Dear Randy,

I have had an Alaska Airlines frequent flyer account for years. I have flown twice on United in the past three months. United does not recognize Alaska's program for accreditation. Is there some sort of map available online that is regularly updated illustrating the overlapping of partnerships?

If I am going to open another account, I'd like to see that I'm covering as much breadth as possible. It would be too diluting to have more than two accounts.

- Nina

Randy replies:

Nina, you came to the right place. Actually if you were to Google the terms "frequent flyer program partner chart" you're likely to find 51,700 pages of the wrong information. I looked for you, and found an old chart that is still listing America West (Remember them? They haven't been around for half a decade).

The good news is that InsideFlyer has the information you want. Years ago in the magazine we used to include the complete listing of partners for every major program monthly in the magazine--I'm sure some of our longtime readers know exactly what I am referring to. But when we expanded our coverage to include international programs, the list grew too long to properly manage in the publication. However, we still maintain the list online.

When visiting InsideFlyer.com, under the section Departments, you'll notice "Programs and Partners". This online tool will assist you in finding the correct partners to earn and burn frequent flyer miles with. I hope this will help the next time you need this information.

If you access the Programs and Partners section, under Alaska Mileage Plan, you will notice that if you had flown either of United's major competitors, American or Delta, you would have been able to earn miles into your Mileage Plan account.

A final word of caution--partners of programs are subject to change so it really is a good practice to refer to these types of partner charts from time to time just so you are up-to-date on changes that can occur at any time.

Dear Randy,

I just moved to the United States from Switzerland and am a Senator with Miles & More. I will continue to fly frequently with Star Alliance to Europe, especially Swiss and Lufthansa, but as well United within the U.S. From a first glimpse, I have the impression that it is better for me to remain with Miles & More and not to change to the United program (as you get free tickets, etc. with less miles). Then again, I realize that United often upgrades their frequent flyers. Can you give me some tips for what might be best for me?

- Hugo

Randy replies:

Well, there are many things for you to consider, and while the focus might be on awards, I think you are correct in considering balancing your ability to earn miles with the other benefits of membership as you accumulate those miles.

Assuming you will be here in the states for at least three years, I think your best bet might be to move to the United Mileage Plus program. Typically when someone moves here from Europe, it is because of business reasons and most likely the job will involve a lot more domestic U.S. travel, vs. flying back to Europe all the time. While there is no doubt that you will enjoy service by Swiss and Lufthansa, even as a Senator you do not enjoy automatic and free upgrades for those trans-Atlantic flights (well, actually you do receive two eVouchers which you can use as an upgrade on a long-haul route such as a trip from North America to Europe but that is only a single time and a single leg).

Given that, and the common Star Alliance award and upgrade chart, the two frequent flyer programs might be more equal than you think. For instance, United updated their domestic upgrade policy to unlimited domestic upgrades for elite members--and I don't think you can match that at any level with Miles & More.

And there are other things to consider. It takes 100,000 elite qualifying miles (EQMs) to achieve Senator status with Lufthansa and that rewards you with a 25 percent bonus for your flight miles. That same number of EQMs with United is equal to their 1K status. This level will reward you with a 100 percent bonus for your flight miles (more than making up for any difference in the award charts). And in addition to your unlimited domestic upgrades, you'll get six systemwide upgrades, which is actually more rewarding than the Senator eVoucher program.

Both programs offer enhanced award availability when a member reaches these levels of elite status, although there are some regional benefits from Senator that would not be of much use here in the U.S.

Let's take a look at the award schedule, which may not give you as much of a comparison shock as you might think.

But having said that, it is not all positive toward United Mileage Plus. The single item without going into too much detail where you certainly would benefit in maintaining your Senator status while here in the U.S. is the fact that you'd be able to continue to use your lounge privileges here, while as a United Mileage Plus member, you don't get the same lounge privileges domestically. That may or may not be important to you, but it is a comparison difference.

On to the award charts...

The Miles & More award chart for redemption in North America (and I do hope you get a chance to visit various parts of this country for pleasure) has three levels of redemption, 30,000/45,000/60,000 miles. Mileage Plus on the other hand offers North America redemption at 25,000/50,000/70,000 miles. United is lower at the Saver end of the chart, while slightly higher on the other end. I'd call these two comparisons a draw, although I would be remiss in not pointing out that United has been a champion in the last two years for offering mileage sales and these sales would give you a chance to save miles for redemptions during those promotional periods.

If we were to compare trans-Atlantic awards, since that may be valuable to you as you return to visit friends and family in Switzerland, Miles & More offers their version of Star Alliance awards for 60,000/90,000/140,000 miles. Mileage Plus on the other hand has their version of Star Alliance awards at 55,000/105,000/135,000 miles. Again, a mixed comparison based on class of redemption and availability.

In both award category comparisons, I believe that United Mileage Plus has the edge. Not by solely looking at the award chart, which I think is a common error by many travelers, but rather by also looking at the cost of the accumulation of the miles. As I noted, staying with Senator level at Miles & More would earn you a constant 25 percent bonus of flight miles while the 1K level at Mileage Plus awards you a 100 percent bonus for the same thing.

Let's say, for example, that you remain at the qualification level of 100,000 miles for your elite status and those are actual flight miles, the bonus from Miles & More would equal 25,000 miles, while at the same time, the bonus from Mileage Plus would equal 100,000 miles. That is a difference of 75,000 miles, which I think makes up any slight differences that you might see in the award chart--and this is on an annual basis. Over the three years we are looking at this, that's a total difference of 225,000 miles that you would not have if you don't switch to United Mileage Plus.

There are any number of other comparisons, such as local benefits and partners to consider but I think just focusing on the bigger picture here gives you enough fuel with which to make a decision.