Originally Posted by FenleyG3

Hi. I'm new to the forum, and this is my first post. I just moved to Australia from the UK and am trying to decide which program to target for earning miles on my work travel over the next year. I've pasted the questions below with answers.

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
upgrades, priority services, baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, lounge access, etc.
>>> Reply: Good award redemption rates. I would like to earn miles for taking my family of five back to the US to visit extended family there.

<snip>

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: Since I already have status and miles with UA I initially thought about sticking with them, but when I started searching for UA or Star Alliance flights from Oz to Europe I kept getting either no available flights or really expensive ones (maybe I'm doing something wrong here?). E.g., United kept routing me back through the US to get to Europe, on a really expensive ticket.

As a result I've thought about switching to AA, since they're partners with Qantas and have credit cards with great sign-up bonuses (I've already run through the United Chase cards which is partly how I've built up my UA miles).

On my trips back to the US I can fly Qantas and AA code-share flights, so that isn't a problem, but AA has just changed their rules for other Qantas flights, which is what I would presumably be taking to Europe. To get 100% of miles flown and 1.0 EQMs per mile flown now requires a full fare economy ticket, I believe, which I may not be able to do if it costs much more than a discounted economy ticket. So I wonder if I'm stuck building up Qantas miles, even though Qantas reward tickets cost more than either AA or UA.