FF Programs...Best?

[JoeCanuck]

I'm sure this topic has been talked about to death but I couldn't find a comprehensive comparison of different frequent flyer programs. What are your opinions? Or even facts?

So far, I'm a fan of Air Canada's Aeroplan. The big benefit, to me, is that once you get to Elite status, you get coupons which allow you to upgrade to Business class without burning off miles. Unfortunately, they don't fly where I am at the moment. Are there other programs that do this?

I'm currently using Miles and More, since most of my flying is in Europe/Arabia and LH and OS seem to fly where I want to go and I thought I'd stick with Star Alliance, for now. Their benefits don't seem all that great, though.

What do you think of M&M? How about programs by BA or AF/KLM?

Thanks for your input.

EDIT: I happened upon an FF ratings website. It has a lot of information about the various programs. www.webflyer.com

[regi]

Gulf Air has a great program, you get very quickly free flights.
BA is the other side of the spectrum. In several cases BA had a cheap ticket for long distance flights. But when it came to the point of miles, I seemed to have "a too cheap ticket to get miles". The nasty thing is that the travel agent doesn't know about the status of the ticket.

[b720]

Depending where you are based now, MEA can be a brilliant option..they fly daily to most major destinations in M.E. and Europe..They are partners with Flying Blue (Air France-KLM)..I think that you colllect free tickets very quickly, besides they often (once a year at least) offer a 50% discount on miles when spending...Check them out, I am a member along other FF, and I think that they are one of the best...www.mea.com.lb

[chunk]

BA's is dreadful though they have apparently become a little more generous recently. I won;t fly on them unless necessary so I don;t know for sure. BMI's seems to be generous enough also - especially if you fly on other Star carriers.

Flying Blue is my fave still though it isn;t near as good as Flying Dutchman was.....not that easy to get reward flights in my experience. I got full points on cheap tickets last year when flying on MEA - wouldnt have got them flying on AF or KL at the fare I got!!

EMirates seems quite good with flight credits built up quickly.

[JoeCanuck]

I think AirTran had the best program. After 3 flights, you get a free flight. You just save your boarding passes. I don't know if they still do that. It sure was easy.

[sn26567]

M&M is certainly not a good programme: you need a lot of miles to get a reward. Privilege (SN) is much more generous. But since you can get M&M everywhere in the world, you stick to it...