Got a miles or points question? Ask it here

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• Ed says:

  19 Mar19 March 07:07

  Hello!

  One thing I’ve wondered is is some sort of brief summary about the alternatives to BAEC possible, please?

  I know a fair bit about BA/Avios (and have used them twice thanks to your help to get to Brazil and New Zealand at the front of the plane), but don’t know where to start with either VS or Star, so haven’t looked into it. Am I missing anything?

  Thanks!

  • John says:

    19 Mar19 March 07:41

    If you don’t fly enough to achieve status on oneworld (perhaps because you only buy cheap Y tickets) , then getting and keeping status on star is easier if you join A3 / TK / OZ.

    VS is pretty useless if you don’t fly them a lot, since they are not in an alliance (yet), but otherwise their programme is similar to BAEC for UK residents (high YQ, 2 credit cards with some sort of bonus for reaching specified spend)

  • Rob says:

    20 Mar20 March 17:01

    I will be answering a similar question on the best Star programme on the blog over Easter. I am also planning to focus on Virgin Flying Club with a couple of pieces in April, as they launch their new domestic flights.

• cliff says:

  19 Mar19 March 07:26

  Do miles transferred from a friend’s Southwest account to mine count for the 110,000 mile total required for the companion pass? That is if it is first possible to make such a transfer.

  • Raffles says:

    19 Mar19 March 10:09

    Just to avoid keeping you on tenterhooks next week, I won’t be answering this one because I have no idea about Southwest. I saw a plane on the tarmac at Newark last month and that is the limit of my knowledge!

• John says:

  19 Mar19 March 07:33

  Where is the best reference that compares the benefits of each status level for oneworld and star programmes? The ones I have found have not been updated in 4 years – or you have to read separate pages and compare them yourself.

• Nick says:

  19 Mar19 March 07:33

  What’s the best way to chase a missing sign-up bonus, and when should you do it?

  For example, with my AmEx Gold MR card, I received the referral bonus randomly fairly early on after getting the card, and the normal signup bonus of 20k points appeared as a bonus on the spend that crossed the £2k mark.
  However, the sign-up bonus for my new SPG AmEx card hasn’t appeared yet, despite spending the required £1,000. Should I start chasing this as soon as I’ve spent the target amount, or should I wait for a particular statement etc.?

  Probably a tricky question for you to answer, since I expect it’s been a while since you’ve seen the sign-up bonus for most cards, but perhaps something that the “churners” in the readership could answer easily…?

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    19 Mar19 March 09:39

    Check that you’ve spent £1000 net of foursquare credits, refunds etc. and that all the transactions have posted in the ‘my points’ section. The SPG sign-up bonus will be attached to the transaction that takes you over the £1k.

    • Ben E says:

      19 Mar19 March 23:01

      I got the SPG Amex and made my 1000 in January… Rang up Amex and they said it he sign up bonus would only be credited in may!!

• Mr Bridge says:

  19 Mar19 March 08:00

  when you use gold club carlson points to book a room at raddison, do you still get the free upgrade to next room?

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    19 Mar19 March 09:40

    I got an upgrade when I redeemed a night at the May Fair with Silver status.

• Jason says:

  19 Mar19 March 08:08

  I need 25k priority club points in the next 3 months..i have platinum status in 2013. If I take out their credit card with the link posted here and get 40k will the platinum status run for 2014? or what the best way to get the points required.

  Thanks

  • Rob says:

    20 Mar20 March 16:11

    Why 3 months? Plat status is based on calendar year.

    However, yes, the credit card sign up points DO count for status, so the 40k link would do it. However, you get Platinum status with the PC credit card anyway (well, the £99 version) so you would stay Plat for as long as you hold it.

    I will flesh this out on the blog over Easter.

    • jason says:

      20 Mar20 March 21:19

      Thanks raffles, great site. I have the link ty

• Will says:

  19 Mar19 March 08:08

  When booking an avios reward flight how does the “free” domestic flight work. If I book to go to the states and back it seems I could add a LHR to Scotland for free months later, but how do you go about it and what’s the best freebies to maximise the value?

  • STeve says:

    19 Mar19 March 11:14

    If for example you say flying from Edinburgh to New York, When it comes up with availability!! It wiill show the Edinburgh to Heathrow leg as free and then the 40000 Avios to New York. If you want to do a stopover in London you need to phone avios

  • Rob says:

    20 Mar20 March 15:01

    This question will be answered on the blog in the next 2 weeks

  • David says:

    20 Mar20 March 22:25

    Don’t shout about this one too loudly folks, or the long time period gap allowable will disappear

    • Alan says:

      20 Mar20 March 22:31

      I certainly hope not – it’s one of the few benefits for those of us travelling from the Regions! 😉

• Mr Bridge says:

  19 Mar19 March 09:13

  is it just me, or is the amex ‘pay with points’ for travel a really really bad deal?

  • Rob says:

    20 Mar20 March 15:02

    This question will be answered on the blog in the next 2 weeks

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