Originally Posted by colerc

Having nonstop options on LH will certainly be appealing but there is a huge difference in miles -- for shorthauls UA will charge you a minimum of 30K miles return, whereas you can get some return trips using BA miles for ~10K miles. You would have a fair number of nonstop options to choose from with Airberlin (in oneworld) as well, though it might not be quite as nice as LH. BA also does *not* charge fuel surcharges on Airberlin awards, which makes it potentially quite appealing. Some other surcharge-free options: http://justanotherpointstraveler.boa...el-surcharges/

Given the 3:1 transfer ratio it definitely does not make sense to try to transfer to AA via SPG unless you had a very specific and very valuable redemption goal in mind, and even then it would not be a great use of the miles. There do tend to be transfer bonuses to BA reasonably often, so perhaps if you are able to take advantage of one of those it will take the sting out of the fuel surcharges.

And, may as well wait until you have a specific use in mind before you transfer -- there's always a chance Amex could add another oneworld airline transfer partner at some point. (It almost certainly won't be AA, given the way airline-bank relationships in the US have shaken out, though.)