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Best frequent flier program and credit card?

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by SRT Mike, Oct 22, 2006.

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  1. SRT Mike

    SRT Mike Two Time F1 World Champ

    Oct 31, 2003
    23,343
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    Raymond Luxury Yacht
    #1 SRT Mike, Oct 22, 2006
    What do you guys like?

    I don't care *too* much about being able to use miles to get free plane tickets, but I *do* care about getting upgrades to business or first class, and being able to get into the lounges at the airports is nice. I've been in lounges that sucked as well as some that were extremely nice, so also a consideration is how many lounges the program has and whether they are worth having access to or not - but the #1 consideration is frequency of upgrades from coach to biz/1st class.

    90% of my travel is in the continental USA, with the rest being mostly to Europe with the very occasional somewhere else.

    I believe I have heard that AAdvantage is one of the best? I think I read many fliers get bumped to first class 90%+ of the time? As a big guy (6'3" 220lbs) I really appreciate the room.

    Also, whatever program is recommended I'm planning to get a credit and/or debit card that gets me miles. I run probably $250k a year through my business card, so I'm sure I can get some good miles from that. If possible I would even like to get a debit card as well as credit, because we have some employees that get a debit card attached to an account with small $$ in it (easier than petty cash) but you add it up and it's a decent amount of $$ per year that could be going towards getting me more miles :)

    Any suggestions on the FF plan? And the best rewards card for said plan? Anyone doing debit cards that give miles?
     
  2. Whisky

    Whisky Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Jan 27, 2006
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    #2 Whisky, Oct 22, 2006
  3. DrStranglove

    DrStranglove FChat Assassin
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Oct 31, 2003
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    #3 DrStranglove, Oct 22, 2006
    Black card.
     
  4. SRT Mike

    SRT Mike Two Time F1 World Champ

    Oct 31, 2003
    23,343
    Taxachusetts
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    Raymond Luxury Yacht
    #4 SRT Mike, Oct 22, 2006
    Cool thanks!
     
  5. Kds

    Kds F1 World Champ

    May 1, 2003
    10,994
    Canada and Brasil...
    #5 Kds, Oct 23, 2006
    Yep......Flyertalk has it all.......been a member there myself for 7 years.

    I was a Premex on United for 3 years and an Elite on Air Canada for the same 3 years......I looked at and analyzed all of the various airlines and their programs before I started my heavy flying, but the main thing that was important to me was which alliance they were a part of.

    You just cannot beat the STAR Alliance. I did not look at the points rewards, but the features of their plans/alliances that would make my travel easy and comfortable.

    I bat about 50% with AC upgrade certs and about the same with UAL's
    e-upgrades. Having said that all my flying was intercontinental as opposed to in-country......heard stories that getting upgrades in-country was difficult.

    E+ seating on UAL works fine for me....I'm 220 lbs and 6' 21. Bizz class is a waste of money or points on a 5 hour transcon flight IMHO.

    Air Canada's staff and aircraft suck......UAL's are excellent. AC's Maple Leaf lounges are first class and everything is free (all you can eat and drink).....you pay for food and drinks in the domestic Red Carpet Clubs and they can get crowded. Etc, etc.....
     

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