Originally Posted by
JacobP
Hi all, thanks to the recent changes to the AA program, and the fact that I've relocated outside of the US, I'm debating changing my FFP. I'm going to book two Asia-US, one Asia-India, and one Asia-Europe flights soon, so IF I'm going to change now would be the time to do it. Any feedback or info is appreciated.
Questions
For members asking for information, to help people to assist you, can you please provide:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Lounge, priority services, less so: upgrades and redemptions
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
50-100,000 miles depending on year, 25+ sectors, but not many more because it's mostly long haul flights.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
I try to fly mostly discount business for long haul, and economy for shorter flights.
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes, almost all leisure travel.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
BKK-HGK 3-5 times per year
BKK-US 2+ per year
BKK-India 2 per year
BKK-Europe 1 per year
other asia 3-10
(6) What is your home airport?
BKK (Bangkok)
(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 Plat, 46k miles.
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
JL, CX, QR, AA
I would at least wait with a decision until after AA releases information on how RDM and EQD will be calculated on oneworld partner tickets on July 15. Seeing you'll be buying business class fares (albeit heavily discounted ones) and fly long distances - the changes might not even affect you too much.
And FFP numbers on bookings can be easily changed
Depending on if there is AA metal involved on those upcoming BKK-USA flights you're about to book and how many EQM you have accrued so far this year, you might qualify for EXP, good through 2/2018 - one BKK-HKG-DFW return flight in business will earn over 36,000 EQM! EQM earning will remain distance-based even after August, and the revenue requirement will only come into effect from Jan. 2017.
That said, you'll likely end up on QR planes the most for BKK-USA and BKK-Europe if you can plan ahead, as they have the lowest (promo) fares and frequent sales, so QR would be the most likely candidate for a switch.
QR Privilege Club also has way better earning rates for economy flights on CX compared to AA, should you want to stick to OW for those intra-asia flights - most discounted fares earn 50%, and the cheapest ones 25%.
Of course, CX is a very good contender, but they don't discount their premium cabins as much as QR does...
In addition to what you have mentioned, I would also have a look at ULs (Sri Lankan) program. They do have competitive (read: low) prices on BKK-Europe and BKK-India, a good business class product (same critically acclaimed Cirrus seats as AA on their 77W, at least on the A333 I flew with them) and their mileage requirements for status are much lower than most other OW carriers. You should be able to attain Platinum (Oneworld Emerald) with them (requires only 60k miles annually, even less to renew, half of which needs to be on UL metal) - something out of reach with all others, and which will give you First class lounges at airports, F check-in and Fast Track security all across oneworld. If you can make their somewhat limited network work for you, definitely check them out!