I am at the decision point about which FF scheme to put my miles in for 2003, and I would appreciate the comments of the experts here before committing myself in a couple of weeks.

I do more than 90% of my flying on OneWorld, with all of the long haul in either paid business (using DONEs generally) or paid economy upgraded to business using miles. The short haul is a mix of segments on the ONEs or economy if bought separately.

For the past three years (i.e. more or less ever since I came to HK and worked my way up the tiers) I have been MPC Diamond. But thanks to the insights from FT I am now coming to the conclusion that this was a mistake, and I would get better returns from another scheme. I am not thinking of changing my travel planning significantly, just changing the FF scheme I book to.

My Diamond has just renewed through January 2004. I am currently Plat on AA through Feb 2004, and Silver on BA through April 2003 (but with no credit in the last year, so Blue from then). I have a QF "bronze" (no status).

My travel plans for the year are not yet finalised, but I believe I will run up just about enough qualifying miles to get to EXP in AA or retain Diamond on MPC if I put everything in one scheme or the other.

BA in HK feeds into AsiaMiles, without Tier bonuses, so it really doesn't give me anything above CX.

I would prefer to use my HK address, but I could use one in the UK or (at a pinch) in the US if the benefits justified it.

It seems to me that the Pros and cons of moving to AA vs staying with MPC are as follows:

+1) 2.25 miles per long haul mile vs 1.25

+2) 100,000 vs 120,000 Q-miles to qualify for Emerald.

+3) Credit towards lifetime status with AA (though of course this can be withdrawn at any time as CX did with their equivalent scheme a few years back)

+4) Somewhat cheaper reward tickets (this varies a bit, but AA has a stunningly good J-F upgrade on CX for example).

-1) I lose business class Wing access when flying non-OW

-2) I lose some priority on waitlisting etc

-3) (Not sure) I lose the First priority baggage tagging on CX

-4) I lose the guaranteed lowest published fare Y availability on CX.

-5) I have to fly AA across the Atlantic rather than BA.

-6) I can't get miles for LMS sub-classes on CX.

Am I missing something, or is this really a "no brain" decision to go to AAdvantage?

Thanks in advance for your advice.