Frequent Flyer Miles
 

We're about to move to Taiwan. Any suggestions for what frequent flyer miles to collect (Star Alliance v One World)? Or a preference for credit cards (AmEx v Visa)?

We've been stocking up AA miles with flights and an AA Visa card, but perhaps it is time for a change.

Thanks

Look at EVA Air- they have a great Evergreen Deluxe Class service and they are partners with Continental.

Others to consider are China Air- very inexpensive flights.

Both are Taiwan based - which is probably what you want.

Neither China Airlines nor EVA are members of a worldwide alliance. However, EVA is partner with Continental, and China Airlines is partner with Delta. If you want to keep earning miles in a US-based FF programs, those will be your choices.

But there are other carriers you may use, depending on your travel needs. Hong Kong is only 1.5 hour from Taipei & TPE-HKG flights are extremely freuqent, so Cathay Pacific may be a good choice. However, CX's Asiamiles program is extremely stingy when it comes to discount fare.

The Japanese carriers ANA and JAL are also possible choices, especially if you're mostly flying to US gateways. ANA is a Star Alliance. JAL is not officially oneworld, but you can earn FF miles on AAdvantage or CX's Asiamiles.

In addition to the above, United has nonstop service between SFO and Taipei. There is also a one-stop via Nagoya from SFO. They also fly to TPE from ORD via NRT.

EVA would be a good choice depending on your destination. A close friend frequently flies IAD - TPE and used EVA a few times. She switched to United because the EVA flight connection in NYC was inconvenient for travel to D.C. She gets upgraded to business class all the time.

In addtion to ANA and United, the Star Alliance includes Thai, Asiana, and Singapore Airlines. So that team should be able to get you to most places in Asia. Also Air New Zealand is a partner. When you fly a star alliance carrier you get EQMs for your flights.

UA doesn't have the non-stop anymore. It's now Nagoya (on to SFO), or Tokyo (connect to many places). Both using 777.

NW flies to Detroit via Osaka on a daily 744.

CO also flies from TPE three times a week to Guam. Two of those are one-stops via Saipan, the 3rd is non-stop. From Guam, you can continue on to Honolulu and then the rest of the US, if you feel really adventurous. :D

Thanks for all the help. I'm told Singapore has a good flight from LAX to TPE. Although I have family in CA, our US home base will probably remain NY.

I'll have to check and see if I can redeem my AA miles for a Cathay flight or upgrade. The Star Alliance sounds worthwhile - enough Asian carriers to get us around.

You can definitely claim AAdvantage miles for travel on CX. However, I don't think you can use them for upgrades, unless your ticket is AA-coded. And AA codeshare tickets on CX flights almost always cost more than the cheapest CX fares. [It makes sense as you can earn miles on AA ticket, but not on CX ticket.]

Note that because of poor diplomatic relations between Taiwan and S. Korea, there are very few TPE-ICN flights. So, don't plan to use Asiana (Star Alliance) or Korean Air (Skyteam) for travel to/from Taiwan.

I will be flying to BKK this winter for free on Thai Airways, a Star Alliance Partner of USAirways, my primary frequent fliers carrier. I am no particular fan of USAirways, but I grew up in a small town which was only served by that airline,

Whoops, accidentally hit the post button----as I was saying, in order to visit my parents over the years, I continued to accumulate FF miles on USAir, and they never expire, so I have a large number. My point is that you may want to check the expiration time frame for whatever airline or partnership you choose.

United/Singapore Airlines/Thai are all Star Alliance so that would be quite useful, if you are in NYC both Singapore and Thai have non-stops to their respective hubs and on to TPE and Singapore have a LAX-TPE flight, also think that whilst in Taipei if you are taking short breaks you can use Thai down to BKK or Phuket etc, and then the mileage you have will be good for UA etc in the future.