capin

Hi all, I'll start with just a couple of details about me. I am from the uk but work and live in Charlotte, nc. I try to avoid flying internally in the us but I have to go Clt-sfo maybe 3-4 times a year in economy. Internationally, I fly atl-Lhr on my sister's ba staff travel maybe 4 times a year and I also travel Lhr-Bkk with Qatar or rj maybe twice a year.

I'm in Bkk in the Royal silk lounge at the moment heading back to London and at 560 tps a trip, I am just about to hit Baec gold. My collection year ends in August 2016 so I figure I am good for gold until August 2017 and then a soft landing to silver until August 2018. I should mention that I have about 120000 avios.

I booked a bargain qr biz flight ams-Bkk for May 2016. It seems a shame to add more tps when gold already, anyone have any recommendations what I should do? Thanks

JDiver

Have a read at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html if you've not done so yet.

Most of us believe it more effective and rewarding to consolidate to as few FFP as possible. That's a start, anyway.

Mwenenzi

Yes.
Having small balances in many ffp's will/may result in never having enough miles/points to be useful and/or those miles/points expiring and not getting status.

For example with the QR ffp points expiry is 3 years hard (was 5 Y for miles earned prior Oct 04, 2013); no expiration if status [From http://www.hotels-and-travel.de/ffp/...w_emerald.htm]
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...nt-expire.html

sdsearch

Now that AA has merged with US, CLT is an AA hub, and AA is a oneworld alliance partner with both BA and QR and RJ.

But you haven't explained what your goals out of a loyalty program are.

For example, if you get to AA Gold, you'll have access to MCE at half price. Does that matter to you? You'll also have a chance at domestic upgrades (using 500-mile upgrades that we here call "stickers" for historical reasons), but the lowest chance on routes with a sizable number of elites with higher status. (I dunno whether CLT-SFO would be such a route or not.)

And are you using OW benefits? The problem is, if you stop putting in your BA FFP number when booking other OW international flights, you'll stop getting OW benefits. So why go to another program when you've reached BA Gold, if your'e never to go use those BA Gold benefits at that other program (you'll be starting from scratch). So the one and only case where I see that possibly mattering is going with AA to get domestic benefits which have nothing to do with OW Sapphire.

capin

Thanks for the replies. Good point about the goals - I fly ATL-LHR on BA staff travel and LHR-BKK on Qatar or RJ in J quite a bit. The TPs really rack up on those LHR-ME-BKK sectors. Generally when on staff travel, Lounge access is forbidden unless you are a silver or higher exec club member. So, The lounge access is what I really want, especially as OW Sapphire seems to be getting me free access no questions asked to the Admirals club. I'd also like to get enough avios to do an East coast -> BKK/HKG in J with Cathay Pacific. (200K). I have 109000 today with an ATL-LHR-ATL in J on BA and an AMS-DOH-BKK-DOH-AMS in J on QR in December and May respectively.

Thanks,

LondonElite

I'm not sure what the question is. Why not continue to collect with BA for more Avios, and lifetime TPs? It generally doesn't make sense to split loyalties within an alliance, but I suppose you may as well credit extra miles to AA for easier/cheaper redemption to many places, as well as credit card bonuses.

capin

Sorry, I went waffling a bit there and lost focus.

OK, my question is as follows -

Now that I have achieved BA gold, which I think gives me lounge access until August 2018 with the soft landing to silver. Is there a FF program which is a bit more generous for long haul US -> SE Asia mile redemption which I credit my upcoming J points to. AA Advantage for example?

Thanks,

sdsearch

In which cabin? BA Avios charges 3x the Avios points for business class compared to coach, while AA only charges about 2x the AA miles for business class compared to coach. BA Avios can be redeemed for Premium Economy cabins on those airlines that have them, AA miles can't (since AA doesn't have such a cabin on its own planes, they don't support booking such a cabin with miles).

But it also depends on how fast you earn AA miles vs BA Avios. Ie, if you earn BA Avios 50% faster than AA miles, then that makes up for the business class redemption difference.

And keep in mind that about a year from now (the exact date has not been determined), AA's earning is going to completely change, from mileage-and-cabin based to cost based. But if and how that will apply to partner flights (depending also on how they're booked), that's not clear yet!

If you live and work in the US, do you have an SSN and credit here? AA miles may be easier to earn from Citi credit card sign-up bonuses than from flying (and easier than earning BA Avios points from credit card sign-ups), but only if you have credit established in the US.

Mwenenzi

Having multiple ffp’s with small balances is never good. You never get enough Avois/miles for a decent award and have the risk of expiry.
With status you get bonus avois/miles in most ffp's.
If awards are objective from a ffp earn to burn is what matters.

http://www.wheretocredit.com/
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...demptions.html

Frequent Flyer Programs (FFP) are not equal.
1 (one) mile/point of FFP’s are not equal (just like currencies)
Each airline FFP can have different benefits from status.
Each airline FFP has different rules for earning and retaining status.
Each airline FFP has different rules for earning miles/points.
Each airline FFP has different rules to stop miles/points from expiring.
Each airline FFP has different rules for using (burning) those miles/points for awards and different copay $$ fees.
Each airline FFP has different rules for upgrades & different copay $$ fees.
Each airline FFP has different rules for lounge access (own & other airlines)

capin

I've lived here for 4 months. I have my SSN and I have a BoA current account with debit card and a BoA credit card which I had to put up $1000 security for a $1000 limit (trying to build a credit rating). I don't really want to apply for any other credit cards yet but I really want the BA and AA cards.