I could have sworn these were covered somewhere but my searching couldn't find it....

Once I get close to requalifying for Platinum this year, I'm considering going for BA Silver if I don't think I can make EXP. BA Silver has a better markup for those qualifying on instant upgrade A class segments on AA metal, as long as you do four revenue BA segments in the qualifying year. 60 tier points for short-haul A, 40 tier points for short-haul I, and you only need 600 to qualify for Silver (OW Sapphire) or 1500 for Gold (OW Emerald). Plus Admiral's Club access, which means I could drop the Citi card and save $450-ish a year.

In short, if AA morphs into a strategy of WFBF, I can play along.... and since I like WT+ for east coast-Europe travel so I can save my miles for Asia, being BA Gold would probably be a good thing.

A few questions, though:
- Do BA Silver or Gold get MCE and exit row seating at ticketing for those occasions where I do end up booking a discounted fare class, book a coach award ticket on AA, or end up in coach during IRROPS?
- Does the Trusted Traveler Number work with a non-AA account to get PreCheck on AA metal?
- What is the best booking engine to book AA flights with a BA account? I don't think aa.com will give me a login, so am I better using the BA web site or a third party? And what are the downsides of this beyond not having the 24 hour hold?