Hi all,

I’ve spent quite a long time now reading posts on this forum, and I certainly think that I’m a much more savvy traveller than I was a few years ago, however I’d really appreciate a few thoughts on my ‘strategy’ in terms of collecting miles, and where I focus my efforts.

So, first things first, I am originally from the UK but currently live and work in the Middle East. I moved out there in June 2010 and as of October this year will be filing my tax return as a UK Non Resident (although I do still own a house in the UK that I rent out). I generally fly to / from the UK around 3 times a year, plus to take a couple of flights to places like Thailand, India, etc, and a couple of ‘local’ flights to Dubai.

When I fly, I usually book the cheapest flights that earn 30 TP each way from UK – KWI. I *could* stretch to Premium Economy if it’s a good deal, although I would only really consider doing this is I thought I could hit Silver status with BA. I never travel business – always on my own account. I don’t tend to stay in hotels when I am in the UK, and do not have a preference where I stay for vacations – in fact it tends to be more independent hotels with a bit of ‘local charm’ rather than a large chain (for example I wouldn’t really consider staying in a Hilton in Rome)

I currently try and pool all my miles into the following accounts, either by flying with them directly, or by using a OneWorld or Star Alliance partner. Current Mileage:

BA (primary) – Blue status, 100k miles
BMI (secondary) – Blue status, 36k miles

In order to supplement my mileage earned from flying I have the following active credit cards (only ever held one other previously, Sainsbury’s Mastercard):

BA Premium Plus Card
American Express Platinum Card
BMI Mastercard

I tend to use the BA card as my main credit card, the BMI card for any non AMEX / BMI spend, and the AMEX platinum card I plan on dumping next year (I have the MR points bonus now), unless I am 100% clear whether I am eligible for all the insurance benefits, and I utilise the PP a lot. I realise that I pay a premium for charges overseas on AMEX cards, however as I don’t see notice the charges I would rather do this and claim the miles (rightly or wrongly, as I would never use the money I could save to purchase a CW flight, for example).

So, a few questions:

1.Does anyone see any problems with my ‘non resident’ status in terms of BAEC/BMI accounts? All post is still send to the house I own and forwarded to my parents house.

2.Does anyone see a way I could get up to silver BA membership without having to splurge on CW seats? Is it worth it? Would anyone suggest ‘mileage runs’?

3.Is it a good strategy to only concentrate on 2 airlines? Are there any other FF programs I should consider that fall outside of these?

4.What are the best credit cards available to UK guys for collecting miles? Ones I would consider in the future would be the AMEX Gold, BMI AMEX and SPG AMEX, although I would probably do this just for the miles. Is using BA PP a good idea?

5.Are any of the credit cards I have churnable for miles? If not, are there any UK cards that this can be done with?

Thanks a lot in advance for any responses,
Andrew