I will be traveling throughout Asia for a few years on business assignment (mainly within China with a couple trips back to the US each year).

I am mainly interested in saving up points to fly to and from US to China. I was wondering which airline/frequent flyer program would give me the best value for their frequent flyer miles?

 

Among Chinese airlines, both Air China (Star Alliance) and China Southern (SkyTeam) have vast route networks in China and membership in alliances with a lot of trans-Pacific routes.

You could join, for example, United's program, fly Air China domestically, and use the miles to redeem on United. Similarly, you could join Delta's program, fly China Southern domestically, and redeem on Delta. Among these scenarios, you might prefer United for redemption options -- there are more options from northeast Asia to the U.S. and they are less stingy on availability than Delta.

You could alternatively join the mileage program of Air China or China Southern itself; you would have to compare earning and redemption levels with the U.S.-based airlines. Unfortunately I don't have experience with these programs, so don't know if you'd be better off in them or the programs of their U.S-based partners. One benefit of joining a program of a China-based airline is that you would benefit more from elite status, as opposed to elite status in the alliance, which gives many reciprocal benefits but not as much accommodation as if you are elite in the airline itself.

 

As this thread isn't related to mileage running, I'll move it to the Miles Buzz forum. Welcome to FT!

--jpdx, MR Moderator

 

Where are you based: 1) in the US; and 2) China?

 

One problem with the scenario you describe is that it takes a LOT of flying on short routes in China to earn enough miles for a long trip to the US. The miles from a trip to the US, which can often be had for reasonable prices, really inflates your mileage totals and giving that up makes it harder to qualify for elite status, etc. I wonder if you wouldn't be better off buying the tickets from China to the US and using the resulting miles and status in another way.

In the few cases that I've researched, it's been a better deal to stick with the US based program. I'd be biased toward the *A side. I was platinum on Continental for many years and I'm platinum on Delta now, and it was a lot easier to get award tickets on Continental. This is especially true if you sometimes use your miles for family members. Award availability on Continental depends on the elite status of the person buying the award. On Delta, it depends on who is flying -- so it's difficult to find tickets for family members unless you are on the same flights.