Staralliance007

Hey Fellow FTers,
Can anyone list in particular the pros and cons of having miles credited to KF instead of LH Miles. The reason I ask is because i'd love to go nuts on KF's mileage programme but it's just that LH's MILES and more offerings of 3x for first class travel seems irresistable. ?
Any thoughts? WOuld you rather credit ur miles to KF or LH miles ? if you were flying F ?
cheers

fimo

I credit to both, depending on the bonus/minimum mileage and what I need for requalifications. For SIN based members, there is definitely a distinct benefit to having miles in KF given the range of destinations SQ/MI offers.

When flying in J/F - I would definitely lean towards LH. But personally, I still prefer having a healthier balance in KF because I expect to redeem my awards on SQ.

demue

I think if you care for maximum mileage accrual you will have to credit your miles to LH as 3x is just to good to pass on. However, even when doing that you should certainly credit your F-class sectors (if you fly SQ or a codeshare with SQ flight number and the tix being issued from SQ ticket stock) to your KF account to get PPS status with SQ asap. There is a guideline on how to go about it in the sticky of this forum.

Once you are happy with the number of miles in your LH account you could build up miles with KF but the earnings ratio will be worse than with LH. Overall not a bad situation to be in if you ask me.

BTW, I assume here that you will be mainly traveling on SQ and not LH, UA etc. One more thing, if you want to redeem your miles with SQ than certainly it is best to have the miles with KF and have status (like PPS). However, even though I have only redeemed C/J-class awards so far I have always managed to secure seats on SQ via LH M&M by using LH miles. Sometimes I had to be a bit flexible regarding dates (+/- 3 days) but I have always managed to get onto SQ so far and not use LH metal for travel to Asia.

Cheers...

Savage25

F miles go to LH for me. Here's what I do depending on Fare class on SQ:

F: LH wins with 300%, SQ only gets me 150% status and 175% redeemable (25% bonus for elites)
C: LH wins for the 200%. SQ only gets 125% status/150% redeemable
Y: LH for the 150%, SQ only gets 100% status/125% redeemable
B, M, E: SQ wins here for the 125% redeemable. LH is 100%.

Crediting to LH is made easier for me since the SIN-based credit cards allow me to top up my KrisFlyer account constantly.

Colin

SQ F yields 2x miles in BD Diamond Club. All other * F yeilds 3x in BD. 2x miles in BD is far more valuable than 1.5x miles in Kris Flyer or even 3x miles in Miles & More given the Miles+Cash option on BD redepemptions.

Staralliance007

LH M&M is the way to go for me ! thanks for all the input and recommendations.
cheers

DullesJason

Just a question (as a newbie), but even if you intend to redeem awards on SQ, wouldn't you rather bank them with LH and have LH ticket it on SQ? Star Aliiance awards (round trip anyway) are much more generous than SQ or LH individually. For example, r/t USA-SE Asia is 120k miles for a Star award in First Class. You should be able to book that on your carrier of choice, SQ. Why not get the maximum mileage accrual and get MORE SQ awards through the *A award set mileage? This of course presumes you intend to redeem awards for free tix instead of U/G awards.

shortfinals

Yes, it would, save for one thing. Availability of the SQ awards themselves are a far easier to get via SQ miles. Anecdotal evidence also points to further availability on hand for PPS members too.

fimo

It's actually 180K miles for a FC award, 120K only gets you business.

Anyway, the reason is pretty much as shortfinals says. Also, I can redeem an award to Bali for just 15K through KF, whereas M&M would cost me 30K minimum for intra-region awards. KF also frequently has redemption discounts as high as 25%. I try to nab the best of both worlds - right now my M&M account actually has more miles, though KF is not that far behind.

DullesJason

But under the scenario I propose, you would already be a PPS member, so you have that access to additional award inventory. It's just that you use LH miles to pay for it. The question then becomes, which gives you access to greater award inventory, those trying to pay with KF miles? Or those trying to pay with LH miles but who are already PPS members.

DullesJason

The *A awards must not be the same. The one that United publishes calles it 90k for business and 120k for first. While the one LH publishes, as I just checked supports what you say--180k for F/C. Strange. I thought these would be standard award levels. So it's a wash, since LH awards more.

But, if SQ & LH both require the same miles for JFK-FRA-SIN r/t (hypothetically), then it would seem to make sense to bank with LH given their more generous rewards. Unless I'm overlooking something again.

fimo

To each their own. Unlike many, I redeem mainly intra-Asia Y class tickets (for family), which are much cheaper using KF miles and often available at a 15-25% discount. That, plus availability makes it worthwhile for me to have miles in KF. As I said, I have miles in both accounts.

Kiwi Flyer

There is no standard redemption chart, just like there is no standard rate of earning miles.

zvezda

The relative value of M&M miles and SQ miles depends on where you want to fly with your miles. Some trips require more M&M miles than SQ miles. Other trips are the other way around. Have a look at the places you want to go in both award charts.

DullesJason

This is where I was wrong. For some reason, since United published a Star redemption chart, I assumed it was an alliance standard. ... u me, etc.

But this makes it tougher to decide where to bank SQ miles, which probably won't be with SQ/KF. It's either LH or UA. Later this year I plan to do my first RTW in C, as much as possible on SQ to attain the 25 sectors needed for PPS--in one circle.

It's a tough decision because of LH's 200% redeemable miles bonus for flying SQ in C. Yet, United is the other contender as their redemptions are lower. Plus I live in the US (and only 12-15 mins from UA hub @ IAD), so having 1P status will make domestic travel on UA much more tolerable. I can't decide. Someone help me please.