List&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=33fab7f717-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN

[NeverSure]

Good read, thanks. I gave up on frequent flier miles as a way to fly. I had a bunch of miles with United and could NEVER book a flight because they restricted use from holidays and limited the number used on any flight. It seemed I was always sucking hind t1t. I just spent the miles on a new big screen TV and some other things. Maybe they have improved their system, but I felt ripped off from what I'd hoped for.

I do agree that strong passwords and common sense are necessary. Nothing is exempt these days.

[aarn]

FF points have been a con for years. I bought a RTW ticket in Australia in 1994. It was with British Airways (BA) and their-then 'one world alliance' or some such,

and I was given FREE membership of their FF club. Initially, that was great [in '95 I got my first trip to LOS - free!]

However, one of the stipulations was that the free/redeemed seats had to be booked via the FF club office in the country where the original ticket(s) were purchased.

So in ~ 1999 BA closed their FF office in Australia, rendering worthless any accumulated points. Smart business move...AA

[impulse]

Flew round trip 6 times in a row from USA to China on FF miles alone.

It was a bad year for my business and I was certainly happy to have those free trips.

It was on United, BTW. Not an endorsement of their particular program because I tried for years to use my miles to go fishing in Alaska, or to Aus, but never could get a seat.

[WilliaminBKK]

FFP redemption is like winning the lottery, I simply can't plan that far ahead.

Any comments on the Middle East carriers being better than Oneworld/Skyteam/Star for redemption awards ?

[yermanee]

FFP redemption is like winning the lottery, I simply can't plan that far ahead.

Any comments on the Middle East carriers being better than Oneworld/Skyteam/Star for redemption awards ?

OK I'll bite.

First though, these are my personal opinions and experiences not necessarily common, and I have to emphasize that I only fly business class, and not often enough to accrue enough miles for free tickets.

Gulf Air : Worthless for upgrades since have to buy highest class tickets (Y) to get them, might as well buy business class.

Etihad : Pretty good in my book, even if you buy "D" class ticket can upgrade to 1st.

Biggest plus is that you can use your miles to buy things online from their skyshop, delivered to your home address. Got a couple

of very nice things that normally I wouldn't buy.

Qatar : Difficult to get upgrades from business class since most of the aircraft they use to my destinations are 2 class only.

Can exchange miles for items from their duty free in Doha, but the monetary value sucks i.e. 54 miles for 1 Qatari Riyal.

Oman : Easy to get to higher level because of generous mileage allocations. Some very nice perks attached to Gold membership..

For upgrades in one word : sucks (see comments on Gulf) Otherwise a very good airline.

Emirates : On my blacklist.

That's it. Once again these are my personal opinions and not necessarily yours.

Yermanee

[el jefe]

Cathay Pacific -- generous FF policies and easy to use miles for free tix. Earlier this month I flew JFK-HKG on my way to BKK and was given a free upgrade even though I was using a free ticket.

[KHR1010]

Most, if not all FF programs are geared for the business/First Class flyers. Budget minded travels are severely limited when using FF mile rewards. The Economy seats available are few and must be booked far in advance. This is unfortunate for the majority of travelers, but it does reflect the economics of the airline industry where the profits are made in the front of the plane on Bus/First Class ticket sales. I have averaged 200K to 400K air miles a year since the mid nineties and have been extremely fortunate that I am able to log 99% in Bus or First Class. I fly either Star Alliance or Sky Team and have selected one airline for each that I use the FF program for. Singapore Air for Star Alliance and Korean Air for Sky Team. All in all a very good experience with FF tickets and upgrades.

[Chivas]

FFP redemption is like winning the lottery, I simply can't plan that far ahead.

Any comments on the Middle East carriers being better than Oneworld/Skyteam/Star for redemption awards ?

Etihad was very decent and I spent around 85,000 Miles in their shop delivered to your home........

Pointless using Miles for flight redemption as especially in Economy you're looking at £300 taxes on a £500 flight these days and of course Miles dont cover the Taxes.........

[Rancid]

Years ago had lots of points up on Qantas, bad luck though that every free flight every time I tried to book already had used up its allocation. Eventually just flew whatever airline I wished and haven't flown them since, see now they are not looking financially healthy so maybe the loyalty thing doesn't work so well when its a one way street.

[samran]

Thai Air generally has a pretty good system. With the Thai AMEX visa card and the amount I fly (30-50K per year depending) that is good enough for two return tickets to OZ annually. Not bad.

[brd]

nothing to say about bangkok air bonus flyers ?

I do not like it at all

[pomchop]

Uniteds mileage plus is much improved since the merger with Continenatl....way more seats avail with partner airlines and pretty easy site to book online and navigate to see the dates available for various mileage level flights rather than having to input date after date and then wait to see if a seat might be available...also big plus is you can now use 1/2 the miles and just book a one way.

Yes you still need to book far in advance to get tickets for the saver awards/min mileage but IF you can do that and IF you are flexible on your dates I have managed to always get a seat by booking two or three months in advance....OR i have also found that if you book last minute say a week or two out that sometimes seats become available...you really do need to look at it several times a day and IF you see a seat at low miles on a decent schedule you have to make a decision otherwise it may well disappear in a matter of minutes...

Overall it works for me. The one i HATE is the Delta program where you can't book one way and it is close to impossible to find a seat for the min miles no matter how far in advance you book. Delta in my opinion is very close to bait and switch where you get miles and then they make it almost impossible to get a seat unless you want to pony up double or triple the miles as united.

Anyway....FF miles have saved me thousands of dollars and i have had more free roundtrips to bkk than i can remember. You have to be flexible, you have to book well in advance and you have to try and concentrate your miles with an airline program that has seats available and is relatively easy to book...

[NeverSure]

You have to be flexible, you have to book well in advance and you have to try and concentrate your miles with an airline program that has seats available and is relatively easy to book...

Good post. This is the rub for me. Rarely do I know way in advance that I am flying. I also don't have the luxury of concentrating on one airline. The cheapest way for me to fly is to book on United because they are the only major which flys into my town and they do several times per day. I at least leave and arrive on United, and either stay with them to destination, or they book me on another airline if they don't have seats or a route I need.

I simply gave up on miles. I use the AMEX and United, and "buy" things from their catalogs instead and pay for my flights.

YMMV, pardon.

[DentBalmer]

Im with Singapore Krisflyer and just redeemed a business return from Zurich - Bangkok on the A380 only a week before I wished to fly.

The best way to accumulate points is combination of flights and credit card accrual.

In Australia you can get a Westpac Krisflyer credit card. Buy everything on it like fuel, groceries etc and your points go up quick!

Btw, I didn't like the biz class with Singapore. Emirates is much better. Awkward seats with Singapore and not as nice features.

[RabC]

Have been Gold with Thai for 6 years and never seem to have a problem using my miles or free flights or upgrade awards. I tend to save most of my miles up and every 4 years or so treat myself and partner to BKK-LHR return in First. I have had to change the dates by one or two days once to ensure there were two free seats available but otherwise I have had no issues.

[pattayadingo]

FFP redemption is like winning the lottery, I simply can't plan that far ahead.

Any comments on the Middle East carriers being better than Oneworld/Skyteam/Star for redemption awards ?

Etihad was very decent and I spent around 85,000 Miles in their shop delivered to your home........

Pointless using Miles for flight redemption as especially in Economy you're looking at £300 taxes on a £500 flight these days and of course Miles dont cover the Taxes.........

Same her. I redeemed most of my FF points for goodies when Etihad bumped up their fares and I found other airlines were up to £100 cheaper. Plus the miles had to be redeemed by a certain date.

All goods were delivered to my home address. I got a nice watch and a portable disk drive amongst other things.

Nowadays i do not fly so much so the FF points are not really an issue.

[tombkk]

Different airlines seem to handle it differently. Sure, they will have a limited number of seats available for redemption flights or upgrades but it seems some people have had bad experiences with some airlines.

I use my miles for upgrades from eco to business class for intercontinental flights. Within Asia (let's say under 4 hours of flying time) I fly eco, and have all my credit cards collecting miles and stay at hotels that give miles. I have never had a problem with an upgrade - some scares as the "I" class was booked out but it has always been confirmed at least a few days before the flight. Thai Airways.

[pomchop]

FFP redemption is like winning the lottery, I simply can't plan that far ahead.

Any comments on the Middle East carriers being better than Oneworld/Skyteam/Star for redemption awards ?

Etihad was very decent and I spent around 85,000 Miles in their shop delivered to your home........

Pointless using Miles for flight redemption as especially in Economy you're looking at £300 taxes on a £500 flight these days and of course Miles dont cover the Taxes.........

i just booked online a united mileage plus ticket bkk to tokyo on Thai, tokyo to Chicago on ANA and then to my final usa destination on united...good schedule....32,500 miles one way and total of $62 usd in taxes...hard to complain about that....being able to book one way is a MAJOR advantage to me as i really don't know when i want to fly back until i have been back in usa for a while...with good credit you can get a mileage plus visa card online in a matter of minutes and get 25,000 mile bonus, no annual fee for first year then $95 ..also get free first checked bag and two passes for red carpet lounge...great deal...one way from bkk to east coast usa is 32,500 miles planned in advance ...so almost a one way ticket just for getting the credit card...charge another 7500 and you're there...