Originally Posted by
Youngtraveldude
Thanks in advance...trying to find the details of each program on the internet is a disaster. Long story short, looking for the best option(s) to credit mainly AA flights to that will allow me to get OW Sapphire with the least amount of flying (no requirements to fly X airline whose program it is).
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Achieving at least Oneworld Sapphire for US/domestic AA lounge access. Potential to redeem miles earned for a OW carrier.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
~50K. For the rest of 2022, I expect to do ~25-35K domestic miles flown in the US.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Economy, discount (but I do pay attention to the fare code)
Reply:
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Yes. I already have DL Platinum secured for 2023 and I'm moving to Austin, TX soon. Based on known work travel, I'd fly AA/AS (mainly AA) at least 50% of the time, maybe more. The rest on DL.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
US Domestic. Maybe 1 Caribbean trip, and maybe 1 trip to Europe in November.
(6) What is your home airport?
Soon AUS
(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?
DL Platinum/Skyteam Elite Plus. About 350K miles banked between my wife and I with DL.
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Currently DL. Moving to AUS, AA at least 50% or more.
In order to get domestic lounge access, you need to obtain OWS in a foreign FFP. If you expect to fly to Europe with BA, you should be able to satisfy the four BA-coded flights needed as a pre-requisite for attaining higher-level status. Of course, you would still have to earn sufficient tier points on all of your oneworld flights to attain status.
If you're not sure about whether you will be flying BA (or BA-coded AA flights) to/from Europe, I would look at the Iberia Plus program, which does not require any IB flights to attain status.
But if you will be flying Economy primarily, you might have to do a lot of flying to attain status in
any program.