Individual airlines have different terminology; yes it can get confusing!

AustinFlyer76 asked why someone wouldn't just stick with one airline/hotel once you have earned status there. Why earn status multiple places?

As a UK based frequent flyer, say you fly BA and BA's partners (OneWorld) a lot and earn enough tier points to qualify as a BA Gold (the top published BA level). Should you now just fly British Airways or should you choose to fly BMI (British Midland, BD) enough to also earn status on BD?

BA and BD benefits are very different from the AA and UA international upgrade generosity I was describing in my above post. I would however argue that IF you fly enough to earn both BA gold and BD gold, you should.

Why?

- You can price shop BA (and Oneworld partner) and BD (and Star partner) flights now while still receiving status benefits no matter who you end up on
- You can schedule shop BA and BD and partners while still receiving status benefits
- When you want to redeem miles, some routes that BA is very hard to redeem on are easy with BD and vice versa
- When things go wrong, it is great to have another airline to go to, with priority at the other airline (to be accommodated)
- You can focus your flying on BA when they have their bonus miles promotion and switch your focus to BD when they have theirs, meaning you will end up with more miles earned than if you were only loyal to one program

If choosing between BA and BD based on frequent flyer program, BD will generally give you a much greater return on your investment in terms of free flights. However, BA serves far more routes far better. Choosing both programs will allow you enjoy the quicker earned rewards provided by the generous BD frequent flyer program while having the option to fly BA with benefits when BD (and Star partners) don't get you where you need to go conveniently.