escape4

I have grown increasingly unhappy with BA so I have been flying more and more with other airlines, although not to the point of dropping BA Gold (the grass is not always greener elsewhere). I simply do a bit more than the minimum for Gold but I do not push it to higher levels like GGL. In the past, I would fly BA unless they were significantly more expensive than other airlines for a certain route. Now, I will not fly BA unless it is reasonably cheaper than other airlines, simply because I find the BA product of lower value than many other airlines. It's all about the value of what I am getting relative to the price.

Which alternative frequent flyer programmes do you think are attractive for mostly long-haul business class travellers? The common answer is that it depends where you fly and where you live. I personally fly mostly business class between Asia and North America, so I can pretty much choose whatever FF program is best: Asia, Europe, North America, or Middle East.

Since I am also *A Gold (twice - AC and LH), I considered adding Sky Team. But while I am not too pleased with BA, reading comments here about Flying Blue it seems even worse. However I like the idea of OW Emerald + *A Gold + whatever top tier Sky Team has, which would give me maximum flexibility. But there are reasons why Sky Team is not a great alliance, so perhaps I would be better off to double up on OW just like I do with *A?

I realize there is not a single right answer but I am curious to hear different perspectives.

Moz

It might help if you can share your home base airport?

InfiniteCycle

If you're flying business does the colour of the card really make a blind but of difference other than to ego?

1010101

I still think BAEC best rewards premium class flying so long as you can make the minimum 4 BA metal flights per year.

The best alternative is probably the airline you most frequently fly on.

nux

I think you're looking at this the wrong way round. You don't like the BA product so you want a different frequent flyer program?

You should probably focus on which
airline(s) you want to fly on first, then choose a frequent flyer program to suit.

For example, you could mainly fly CX/QR and still credit to BAEC assuming you can also work in 4 BA metal flights to maintain status.

msm2000uk

There is a Skyteam status match through Alitalia if you're interested.

corporate-wage-slave

I'm top tier on Flying Blue (Platinum, however there are 2 Prem style groups in AF-KLM), and I think it's equivalent to BAEC Silver, but better than Lufthansa FTL. Still, it's good to have a stash of miles with them when there are no other alternatives. And since you are Senator on Lufthansa already - which seems to me to be the best alternative to BAEC overall - the only benefit I can see is if you can get HONs as a result of cutting back on oneworld travel. Plus FRA and MUC feature heavily in the new travel. I was HONs a few years back and outside of those airports the benefits were quite small. Within oneworld there doesn't seem to be a clear "head and shoulders" alternative to BAEC, except that if you want to travel Main Cabin rather than Business/First on redemptions - or upgrade on USA domestic flights - then AA's scheme works better than BA.

I would query the benefit of having multiple pots on the same Alliance (such as AC and LH). Been there, done that, and it's just not worth it even at my level, so for less frequent travellers it seems to me to be "miles collecting" rather than efficient "miles usage".

henkybaby

Flying Blue
Pro: Ease of booking award travel and availability. Network. Free Upgrade vouchers (AlItalia)
Con: Lounges, Earning vs Redemption rates.
M&M(or S)
Pro: Network. Free upgrade vouchers
Con: Unusable redemption site.

AlicorporateUK

I'd not put this amongst the cons, given that only certain fare classes qualify for the upgrade. In short: it is cheaper to buy a restricted business class ticket.

G

henkybaby

I was wondering about that, as there is no way to force any website to give me the price of their qualifying economy or premium economy fares... But you can use 2 vouchers to go from Y to J. Must be a deal there somewhere. Right ?

AlicorporateUK

Trust me, it's just a bluff. I was Freccia Alata Plus for several years and the only time I was able to use the voucher was when my company booked me on a flexible economy class ticket to SVO (I called and got the upgrade). Restricted J fares are normally 20%+ cheaper than flexible economy fares hence no deal whatsoever there.

G

Globaliser

Do you have a reason for doubling up in *A? And would you have a reason for doubling up in OW?

There are sometimes some good reasons why you might do something like this, but it's always worth analysing your own situation to see whether or not they're good reasons for you.

Mwenenzi

What do you want from a ffp?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html

TPJ

I am an ex BAEC Gold now quite happy with AA. I am an Exec Platinum and the best thing is 8 eVIP certificates valid for upgrades (on up to 3 segments) from Economy (any booking class) to C or from Business (any booking class) to A. Unlimited complimentary upgrades to First on domestic/Canadian/Caribbean flights is another bonus. I normally make it to F even on Friday afternoon hub-to-hum (ORD-PHX) flights.

I do not believe there is any good FF program within ST alliance.

escape4

I do not really have a home base airport. Which is why I feel like I can pretty much consider any airline or FF program. For the same reason I tend not to fly one airline far more than others, otherwise I would just pick that FF program.

I find many perks of having status, including when flying business class.

Interesting. I was just turned down by KLM so maybe I will look into Alitalia.

The benefit I see of doubling up on *A is that since I travel on many different airlines other than those where I have status (AC, LH), then I can frequently pick & choose which program will give me the most miles depending on the airline (TK, TG, UA, CA, etc.), the route, and the fare class. For redemptions, there are differences as well. Sometimes using Aeroplan is better, sometimes M&M is better.

So my options are:

1. Open a second OW account, but I need to figure out which one
2. Open a Sky Team account
3. Continue crediting BAEC with OW flights, but I suspect achieving GGL only has modest benefits relative to having another OW emerald

Some of the feedback here is helpful about FB and Alitalia.