Originally Posted by
SiempreBCNJFK
(1) What is your home airport? BCN, but I often fly to JFK.
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Generally discount economy
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? In 2015 I flew about 60k, but plan on flying >100K in 2016.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? I have AA Platinum (OW Saph)
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Priority access, Lounge access and upgrades (for instance free main cabin extra on AA)
(6) Which routes do you fly most often - I fly BCN - JFK A LOT
(7) Preferred Airlines - I generally dislike US based airlines. Since I live in BCN, I often fly BA via London, so a transfer doesn't bother me - whether it's LH,SQ via FRA or TK via IST, etc...
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? I travel mostly for work, but I pay for tickets - I'm a freelancer - so price is a big importance.
I already have AA Platinum for 2016. I will requal for 2017 (already have ~23k MQM booked for 2016), but would love to pick up *A gold as well. I'm hoping to do this so I have flexibility to fly different airlines since OW only really has BA that flies my route and isn't horrible (AA and IB aren't really options).
The big problem with flying discount economy is that you won't get full mileage in FFPs that are not the one of the airline you are actually flying. I have a feeling that UA might be your best match, since it's still relatively generous with LH deep discount fares.
If you are willing to commit to TK, then matching your AA status with them would get you going immediately, but connecting in IST seems like a very unnecessary backtrack.
Then there would be M&M which is of course a tough sell, but if you decide to commit to the LH group you could make SEN and enjoy the perks for two years. However, earning in economy is bad, so actually getting 100k status miles out of your 100k butt-in-seat miles might be a challenge. If you are willing to pay for premium economy, there seems to be a good track record of upgrades on LH/LX/OS/LO.