One reason I am glad to be out of *A, which I flew for several years as a CO elite, is their assinine policy of based mile earning of the fare code of the operating carrier instead of the carrier whose code is on the flight when you fly on a code share. That always made mile earning a crap shoot.
Many *A partners are increasingly shortchanging on miles on leisure fares, while BA gives you full miles on all fares and of course it has always been full files on AA-coded codeshares. That is huge if you have any paid leisure travel in your flying mix.
Originally Posted by
Wilbur
Just a few points for those who are sad about losing their place in *A for an entrance to 1W follow below.
1. *A has a great network in theory, but trying to redeem J or F on SQ isn't child's play. Air New Zealand is a fine airline, and the food on ANA is excellent, and the coverage for Europe from the LH group is outstanding, but the UA/CO mess isn't solved by a longshot, and the repercussions not yet fully understood. Plus, SAS!
2. 1W has fewer airline partners, but the quality of said partners is rather more consistent. CX service on the ground and in the air is excellent, and BA, Finnair, JL, LAN, IB, and Qantas all have generally positive outcomes (with some exceptions that prove the rule that we expect them to do well by their passengers). 50% of the 1W airlines are 5-star airlines per SkyTraxx, if that has any value to you, far superior to the other alliances. I also have good expectations for Malaysia and Air Berlin for the future. In addition, you have a slightly better set of Alaska Airlines and WestJet perks than before.
3. Just think - at least you aren't going to deal with SkyTeam, the grab bag of the air leftovers! Alitalia! Areoflot! The rump of Northworst! China Eastern! Garuda! Hooray!