Hey all, *A user here based out of New York. I'm likely to start flying more so than I do now, but specifically to the west coast of the US and Western Europe for work. I'm likely to continue to use my *A memberships for international via the Pacific Ocean, but I'm a bit miffed by the lack of *A coverage out of JFK specifically to London, and am looking for advice. Thanks!
(1) What is your home airport?
JFK/LGA. EWR is out of the question due to distance.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class?
About 15K in Economy on leisure, but I am anticipating 10K or more in Business. Those 15K leisure miles may end up getting split with oneworld and *A.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Economy, though if the price is reasonable I would buy discounted Business. For work, it's also going to be a mix, but I don't think they'd put me in Y even to the destinations listed below (cross-country or to Europe).
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes, and no (on choosing cabin class). I do travel for both, but for now it's heavily weighted towards leisure.
(5) Which routes do you fly most often?
Right now, all my leisure flights usually are JFK-NRT and NRT-??? (using NRT as a connection). I imagine I'll be doing a lot of flights to SFO/SJC/SEA/LHR/ZRH.
(6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it?
No, but I do have an aging JMB card and membership -- it may even be inactive now as I haven't flown JAL in 6 years
I am planning on getting *G through A3 at some point though, so that will eat into some miles. I use NH for redemption purposes only, as MR points transfer there and it's fairly easy to get JFK-NRT.
(7) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reasonable redemption rates for domestic travel or to Western Europe, and easy-ish elite status.
(8) Preferred Airlines: I currently do most of my spending on AMEX, so BA is the only option for transferring miles, unfortunately. I'd have to justify getting a paid AAdvantage card (and that would eat away at my MR points). I don't think I'd want to do JAL for the JFK-NRT route, however I would consider using AA for JFK-HND at least once.