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Old May 24, 2011 | 7:36 pm
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Best frequent flier program for me?

Hi all - I'm new to the site and this thread. I live in Boston and just found out that I'll be working on a project that will require me to travel to LAX 2-3 times/month for the next 4 months. My travel has been somewhat limited to the northeast and I've not had an opportunity to rack up the miles before. Was wondering if anyone could recommend the best program(s) based on my situation? I'd like to use the miles for personal (vacation) travel to the Caribbean or other warmer climates......

Thanks in advance for sharing your expertise.
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Old May 24, 2011 | 7:42 pm
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In what class of service will you be traveling between BOS and LAX? Will you be able to choose the carrier, or will your employer dictate which airline you must fly?
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Old May 24, 2011 | 8:11 pm
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Originally Posted by Bobcats
Hi all - I'm new to the site and this thread. I live in Boston and just found out that I'll be working on a project that will require me to travel to LAX 2-3 times/month for the next 4 months. My travel has been somewhat limited to the northeast and I've not had an opportunity to rack up the miles before. Was wondering if anyone could recommend the best program(s) based on my situation? I'd like to use the miles for personal (vacation) travel to the Caribbean or other warmer climates......

Thanks in advance for sharing your expertise.
check out southwest. free bags and if you fly enough you can get the free companion for a year benefit
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Old May 25, 2011 | 5:37 am
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Originally Posted by guv1976
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In what class of service will you be traveling between BOS and LAX? Will you be able to choose the carrier, or will your employer dictate which airline you must fly?

Thanks for the response. I'll be flying coach and will have the ability to choose my own carrier.
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Old May 25, 2011 | 6:15 am
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Pick what hotel you want to stay at in the Caribbean, then sign up for that hotel's affinity card and use it for your L.A. hotel stays. You'll rack up lots of points and possibly qualify for an elite status, which will earn you bonus free stays plus complimentary upgrades. If you change hotels each night in L.A. you'll earn status quicker because each night will count as a separate stay. However, it's a PITA, though, so determine whether it's worth it to you.

Marriott has more hotels to choose from in the Caribbean, and their affinity card really stacks up the points. Or, if you like to snorkel, Westin St. John is a great choice. The Marriott Premiere Visa card gives you automatic silver status, plus phantom stays that count towards gold status. Starwood will give you complimentary gold status for charging $30k to the Starwood AMEX card in one calendar year. Gold status also earns you a 25% boost in StarPoints for stays.

Most hotels run frequent special promos, so be sure to check the hotel boards for ongoing promos that will significantly increase the number of points you'll earn.

As far as airlines go, do a bit of searching and see what airlines, if any, offer non-stop service to L.A. That would be my first priority because you'll be flying that route so often, might as well make it as convenient as possible. Secondarily, see if they have decent flight options to the island in the Caribbean that you've chosen. Many have partners who fly, so look at the entire alliance, not just the individual carrier.
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Old May 25, 2011 | 9:23 am
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Originally Posted by guv1976
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In what class of service will you be traveling between BOS and LAX? Will you be able to choose the carrier, or will your employer dictate which airline you must fly?
Originally Posted by crazypalooza
check out southwest. free bags and if you fly enough you can get the free companion for a year benefit
Being from Boston, what ever you do, don't choose Southwest. Living in Boston you have lots of choices since it isn't really hub captive aside from B6 having a much larger presence than the other airlines.

Find a rewards program that is more rewarding and has options/partners to explore various parts of the world, including to the Caribbean. With the WN/FL merger, the Caribbean service still won't have extensive coverage.
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Old May 25, 2011 | 9:27 am
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Do you insist on non-stops and are you looking for upgrades or most miles?
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Old May 25, 2011 | 11:42 am
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Look at the miles needed for the route you want to travel.


My main route is MSP to BDL (Hartford) and while I prefer Delta for the dirct flight it's hard to find any for less than 40K miles (coach) unless i book WELL in advance,

United and AA stop in Chicao but I can get the flight for 25K miles

Hilton has a nice double dip if you can stay there in LA, .

Do you pay the airline/hotel bill and get reimburshed ? If So get he specific airline and hotel card for even more points
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Old May 25, 2011 | 12:46 pm
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Originally Posted by Bobcats
Originally Posted by guv1976
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In what class of service will you be traveling between BOS and LAX? Will you be able to choose the carrier, or will your employer dictate which airline you must fly?

Thanks for the response. I'll be flying coach and will have the ability to choose my own carrier.
If you end up flying on the UA nonstops (or connections on CO/UA/US), then -- unless you are flying on deeply-discounted Coach fares -- I would seriously consider crediting the miles to Aegean Airlines' "Miles and Bonus" frequent-flyer program. After one roundtrip, you will have Star Alliance Silver status, which will give you free checked baggage on Star Alliance carriers. After four roundtrips, you will have Star Alliance Gold status, which will also give you free lounge access when flying Star Alliance carriers, even on domestic flights.

For 25,000 miles in Aegean's program, you can get a round-trip between BOS and the Caribbean on CO, UA, or US.
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Old May 25, 2011 | 12:56 pm
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Originally Posted by guv1976
For 25,000 miles in Aegean's program, you can get a round-trip between BOS and the Caribbean on CO, UA, or US.
keep in mind that Aegean has some very tough rules on award tickets - I don't think they allow any kind of changes.
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Old May 25, 2011 | 8:44 pm
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Each of the big 3 legacy carriers offers several nonstops each day, so I would choose one of them and stick with it. So the questions is which one? I can't speak with authority, but in my experience, I have found the best award redemption options on AA, so would recommend AA. DL has just plain sucked and while the CO side of United has been good, there are a lot of complaints about the UA side.

The other alternative is JetBlue, which is a nice experience. If your award redemptions are truly only going to look to the Caribbean then check out the JetBlue route map and see if it fits your needs.
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Old May 25, 2011 | 9:05 pm
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Deciding which carrier to fly and which carrier's FFP to credit miles to are two very different decisions, and should not be confused. One might decide to fly AA, but credit to BA; fly UA, but credit to Aegean; or fly DL, but credit to AS. A lot depends on what one wants from the FFP, where one wants to travel on rewards, whether free stopovers on awards are desired, etc.
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