Cheap Flights USA - Buenos Aires $287 incl taxes

Yep Star Alliance...

I was with NH, but switched to SQ. But I;m not flying as much since I started the MBA.. A lot of my travel had been because of business trips (hence the large amount of long haul flights to similar locations). Hence I will only be silver status this upcoming year
Thinking of switching to Asiana because the requirements of getting gold is much lower and it lasts 2 years, rather than 1. However, I do like flying Virgin Atlantic, and Asiana are not partnered with them (Both NH and SQ are, so I could still collect * Alliance points).

I also use seatguru.com when checking flights, because if I'm flying coach class, I prefer more room, and using flyertalk and seaguru, you can work out which plane you will be flying and what facilities will be available. e.g. I;m flying to SFO in AUgust to start my exchange, knowing that it is a long flight and that I'm flying in economy, I want to be able to use my laptop throughout... so I booked the SQ flight because it uses this plane....

I was actually tempted to take the Virgin Atlantic flight from HKG to SFO via LHR... That would have clocked up some serious miles and it was quite cheap.

Maybe I'll do a mileage run and visit some friends at the same time when I'm in the USA.

Good choice! Both Virgin and Singapore are fantastic airlines. Unfortunately we are stuck with US carriers here and Virgin America is not a real airline or a mileage program.

Same situation here with flying patterns - 1K with UA last year. So far only about 50K this year and probably won't be much more than that. That's enough for a Silver status on UA and Gold on BMI. I prefer their program, even though I have never flown a single flight with BMI. It is easier to maintain status with them and also much easier to redeem miles with one-way awards and cash&miles awards. I would recommend them instead of Asiana (unless you want to take advantage of the Asiana's family flight plan). As far as I know BMI is the only other *A partner that earns miles on Virgin. Their Gold Qualification is 38K miles (year after year), but the first year you have to get 58K. The only downside some fare classes earn only 50% credit: https://flybmi.com/bmi/src/html/diamondc ... miles.html

You can also buy BMI Silver status on Coupon Connection if you have access to it - that makes it easier to qualify as once you are Silver, you only need 38K miles in a rolling year, which is easy if you buy a ticket in F or C - you will earn 300% and 200% EQM respectively. You can start with them at any time as they have a rolling year (not calendar).

Also, have these two documents - a bit dated but may be helpful as you are at crossroads of your picking programs. Found somewhere on Flyertalk.