Best program to credit Star Alliance points to?

[slidey]

Which are the better programs to credit star alliance flights to? I have upcoming business class flights to LA and then to Mumbai and as I have 0 points in any *A program, is there one which either gives status from a small number of flights or which has cheap long haul points redemption opportunities?

[Rob]

Some thoughts here but there is no clear answer – https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/12/09/what-is-the-best-star-alliance-frequent-flyer-programme-for-you-3/

Aegean probably still the easiest for status IF you do 4 x Aegean flights (which could be done in one trip UK – Athens – Greek Islands and back).

[Lady London]

Always check wheretocredit dot com. Different airlines will credit differing amounts of points based on the booking class and operating airline you fly – to your chosen FF program. Wheretocredit will let you see before you select. For example P class on LH Group airlines varies from 0 to what you were expecting depending on which airline you credit to.

Operating airline is very very important with Star Alliance in particular as some flights won’t credit anywhere if operated by a particular airline in some programs.

[Mel TS]

Also just check on when the points expire in each program if you aren’t likely to use them again relatively soon… Eg united don’t expire vs Air Canada do.
And having fell foul of this – make sure the correct FF program is printed on your boarding pass!!!!

[John]

Aegean is good and easy to renew once you get to gold but getting there is not so easy unless you pay full fares. Some sale business tickets earn 0 or just 1x, and so do many economy tickets. To get to gold from nothing is 72000 miles and 6 Aegean flights.

[BuildBackBetter]

Which airline are you actually flying? It might have some oneworld or other partners that might suit you better.

[Charles Martel]

I’m no expert but many Star Alliance economy fares don’t earn outside of the airlines own scheme – for example, a cheap K class Singapore Airlines ticket earns nothing on Aegean or Air Canada Aeroplan but would earn 50% of the miles flown on SAS Bonus or 25% on (Lufthansa) Miles & More. It might be worth checking the sort of tickets you’ll be buying on wheretocredit.com