Hi everyone - I'm a new member, first post, so here goes!
I've read
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...help-here.html, and have answered the questionnaire below.
I also read the first few replies each on these threads:
18 Mar 2015 -
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...am-better.html
28 Apr 2015 -
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...tage-baec.html Lives UK. AA is main ffp - for this member, consensus was AA likely better
For context, I am based in the UK, live 20 miles from Heathrow (BA hub), and have recently changed roles to a job where I eventually expect to fly between 6 and 9 times a year. (Probably only 5 flights total this year). I'd expect to make 2-3 transatlantic trips to RDU in the USA, 4 trips to Europe, and may be 2 to Asia per year. So I'm not a hugely frequent flyer, but it's enough to care about which programme I use.
I'm starting from scratch with BAEC; I've been a member for years and have 1140 lifetime tier points, and was up as high as Silver 2-3 years ago, but after 2 years of no flights, I am back down to Blue. This year I've had 3 flights (2 to USA, 1 to Europe) totalling 170 tier points, and a fourth is booked in August for another 70 tier points. Maybe 1 more likely this year. I think I'll just scrape Bronze by the time my tier points reset to 0 in November.
Living near the BA global hub at LHR T5 it seemed sensible to stick with BA when I started this job 9 months ago; I'm likely to have a wider choice of BA flights (operated or codeshare) to any destination I'll fly to than AA flights.
However, 1. my company is American and 'prefers' me to book with AA, and 2. I will fly to the USA 2-3 times per year, to RDU where the only direct flights are operated by AA, and on which BA has a codeshare. So AA's loyalty programme does make some sense too. So, which is better given my scenario and preferences, as below?:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply:
Priority services when flying the airline, especially lounge access. With BAEC this would be Silver status or better. Bronze is of minimal interest to me.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply:
Probably just over 25,000 miles most years, but could be <25000 some years, 6-9 flights per year, the great majority just 2 sectors (there and back), all in economy
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply:
Economy, occasionally premium economy
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply:
Can choose airline - AA or BA most often, but any airline is allowed if cost is close to cheapest. Cannot choose class - almost 100% will be economy. All for work.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply:
Transatlantic from LHR to RDU (usually 35 tier points each way as a Blue BAEC member), and European short-haul to e.g. Frankfurt, Paris, Copenhagen, Milan (usually 10 tier points each way).
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply:
London LHR
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply:
BAEC, 170 Tier Points (till 08 Nov 15) at Blue level, and just over 50,000 Avios
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply:
BA and/or AA
I'm wondering if I would be better off switching to AAdvantage, if what I care about most is access to the lounges at Heathrow, RDU and elsewhere? I expect to do this job for
at least 3-5 years, so I can think longer-term.
Also, I would be willing to switch to a credit card aligned to one of the programmes if that would help, but I'm fairly sure it wouldn't make any difference with BAEC for what I'm after (tier points). Would it help with gaining/keeping AA status?
Many thanks in anticipation!