I think this might be the root of my confusion / issue. I have entered my British Airways membership number when booking with other oneworld airlines (like Malaysia Airlines) and I have earned the Avios from those bookings (as reflected in my Avios balance with British Airways) but I have seen no change in my status, nor any indication that my miles are being registered by British Airways -- i.e: my tier points are unchanged. If I look in my Malaysia Airlines account, I can see the miles did register there, as I am making progress towards with their status. I (incorrectly?) concluded that entering my British Airways membership number was just for earning Avios, not for getting credit for the flights against my British Airways account
With MH flights if the BA avios are increasing then "miles are being registered by British Airways" (redeemable avios = miles = points in common jargon).
If for the same flight you are also getting MH miles and status earning and BA avios some thing is amiss. If you booked the flight while logged into your MH ffp account and then tried to change to BA ffp, anything could have happened.
Is some cases is possible to credit status raning to one ffp and redeemable miles/avios/points to another ffp. But requires a skilled airline or travel agent to do. Is not common.
Depending on the detailed rules with OW if you earn redeemable avios/miles/points you also earning status. Code share flights can be problematic.
Some low cost fares can earn nothing to some ffp's. Look at your ffo web site. A very broad guide (not 100% correct in all cases)-->
https://www.wheretocredit.com/
So, if I understand correctly: when I fly with a oneworld airline and enter my British Airways membership number, I should earn the points as Avios and the flights should count towards my British Airways status but I'll also need to fly at least 2 flights per year booked with British Airways for those flights to start counting? Does this mean that the flights I've already taken (with Malaysia Airlines and others) are a wash, or will the tier points for those flights show up after I book + fly twice with British Airways this year?
Not 110% sure but think flights prior and after you do the 2/4 required BA-IB flights will count when the BA status kicks in.
I know very little. Off the top of my head, I'm a member of Singapore's KrisFlyer, United MileagePlus, Qatar, Qantas, British Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa, Malaysia, SAS but all have a couple of flights at most and are at the entry level status except for United MileagePlus which is Silver (via the Marriott partnership).
Many are in the same alliance~ff partners. So, depending on fare booking class, you may have been able to credit 1 ffp in each alliance. Having small balances~little status earning in many ffp's can mean never getting status or enough redeemable ff miles/avios/points for an award. Depending on the ffp the miles/avios.points can/could expire before being able to use.
Oneworld
Star
- UA (miles never expire)
- SQ (miles have 3 year hard expiry. Use them or lose them)
- LH
- SAS (but leaving)
EK and QF are ff partners
EK and UA are ff partners (check the t&c's)