Originally Posted by
Jack Burton
Hello all. I am based in NYC, and generally fly domestic, but I also travel outside the US 1-2x every month.
For the past few years, AA has been my chosen oneworld program. In just the past few months, I have flown AA, Qantas, BA, Mexicana and JAL, with all points going to AA.
But, a few times this year, I had to use my Qantas FF# for BA flights where AA also ran the same route, which of course were not points eligible on AA,...ie, NYC to London.
So, since I'm sure there are others here who face the same issue from time to time, I was curious which program people use as a oneworld backup, and why...Qantas or BA?
I do not currently have a point balance in BA, whereas I have about 50K in my Qantas FF. Going forward though, I would consider making BA my backup instead and then using the Qantas points before they expire. For the sake of this argument, I don't consider the current Qantas points a deal breaker in moving over to BA.
Thanks.
Welcome to FT!
Is your aim to accumulate points/miles mainly for redemptions, or is attaining elite status an additional objective? Reason being, BA is more likely to enforce its requirement of 4 annual flights on BA metal (AA has the same requirement, but loosely enforced if at all.) I believe Qantas does too but am not sure how relevant 4 QF-metal flights annually would be for you.
If as you say your travel is mainly domestic, one benefit of BA elite status (Silver or higher) is that you'd get complimentary access to AA Admirals Clubs on domestic AA itineraries.
Another option, depending on the nature of your domestic travel, is a little counter-intuitive for NYC flyers, but Alaska's FF program is very highly rated, and AS has earn/burn relationships with AA, QF, CX, LA and BA in Oneworld, but also strong relationships with AF, DL, and KL. You can book elite qualifying miles, segments and points to AA on AS metal, or EQM to an AS account on AA, DL, LA and AF/KL flights. It's a very attractive program for AA flyers who want to circumvent the silly prohibitions on AA/BA for US < > UK flights, and still want something useful for domestic travel too.