Star Alliance - Which airline member should i join?

Star Alliance - Which airline member should i join? Benifits?

Now that I’m a new velocity plat holder im looking to rank up points with a star alliance member, I travel 2x a year Manila-Syd/Melb on Singapore Air which would give me about 22k points.

I’m looking more toward Aegean Airlines/Asiana Airlines as there gold status is 20k and last 3/2yrs as compared to Singapore Air which requires 50k per year which I wouldn’t be able to maintain it.

Any advice or info about their frequent flyer program and which would best suit my situation? Benefits?

I'd use the Aegean Air program. It is 16000 miles for Star Gold. Benefits are pretty standard across the alliance.

Aegean is best if you are simply looking to achieve and maintain Gold status. Asiana or United are better options if you are looking to regularly use miles for upgrades or reward tickets.

Benjo: I agree with the guys above, consider Aergean to quickly rack up Gold status and then choose with whom you credit other miles from there.

I flew Sydney-Toronto with Star Alliance partner Air Canada in business class earlier this year, put it against a newly-opened Aegean frequent flyer number and bang, got Gold status that's good through the end of 2016!

Check our article for more info on this: http://www.ausbt.com.au/how-to-get-star-alliance-gold-vip-status-with-one-flight

I would at least see if Turkish Airlines are interested in giving you a status match from VA Platinum. If you just want status A3 is great but the miles might not necessarily be of any use to you. Also check on the miles earnt with A3, on cheap UA fares they only credit 50% for example.

Personally I find TK handy because it gives you status for 2 years. If you do the same thing I did and qualified for Elite Plus (80k miles), then re-qualify in your first year (40k miles or 60k in two years), that gives *A Gold status for 6 years assuming a soft downgrade to TK Elite after your 4 years of TK Elite Plus.

What that allows me to do is then funnel all of my miles into UA as I find their redemptions to be generally pretty good and much easier to book.

Food for thought anyway!

I would go Air New Zealand, your status works with Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlatntic so you are not just limited to Star Alliance.

Air New Zealand are not the best option if your main priority is status. Status only lasts one year, and if you rarely fly NZ, and only fly SQ a couple of times a year you will not earn enough status points to earn Gold.