A little-known (undocumented) benefit of AA is that AA awards Lifetime Gold at 1 million miles (MM) and LT PLAT at 2MM, and these miles can be from ALL SOURCES, including dining, credit cards, etc. in addition, AA is far more generous in terms of bonus miles, miles earned on discount tix, etc.

imo, I think AA's FFP is so much more generous that BAEC that I would put my energy there with the important exception of those of us lucky enough to travel mostly in purchased F or J, in which case I'd opt for BA without question.

BA is undoubtedly a superior airline, however.