From: Gardyloo

It sounds like BA Gold would be reachable;

That was my thought and I ran my last few years flights through the BA tier point calculator and reached Gold easily.

I confess I'm not familiar enough with QR's program to comment knowledgeably.

Just started looking at QR, at the highest Tier you get 60 Q-credits that seem to enable you to upgrade at least 1 and possibly 2 international long haul returns. Down side for me is that miles disappear in 3 years no matter what, and I am more into earn now and burn in 4 years when I retire.

But let me ask - what Emerald perks would be important to you compared to your baseline Sapphire ones that you'll get as LT Plat anyway? First class lounges?

Yes, I have become addicted to the QF, CX etc First Class Lounges

Obviously Sapphire or higher with another OW airline would get you into Admirals Clubs on domestic itineraries (or FLs if you get to Emerald) but is that key?

I did not know that BA Gold etc. gets you into Admirals Club on domestic US trips (even flying on AA


For me, when I was EXP the biggest perk was the EXP desk itself, with the SWUs a distant second.

I like that EXP desk but it is not clear to me how much better it is compared to the PLT desk

I had very bad luck with auto upgrades on domestic flights - SEA was too small an AA market, with too few destinations, to bank on A space being available - they just never released it, and I really got tired of playing roulette on C seats opening on overseas segments from AA-accessible hubs for TATL or TPAC flights.

Everyone's situation is different... I run over 90% upgrades to domestic F. I am generally able to book onto flights that have many more empty seats in F than premium seats filled in Y. Internationally over that last 5 years I have only missed two upgrades to J from Y using SWUs and those were on DFW-HKG and HKG-DFW.

This year I was upgraded J to F on the Transcon and TATL segments of LAX-JFK-LHR-ATH, as well as LAX-LHR-MAD-LIS. So as a result I have been very please with my SWUs. Unfortunately AA has halved the SWU's and made upgrades ranked on spend. I suspect that my upgrade rate on SWU will plunge to near zero next year as well as my domestic F upgrades.

I have done really well with AA but my business and personal travel budgets are simply not high enough to work well with their new system.

So for me the EXP desk was really the main perk, rather than the SWUs or auto-upgrades. YMMV.

BA's award system sucks for US flyers IMO due to having to pay for multiple awards on simple connecting itineraries, and I believe BA has dropped the "cheap" Avios tier for shorthaul flights in the US. Not to mention having to pay "first class" Avios for domestic F simply because AA doesn't have J on most sectors. And also, of course, there's the matter of the dreaded BA fuel fines, regardless of what BA calls them.

Good point about having to use more Avios for F as AA does not have a J cabin except on some Transcons. On the other hand from a tier points earning perspective domestic F credited to BA can be relatively cheap. The downside to BAEC for me is no upgrade coupons until



So I'd evaluate what I'd use BA status for - MFUs from WT+ to Club on TATL trips? 2-4-1s?

TATL upgrades and lounge access would be my main aim with BA. Sorry but I do not know what "MFU" or "2-4-1s" means?

And then - out of the box - I'd look at Alaska. Decent redemption rates, increasing reciprocity with AA, LOTS of excellent earn/burn partners including the likes of Hainan and Emirates, and once they've swallowed Virgin America they'll (hopefully) retain VX's airbuses with their fabulous first class product. Just sayin' - have a look at AS.

I had not thought of AS but I will take a close look. Not OW of course.

Thanks for the suggestion!