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anyone part of these programs with delta,avianca,american or contenental? how do they work, is there a fee or do you just sign up? has anyone benefitted from using these miles for a free ticket or upgrade or anything? i see myself traveling allot to colombia and want to consider taking advantage of what they have to offer.

... in response to frequent flyer programs to colombia, posted by jediknight on Feb 14, 2005

Sir Jediknight where are you flying out of and do you know where in Colombia you might be flying into???  One of the key factors you might want to consider is your location and what airport you will be flying out of or needing to fly into and make your conections if you do not live near one of the major "hub" airports.   Here is what I have been doing and the reasons etc...   I live near Newark (EWR) airport which is a hub for Continental.   Continentals main hubs are Houston, Cleveland and Newark.  So in choosing who you are going to want to concentrate your frequent flyer miles with you will want to consider who is going to be able to provide for you the most options in all of your future flights.   I use Continental because they have a ton of flights going to many destinations out of a nearby airport.   They also have a direct non-stop flight that I use going to Bogota.  If I was living in or near NYC I would probably concentrate my miles with Avianca because they have some direct flights going to Bogota and Medellin but for me to get to those airports it tends to be quite a hassle so I prefer not to.   Continental has codeshares with Delta and Copa so if I need to use one of these airlines I am able to accumulate my Continental miles.   One of Delta's main hubs is Atlanta.   Delta codeshares with Avianca so if it is beneficial for you to use Delta you will accumulate miles also with Avianca.   I do not know all of the hubs for American but I do know two of them are Miami and Dallas.  In a similar situation my cousin who lives in Dallas uses American for her business flights because with Dallas being a hub she is always able to find a decent flight for where she needs to go.   I have also signed up with American because Miami is a good jumping off point for me and there are some direct flights out of Miami on both Avianca and American to other cities in Colombia like Medellin, Cartagena, Barranquilla and Cali.   If I want to just go to Bogota I like to use the direct non-stop Continental flight but if my final destination is going to be a different city I toy with the idea of flying into Miami as my connection and then use one of the non-stop fights with American or Avianca.  (usually Avianca)  because the direct flight into Bogota on Continental gets in very late and any connection to a different city will require me to spend the night in Bogota.    Another thing you might want to consider are your points or miles tranfer from your source whether it be a hotel, car rental or airline miles to a credit card, I use American Express which I accumulate their points on also.   Many times you can transfer either your miles or points from one source to another and use them that way...   In the financially unstable world of airline travel at least our major players in getting us to Colombia (Continental, American, Delta, and Avianca) are in a better financial position (not great) than those of United and US Air which if I had miles accumulated on them I would do my best to use them up as soon as possible...  just some thoughts, I hope it helps!

... in response to Re: frequent flyer programs to colombia, posted by MarkNJ on Feb 15, 2005

this helps allot and i appreciate the time you took to respond. both jfk and newark airports are close to me, although newark is closer and easier to get to but i've found that flights to colombia are more expensive out of ewr than jfk, so i've flown avianca a few times to save, sometimes as much as $250 per r/t ticket but i hated returning at 6am to jfk, so nothing is perfect. this last time i was lucky and flew delta, it was cheaper than avianca but had to stop in atlanta, no biggie but i saved allot, so i think i'll be looking into all of them to see which is better, thanks for your help, i'll be looking into the credit cards for miles.

... in response to frequent flyer programs to colombia, posted by jediknight on Feb 14, 2005

If at all possible, I fly American for business and pleasure.  The FF program is a free loyalty program and I've redeemed many a mile for free airfare.  Just my preference.  BTW, the staff in the AA office in Cali, attached to the Inter, has always been excellent and willing to help with any travel modifications I needed. -TNC

... in response to frequent flyer programs to colombia, posted by jediknight on Feb 14, 2005

AA has a good program and offers many ways to get ff miles. Avianca has a program but the sign up page is in Espanol. Both programs are free to join. I have used my AA milage for a couple of trips and to upgrade on another. There is nothing better than redeeming those miles and keeping your cash in pocket for the trip ahead. I am a member of Avianca as well but you have to keep track of your trips. I didn't receive credit for a couple of flights and had to produce proof of flying with them. With AA everything is automatic, especially if you book online.

... in response to frequent flyer programs to colombia, posted by jediknight on Feb 14, 2005

AA has a decent program and hits all the Major cities in Colombia.  If you buy a ticket before Feb. 19, 05 you get DOUBLE MILES.  depending on where youre flying from you could get accrue alot of FF Miles.