Frequent Flyer Miles

[tiger02]

I searched, but this doesn't seem to have been discussed before. Couple of questions here.

1. I have a flight back to the US coming up. Two companies, Malev and Delta, fly direct to JFK. Malev costs about $100 more for the RT ticket, but I expect to be flying them regionally quite a bit, and the miles would be nice to have. In general, is the benefit of miles worth that much extra money?

2. Any good rec's for miles programs or credit cards or anything? I thought that I'd be happy with globalpass because you can accrue miles for almost any flight; but it turns out that in order to cash in, you have to book with their travel service, which is just this side of a scam. My credit card program is outdated and doesn't have very good benefits.

Thanks!
Tom

 

[SGladwell]

Delta on a Transatlantic? Do you have a masochistic streak? I did it once and it was ******* painful. My knees didn't forgive me for a week. Never again. Spend the extra hundred bucks. While I've never flown Hungary's flag carrier, they can't possibly be worse than Delta.

 

[Matt]

I travel Vietnam Airlines internationally just for the miles - and yeah, its worth it since I have to fly with them so much domestically.

Always sit at the front, business class lounge access, business class checkin, I am regularly upgraded, and I get preferential waiting lists for when I forget what time I am booked for (like that day when we were in Hanoi!).

Definitely worth it if you will be using them a lot locally.

 

[JetBlast]

No way in hell you should fly Delta transatlantic. Please, for your own sake. Malev has to be more comfortable than them. I would also go with them to get the miles, it is worth the extra money. If all else fails (I assume you are leaving from Budapest?) you can always connect at another airport to JFK.

Not sure about credit cards, I don't have one. You might want to check with your credit card company.

JB

 

[tiger02]

double post

 

[tiger02]

Originally Posted by SGladwell

Delta on a Transatlantic? Do you have a masochistic streak? I did it once and it was ******* painful. My knees didn't forgive me for a week. Never again. Spend the extra hundred bucks. While I've never flown Hungary's flag carrier, they can't possibly be worse than Delta.

Originally Posted by JetBlast

No way in hell you should fly Delta transatlantic. Please, for your own sake. Malev has to be more comfortable than them. I would also go with them to get the miles, it is worth the extra money. If all else fails (I assume you are leaving from Budapest?) you can always connect at another airport to JFK.

Not sure about credit cards, I don't have one. You might want to check with your credit card company.

JB

There was also a chance I'd get a free upgrade on Delta, but turns out they won't accept my AmEx points for that part of the SkyMiles program. Fortunately I'm short and also usually pretty good at weasling into exit row seats. So I need to weigh the risk of being able to pull that off, against the difference between $600 and $700. Ugh. And double ugh to layovers.

 

[Kent Wang]

FlyerTalk.

 

[tiger02]

Thanks Kent.

 

[JetBlast]

Thanks Kent, I forgot all about FlyerTalk.

I'll ask around the airport here and see if anyone has ever flown Malev, I had the unfortunate experience of being on a last-minute Delta flight from JFK-Gatwick about a year and a half ago on a 767. We couldn't book on another airline and needed to get over there fast, so we were stuck on a miserable old DAL jet. It was an experience I will never forget, and I don't really mean that in a good way.

JB

 

[tiger02]

I took the Malev flight east once already. Neutral, I guess--slept through it.

 

[JetBlast]

Ah, well, sleeping is better than writhing in pain, a la Delta

JB

 

[GreyFlannelMan]

I have been a long-time Delta devotee and find their transatlantic coach class no worse than most of the other carriers. I've recently done EWR-CDG on Continental -- that was not at all comfortable and the entertainment is poor; food is decent, however.

I also did LHR-JFK on Virgin in economy. My left leg went numb. Very little legroom for 6'3 me, but at least the in-seat entertainment is good. (Premium Economy, however, is fine).

End of May, I'm off to BCN from JFK on DL...it won't be comfortable, but I'll get to my destination, earn mileage and save a few hundred $$$ from what CO, IB and others wanted.

My one airline rule: avoid AA at most costs...the surliest FAs in the business, gate chaos and uncomfortable seating arrangements in steerage.

 

[globetrotter]

I've flown Malev a bit, not bad, nuetral is about right. but I haven't flown transatrlantic.

I don't stick to one airline, although I should.

if you are flying a lot out of budapest, you have the possiblity of being a big fish in a lilttle pond, if you stick to Malev. that has advantages.

 

[chorse123]

Originally Posted by GreyFlannelMan

My one airline rule: avoid AA at most costs...the surliest FAs in the business, gate chaos and uncomfortable seating arrangements in steerage.

AA pretty much sucks, but they have the most options on the route I fly the most (LGA-ORD). And they have flown me to Buenos Aires for free and will fly me to Rome for free so I try not to complain too much.

 

[tiger02]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

if you are flying a lot out of budapest, you have the possiblity of being a big fish in a lilttle pond, if you stick to Malev. that has advantages.

From FlyerTalk:

Just received several things in the mail from Malev. They officially joined oneworld as a full member on April 1 and have re-alligned their earning and burning and club levels.

A few highlights (or lowlights):

Silver is now 40,000 club points, Gold 80,000 and Platinum a whopping 200,000 (and even then it's still by invite only).

Only Platinum now gives complimentary space available upgrades on Malev flights (something Gold used to offer before the last revamp in 2005).

blah blah blah

But all in all, it's got to be one of the least attractive programs out there.

They had to choose to join forces with AA

Would there be any point to joining, say, BA's program and earning points on it via Malev and OneWorld?