I agree that JetCityCajun should definitely pursue the BAEC status match from Delta. But I'm not sure that he should pursue BAEC Gold rather rather just BAEC Silver. Silver would give him basic lounge access when flying AA or AS, and he could achieve Silver after only 2.5 Business Class roundtrips on BA SEA-LHR. (He could actually achieve it in just 2.0 roundtrips if he were willing to fly a connection -- perhaps via PDX, YVR, or SFO -- on one of his LHR-SEA returns from London.) After achieving BAEC Silver, I would then credit the rest of my BA flights to either AA or AS for better award-redemption options. If upgrades on AA/AS domestic flights are important to him, then achieving status in one of those programs -- in addition to having BAEC Silver for lounge access -- would be important.