BA miles = AA Miles? Help .... my 416 mile Dilemma.
Jun 27, 2011, 5:53 pm
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
Hi guys. So a bit of a novice question, nevertheless...
I accumulated 416K points with AMEX.
Now .... programs I collect miles with are, AA, BA and CO.
Unfortunately AMEX does not transfer into AA, so my other option is BA with the current 50% bonus.
Question ... when redeeming miles. Is BA very similar to AA? So, whatever AA has available, BA would have the same at same number of miles??? Or will BA ask for more miles on the same flights AA might have?
When I called about CX first class to BKK, AA asked for I believe 150K miles while BA asked for a bit more I believe.
what's your take on this?
thanks.
P.S. ..... in near future want to fly to Tanzania (Africa) and Thailand. Which alliances will have better deals? those with CO (UA?) or AA/BA ?
I accumulated 416K points with AMEX.
Now .... programs I collect miles with are, AA, BA and CO.
Unfortunately AMEX does not transfer into AA, so my other option is BA with the current 50% bonus.
Question ... when redeeming miles. Is BA very similar to AA? So, whatever AA has available, BA would have the same at same number of miles??? Or will BA ask for more miles on the same flights AA might have?
When I called about CX first class to BKK, AA asked for I believe 150K miles while BA asked for a bit more I believe.
what's your take on this?
thanks.
P.S. ..... in near future want to fly to Tanzania (Africa) and Thailand. Which alliances will have better deals? those with CO (UA?) or AA/BA ?
You would be far better off to spend some time reading BA program rules else you would be very sorry when you would make some costly mistake in redemption assuming BA works the same as AA....
The rules are listed in the BAEC Program Ts and Cs. One in particular is BA award date change is only up to the 24 hours before FIRST flight. (and it costs you $30 I think). Once T-24 has passed on the FIRST flight, no date change is allowed even with doctor's note.
Going to Tanzania would cost you some pretty pennies when using BA miles - the YQ is more or less distance based - think a thousand or so for the out of pocket YQ. Search BA fuel surcharge on this forum as well as the BA and AA forums you will find a lot more incidents on the topic of YQ.
Going to Thailand may cost you a few hundreds using BA miles, about twice as much as using AA miles when you probably would use CX on both BA and AA awards.
TG is Star Alliance member but finding award seats using CO/UA miles on TG flight is a totally different matter!
It is time for you to invest some time and efforts to read up airlines forums and learn more about the nuance on award travel - else you can pay some services which would handle the research / booking award for you for a fee.
Jun 27, 2011, 6:04 pm
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
(just off the top of my head)
Exuberant YQ fee to the tune of thousand dollar (Africa and Middle East).
No date change for the whole ticket is allowed once passed T-24 on the FIRST flight. Before, the date change costs $30 while AA is free all the way until the last untraveled segment.
Once a 2nd partner is involved, the cost of award jumps big time as it becomes a distance based OneWorld type award which charges a lot more than the same type AA offered, versus AA can mix AA, and unlimited number of partners and still on the same Partner award chart.
The disadvantages of BA miles over AA miles are far more than the advantages, and far more costly and restrictive (no change on ticket once it is T-24).
Jun 27, 2011, 11:29 pm
#19
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: AA LT PLT 3 MM+, BA (very) Blue, CO nobody
Posts: 2,640
There are only a few real advantages of BA over AA that I can think of. One of them is that you can have a household account and share the miles between spouses/partners. Wish AA would do that.
Another one is the ability to book awards at 350 days out vs 330 days out.
But overall, IMO, AA FF program is better than BA (think of all those multiple Citi 100/75K promotions, Fidelity, etc!). You can become an AA LT PL without hardly ever flying on a plane and than use those FF miles for premium award travel with status; can't do that with BA (you can't even get a free advanced seat assignment w/o status on BA).
Another one is the ability to book awards at 350 days out vs 330 days out.
But overall, IMO, AA FF program is better than BA (think of all those multiple Citi 100/75K promotions, Fidelity, etc!). You can become an AA LT PL without hardly ever flying on a plane and than use those FF miles for premium award travel with status; can't do that with BA (you can't even get a free advanced seat assignment w/o status on BA).
Jun 28, 2011, 1:20 am
#20
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: AA 1MM Gold, SPG Plat, Hilton Diamond,
Posts: 189
If you have AA status and use BA miles to fly on AA metal...wouldn't you be using your AA Status anyways while actually at the gate?
Getting near AA LT Gold status and wondering if should concentrate on pushing AA miles for LT Plat vs concentrating on BA points and transfer bonus over the next 6 weeks (for use domestic AA metal awards).
Getting near AA LT Gold status and wondering if should concentrate on pushing AA miles for LT Plat vs concentrating on BA points and transfer bonus over the next 6 weeks (for use domestic AA metal awards).
Jun 28, 2011, 1:46 am
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Dmd,Hyatt Glbl,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat,Accor Gold
Posts: 10,820
Lots of good info and advice here, though sorting out the differences between FF programs can make your head swim!
I'm pretty sure that One World award availability is the same on BA and AA. IMHO, BA is the better airline but AA has the better FF program.
To try to figure out routes that can get you to Tanzania or Thailand, one quick resource is plugging in your origin and destination points on kayak.com, though it likely won't show the more creative or unusual routings. To find award availability, awardnexus.com is a good resource.
FYI, there's a related thread that has some additional info re BA versus AA FF programs in the BA forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...aa-advice.html
As you'll see there, when I compared awards flying SFO-HKG RT in CX F, AA was 135K and about $60 and BA was 150K and about $350.
I'm pretty sure that One World award availability is the same on BA and AA. IMHO, BA is the better airline but AA has the better FF program.
To try to figure out routes that can get you to Tanzania or Thailand, one quick resource is plugging in your origin and destination points on kayak.com, though it likely won't show the more creative or unusual routings. To find award availability, awardnexus.com is a good resource.
FYI, there's a related thread that has some additional info re BA versus AA FF programs in the BA forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...aa-advice.html
As you'll see there, when I compared awards flying SFO-HKG RT in CX F, AA was 135K and about $60 and BA was 150K and about $350.
Jun 28, 2011, 7:44 am
#22
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: New York
Programs: AA, BA, CO
Posts: 402
What I noticed is that AA and CO are great for Europe travel or anything that goes through it (Israel, Dubai, Africa, etc). BA however is great for South America or Carribean trips.
I am thinking how these programs play out when you travel to places like French Polynesia (Bora Bora).
Jul 4, 2011, 7:14 pm
#23
Join Date: May 2011
Location: NYC/LAX
Programs: DL GM, HHonors Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 68
Reply
Since ultimately your choice is BA or CO, go CO, hands down. No fuel surcharges, whereas BA can charge heavily for a F award tix (In my experiences 700-800). CO has a good booking system and good flight (You could fly on Singapore, a beautiful airline, which is Star Alliance. 140K for RT Flight JFK-BKK. Good luck.
Jul 4, 2011, 8:28 pm
#24
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: WAS
Programs: AA EXP2M, DL 1MM DM ext, UA PP <=> HH G/Marr PE/Hyatt G/IHG P FT RA ( Recovering Addict)
Posts: 4,596
Don't forget Aeroplan, but their charges and miles go up from July 15, so if you are going to book to BKK, do it now, with 2 stopovers, 1 in Europe and 1 in Asia. Look up availability on ANA or CO or AC and then while you have the agent online, transfer the points and book at once.