I'll try to keep this short.

I'm been a FF with qantas since 97. I now live in the US and have gold status with them but it's unlikely that I'll retain gold this year.

My co-worker pointed out that it's easier to earn and maintain status with american than qantas and looking at the programs this appears to be the case. Through my work I have access to AA status matching but it's unclear if this covers qantas (the match form lists BA, Delta, US airways, continental and a few others).

I called AA this morning and they've setup AAvantage account and given me gold status today (not platinum which qantas gold actually maps to). I'm flying to LHR tonight on from SFO on BA so I need to decide which FF # I use for this flight.

I'm tending towards moving over to AA. I can continue to use my gold qantas membership to access lounges and the gold aa status to use priority boarding etc. Any advice or things that I'm missing?

Thanks,

Simon