Originally Posted by
Mwenenzi
For theses trips you need to decide
- what cities you absolutely want to go to
- what cities you would visit if possible
- what cities / airports you would transit to get more miles
- Also getting to an adjacent city and then going by train or separate air fare to your destination can be worth while (Europe is small)
- Close land segments like SFO- SLC are best avoided to maximise mileage
Agreed
- Be very aware of taxes and fuel surcharges
- Flying codeshares can be beneficial to mileage - status e.g AA flight number on BA CX aircraft
If ticketing with AA, then certainly long-haul BA is to be avoided, because AA collects the hefty fuel surcharges for BA
The more stops you have, the more taxes you will have to pay
If flying in business class then it generally doesn't matter whether you fly the AA codeshare or not; you still get the 25% class of service bonus. And with AA you get the status bonus with all OW airlines (unlike say the QF elite status bonus)
One circumstance where it would matter is if you are doing a challenge - flying the AA codeshare on a CX flight will count towards the challenge whereas flying the CX flight number will not count (CX is not one of the airlines eligible for the challenge)
AA freq flyer programe is calender year. Not based on the month you join like Qantas. AA challanges start January or June IIRC
Yes AA membership year for gaining status runs from 1 Jan to 31 Dec for everyone - elite qualifying miles/points/sectors accrued in the year count for gaining status. At the start of the next year, you have to start accruing all over again
The elite status year runs from 1 March to 28/29 Feb
Things are different with the challenge
- you can start any month of the year - and either on the 1st of the month or the 16th of the month. You then have three months from the starting date to complete the challenge requirements
- successfully completed challenges that are started before June 16 will give you status through to the last day of Feb the following year
- successfully completed challenges that are started on or after June 16 will give you status through to the last day of Feb the year after next