Originally Posted by
druck
I have lifetime Sapphire status (from AA) and have already qualified for Emerald in 2017 (AA EXP). However, 2018 is a different story - since even if I achieve AA's EQD requrement, I will still earn paltry RDM (and hence award currency) from whatever flights I take if they are credited to AA.
Looking for suggestions on where to credit OW flights from now onwards.
Here are my answers to the 'Question':
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply: Upgrades (preferably complimentary)
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: Usually about 130K miles / annum; mix of Business & Economy
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
See (3) above
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Mostly pleasure; can always choose my carrier
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Reply: Mostly US-Europe, US-Asia
(6) What is your home airport?
Reply: SJC
(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?
Reply: AA EXP + UA Premier Platinum
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: Anything other than BA & UA
Complementary upgrades are very scarce of course. By excluding AA, BA and UA, and based in the Bay Area, that really leaves only Delta with both transpacific and TATL service, so for Oneworld that would pretty much mean you'd have to pick an airline that offered one transoceanic possibility or another, thereby reducing your upgrade options hugely.
Cathay Pacific might be worth investigating - subject your travel history for a typical year to AsiaMiles/Marco Polo metrics and see how you'd do. CX has been known to give comp upgrades to their elites more than some other airlines.
If your annual travel includes both transatlantic and transpacific flights, and you're based in the US, I'm compelled to suggest you give a long look at Oneworld's RTW products. You might find that buying one or more business class RTWs overseas in countries where the prices are lower than the US (some dramatically so) and using them not just for longhaul but domestic flying inside North America, would be a means of flying in premium cabins affordably while accruing elite status in any program you choose. This would hinge on your travel patterns of course, but it might be a fruitful avenue of research.