Originally Posted by eponymous_coward

It entirely depends on whichever airline you want status on. AA does not fly YVR-SFO nonstop, just YVR-LAX. AS doesn't fly it nonstop either (you would connect in SEA or PDX).

FWIW, if you're buying cheap fares:

All QF fares earn at 100% of mileage flown on AS.

MVP Gold status includes lounge access for QF and BA when flying their flights (a rough equivalent to OW Sapphire for lounge access, but only on these airlines in particular lounges).

AS might not be a great match if you are primarily flying CX on cheap economy fares given that inexpensive fares only earn 25% (and there are CX fares that earn 0 on AS) and AS status does not include CX lounge access at the moment. However, if you have lounge access via credit card you might find Priority Pass lounges in HKG are an OK substitute for grinding out OW Sapphire status by mileage running lots of cheap economy flights. I don't think mileage runs make a lot of sense any more except on the margins (where a fairly small investment in cash/time yields outsized results), now that carriers are primarily focused on awarding status and benefits based on "how much did you pay for this flight you are on, and how much money did you give us last year?" as opposed to "how much did you fly in our planes last year, even if it was 100,000 miles on $1500 in paid fares?"

You may also find that earning on CX/BA/AA for cheap economy fares doesn't give you a lot in their "native" programs either (generally cheap economy doesn't earn much and AS is an outlier in awarding 100% mileage flown on their cheapest fares). You might check out wheretocredit.com and see what some of your past/future flights would have credited in various programs.

AS also does not earn on AA fares for domestic flights, but as long as you fly ex-YVR and don't connect in the United States, you would earn at least some AS miles on those flights.

PS: at 700k+ Avios, I would be looking at burning those for some J/F flights. Lounge access comes along for the ride with that, and CX/JL now do nonstops out of SEA AND YVR.

Originally Posted by Prospero

I have a colleague who is based in California who flies extensively to Europe and Asia in business class, mostly on BA and Cathay Pacific respectively. Having done his homework, he credits his flights to Alaska MP as the earn/spend ratio works out best for his needs. There is a downside to this though which is while he flies enough to earn oneworld emerald status, he obviously cannot reach this since he is crediting his flights to a non oneworld carrier. So what this means in practical terms is he cannot access the rather lovely First lounges at LHR, HKG, or SYD.

Originally Posted by eponymous_coward

In dollars and cents terms, if you're getting the occasional virtually free J/F flight on CX/JL/or other airline you wouldn't get otherwise, that's probably worth passing up LPGS in a lounge and settling for Bollinger. I would note AS is VERY generous on mileage earnings when you fly premium classes on those airlines: CX earns at 225% flown mileage in J, BA at 250%/350%, before any elite bonus (and if you're at MVPG75K, that's another 125% bonus). That's a lot of cheddar on 5000-7000 mile flights one way.