I’m currently a gold member on Velocity and have been using my points via SIA. However, I’m going to be based in the Philippines for an extended period of time.
As I won’t be flying Virgin much now. I’m trying to work out the best Asia airline program to focus on to get status and/or miles quickly / easily.
I know SIA is one of the best, period, but I’m wondering if there is another program that I could replicate my Gold (or more) status easier with the region, as SIA takes time and I won’t necessarily be flying them as frequently as I was.
What airlines would you likely be frequenting when you are based in Philippines? Depending on what airline alliance or partners they have, it will determine which frequent flyer program would be a good match. e.g. if you would be using Philippine Air most, you can maybe credit to Etihad or ANA.
If you are flying Cathay Pacific -> credit to other oneworld alliance members or Cathay partners.
@w-hiew - thanks for the suggestion for checking out statusmatcher.com. I wasn’t previously aware of that site, so good to know. I’ve sent off a few status match requests to the most relevant and fingers crossed on that front.
On the original question - PAL would probably end up the natural choice for domestic travel. Overseas, however, I’m flexible in my thinking and happy to do a bit of leg work to focus on a particular airline or two to get the rewards. I really like SIA but it might take me too long to move up the ranks. My travel will likely consist of several inter-SEAsia flights, 2-3 Manila to Sydney and 1-2 europe based flights. So not sure who would be best overall to focus on.