Airlines....?

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NOLA guy

All of the major airlines are about the same.

Find what airlines serve your area, decide which one you will most likely use in the future, and join their frequent flier program.

ctelly22

It depends on where you live and the places you frequent. I go to the Caribbean a lot so I have American, since they go to more Caribbean destinations than anyone else. I also have airtran because they usually have really cheap flights and go to a lot of the domestic destinations I travel to. I also have delta and us airways. They both go to a lot of places I travel to, and often have good deals. I consider them my backup airlines. I belong to a few more frequent flier programs but those are the ones I use the most. Also a few of them offer reasonably priced package deals, so they do have other benefits.

Henrik C

Try United Airlines.
Star Alliance has a lot of partners from all over the world, so you should check them out.
Once you've gained enough miles to get the Star Alliance Gold Card you get a lot of extra benefits:

* Priority Reservations Waitlisting - when there aren't any seats left on your preferred flight, gives you priority should a seat become available.
* Priority Airport Standby - gives you top priority when standing-by a flight at the airport.
* Priority Airport Check-in - allows you to check-in at the Business and/or First Class counter
* Priority Baggage Handling - like you, your bags get priority treatment and are among the first to be unloaded.
* Extra Baggage Allowance - an additional 20kg (44 pounds) or one additional piece of luggage2 which means you can check in three bags instead of two.
* Priority Boarding - enjoy the freedom of boarding at your convenience along with First and Business Class passengers.
* Airport Lounge Access - available worldwide for you and a friend when you travel with any Star Alliance member airline, regardless of your class of travel.

The silver card also gives you some benefits:
* Priority Reservations Waitlisting - when there aren't any seats left on your preferred flight, gives you priority should a seat become available.
* Priority Airport Standby - gives you top priority when standing by for a flight at the airport.

The lounge access you get with Gold status is awesome. It's really nice to be able to sit back and relax in a good chair, get some snacks and wine/beer/soda, or maybe connect to the internet and work a little.

Here's a list of all the different airline lounges you can visit with the Gold card.
http://www.staralliance.com/en/travellers/benefits/lounges.html

My dad is a frequent flyer with Star Alliance, and he is very pleased. With around 160-180 days of travel each year, it's important to find a good program -- and he has.

Go for Star Alliance.

Jerry H

What city do you fly out of? If the airline has a hub there, pick that one.

Lissie

Ive been a member of Qantas for years and they are good - I can generally get flights when I want - there actual flights are quite expensive though - I get most of the points from my credit card scheme! For more air travel tips http://lissiearticles.com/air-travel-tips/

Michael

Southwest Airlines is a good company.

Ryan

I do a lot of flying within the US and international. I always try to use United. They fly or have partners in the "Star Alliance" who fly pretty much anywhere in the world. As long as you are flying with them or a partner airline, you will receive frequent flyer miles. And once you reach certain miles levels you get automatic upgrades, and special benefits. And the drinks are free on international flights too.

Cris D

American Airlines is a decent company for the U.S. and they have the AA advantage program and you can earn plenty of miles getting you upgrades as well as loung acces into the admirals club.

Bizjet Flyer

Take into consideration where you live and which airlines offer the most flights in and out of your home airport. Then choose based on that.

Keep in mind that frequent flier programs have alliances that allow you to accumulate points when you use partner airlines. Here are the major alliances (I would recommend any of these):

Star Alliance: United, US Airways, Air Canada, and a bunch of international carriers. See http://www.staralliance.com

Skyteam: Northwest, Continental, Delta, Air France, Aeromexico, KLM, and other intenational carriers. See http://www.skyteam.com

OneWorld: American Airlines is the only domestic carrier. There are many international carriers, including British Airways - see http://www.oneworld.com

For any of those, just sign up for whichever airline in the alliance you are likely to use the most and then use that program for all of the airlines within the alliance.

Many people have mentioned Southwest. They have very limited destinations and do not have any alliance partners, so your miles won't add up as fast in their "Rapid Rewards" program. Southwest does offer consistently good fares, but you can't count on being able to use them (especially if they don't serve your home airport).

All of these programs are free, and there's nothing preventing you from signing up for more than one. I'm a member of programs in both the Star Alliance and Skyteam. I prefer Skyteam based on where I live, but I also go to destinations that are only served by Star Alliance members. The only downside is that you'll be bombarded with junk mail, mostly airline-branded credit card offers.