Originally Posted by
rtwflyer2016
Long time reader, first time poster here. I'm flying a LONE5 RTW ticket purchased through CX in September and was wondering what is the best OneWorld loyalty program to join to make the most of the RTW ticket?
Given my home airport is YYZ, I've only subscribed to the Aeroplan program so not sure what OneWorld loyalty program would be best for me.
I looked at the forums info requirements and here's the other details that might be helpful to getting the best answer for my question. If I should be posting this elsewhere, please advise.
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply:good award redemption rates, better award access, upgrades on travel, long period before expiry.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: <25,000 typically. 2-8 flights/sectors
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Reply: Cheapest
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: I travel for both work (2-3x a year domestic) and pleasure (international). Limited choices for work travel.
(5) Which routes do you fly most often
Reply: I usually do one international flight a year but the destinations vary widely.
(6) What is your home airport?
Reply: YYZ
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
Reply: Only banked miles, no status. 50K on Aeroplan (recently used 100K on international flight)
(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: No pref.
Thank you in advance!
With such few flights annually and no regular travel on oneworld these will be orphan miles most likely, and expiration should be your greatest concern. Select a program with generous expiration rules that offers non-flight partners you can use in Canada to keep the balance alive and top it off if necesssary.
Basically, choose between AA and BA depending on how many points your ticket will earn you in both of these programs. AAdvantage will transit to revenue-based earning tomorrow - you will earn 5* whatever your ticket cost (minus taxes).
With BA, you will have to plug your segments into the
calculator and see how many you'll earn, but I presume it will be more than you could attain with crediting to AA.
Avios provide a decent value for domestic flights on AA and Alaska (high cash surcharges on most longhaul flightsmakes that unattractive), and balances are easily kept alive thanks to them partnering with quite a few partners like Amex MR and SPG.