Originally Posted by
RussianTsar
I used to be a Flying Blue (AF) Gold member for years but I want to switch on another airline.
The most important for me is the ability of having access to lounges (flying sometimes with my young children) and the ability of chekin'in business counters. Not agains any kind of upgrades
Out of all oneworld airlines operating from CDG, given the destinations you list, you'll be flying BA most often (also, check out their openskies subsidiary for those flights to New York). That means connecting in LHR for all those intra-European flights, which is a considerable inconvenience compared to AFs nonstop offers. The transit experience in LHR is widely regarded as rather exasperating, but eased considerably with status as you have access to Fast Track lines at security. Decent lounges, too.
Between AA, IB and BAEC, in your situation I'd choose BA. You say that you fly with your young children - BA is the only program among the three that allows mileage pooling with
household accounts. This is a great advantage.
As you say lounge access is the most important perk for you, be aware that unlike AF/FB who allow extra guests in lounges for a fee, BA
Lounge access rules only allow one guest, and I have seen the lounge dragons at LHR enforce this. Your whole family (especially when there are two and more children) will only be allowed into the lounges based solely on your status if you encounter a sympathetic agent at off-peak times. This is not to be counted on.
BA and IBs programs share the same rewards currency and balances are transferrable between both (some restrictions apply). The savvy family traveler's way to maximize advantages of the two programs is to have accounts in both and then transfer avios to IB to book awards with considerably lower surcharges
.
Just one annual return business-class flight from CDG to LAX and another from CDG to NRT will earn you enough tier points on BA to qualify for/maintain Silver status. Silver corresponds to the mid-tier oneworld sapphire status which gives you lounge access.
All BA/AA/IB joint venture flights even in the most discounted economy fare classes earn full points.
And before deciding, I'd check with AA, BA and IB if any of those would match your FB status. I would not want to start out as a frequent oneworld flier with biweekly LHR transfers without access to lounges and Fast Track.