Originally Posted by
Aedhasdad
Sorry if its been answered before but I am in a spot of personal termoil.
So, am 4 years into a job that is crazy mad travel all the time, but we have to use Concur - an american express tool to book flights and travel - no exceptions, and for the second year running i am a BA Executive Club Silver member - priority check in, priority boarding and Lounge access.
What i am seeing thought is becuase i have to use Amex to book the flights - they are always the reduced tier flights, so its almost impossible to maintain Silver this year as each year the tier points earned seem to be less and less per segment - now its 10 points and i need 600 to maintain silver.
Since August (when they Zero your Tier Status) i have worked my arms off flying every week and have only accrued 330 tier points.
Whenever i try to UG a flight i get a pop up telling me its impossible because of the class of ticket (always economy - but apparently there is different levels of economy)
I heard rumours other OW loyalty schemes are not so restrictive or ungenerous for your custom, regardless of which OW member you fly with.
For me personally the 2 must haves are Lounge Access and Using Miles to UG a ticket regardless of class of ticket.
As i travel so often a lounge is a life saver and somewhere to get work done.
appreciate the help, appologies for droning on and on.
I have other Airlines i use as backups for flights to the Middle East as BA doesnt fly everywhere i need to go, but generally its BA i end up flying with as i am UK based and its the only direct flight operator (mostly).
So you'll need a program that earns well on BA - the only one that comes to mind here is AAdvantage: All published BA fares earn 100% mileage on AA, and with any sort of status you are awarded a minimum of 500 miles per segment (even for short domestic hope, say, LHR-MAN).
Switching to AAdvantage which is mileage-based will probably make it easier to attain/maintain Platinum - the 50k OW Sapphire tier which comes with lounge access.
BUT while you can upgrade BA flights with AA miles, you'll run into the same issues you experience now as only full-fare economy fare buckets are upgradeable on BA.
AA metal flights are different - these may be upgraded using AA miles from any fare class BUT AA charges co-pays. For transatlantic flights this co-pay is $350 (oneway) that'll have to come out of your own pocket.
With such a stingy employer there's not much you can do, except maybe upfaring the tickets on your own dime (I don't know if that's possible with BA - it does work with AA and MH)
Regarding lounge access: If you travel every week, I'd consider a
PriorityPass membership. At £259 per year for unlimited access that's definitely cheaper than tier point runs just to chase status. Ask your employer if they'd reimburse that!