Originally Posted by
bluemeansgo
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class?
One transpacific flight per year and a domestic flight (LA, etc.)
Yes, I know I'm a small fish for the regular flyertalk forum member, but I have heard that JAL Mileage Bank isn't that good. Most of our flights will be either KE, NH, AC or JL. When we fly JAL, I've heard that for Canadians, the BA Avios program is pretty decent for domestic travel. *A is useful for YVR, but redemption costs are sky high on AC, as you have to pay a HIGH fuel surcharge. $650 in taxes YVR-YTO on an $1100 flight!!!
With that little activity, your first and foremost concern should be mileage expiry. JL miles expire three years after earning, too early to have built a meaningful balance wth just one long annual flight.
AAdvantage and BAEC points do not expire with once-a-year activity, allowing you to build up a balance that's actually usable. Also, both programs offer co-branded credit cards and other non-flying activity that earns miles.
In general, BAEC is better for domestic redemptions indeed as redemptions are distance-based and require fewer avios on shorter flights. Seeing short domestic hops can be very expensive, redeeming them for such can provide excellent value.
AAdvantage miles are better for longhaul redemptions as the "fuel" surcharges on BA redemptions are not much lower than those on AC, whereas AA doesn't charge these for most flights on partners other than BA. When crediting JL flights to both BAEC or AAdvantage, deep discount economy has abysmal earning rates in both programs (about the same as in
JALs own program, so no advantage going with JL at all) - so carefully check your fare class (AA earning table
here, BA earning table
here). The solution to this could be AA codeshares on JL flights, which will earn you 100% miles in AAdvantage even for the cheapest fare classes. The price differences vary wildly, though.