Originally Posted by
Seph87
Thanks for all this info - very helpful. The intention is for the move to be permanent but obviously things can change as parents age and kids go to university. I'd guess at a minimum we'll be there for 10 years or so. We will be moving to SW London so LHR will be the most convenient airport for us - probably not much travel out of LGW, STN or LTN unless the fares are significantly different / more convenient.
Thanks this is a good shout, I have UA Gold status so might as well get free BA Silver. In terms of value of points - that's good to know thanks. I am fine using other airlines besides BA for my personal travel. My main goal is to extract as much value out of the ~$7-10k of spend I will be doing for my work trips which will most likely be on BA flights (except maybe MIA) since our corporate travel program forces non-stop when available.
If you want to collect more miles, it seems like AS is the best for BA flights, especially on business class. But you never know what will happen to their program in the future. They seem to have a status match as well. Note that if you deposit your miles into AA, all BA and IB flights will be revenue based, must be booked by their preferred travel agents etc.
If you want to have benefits for your family, I think some credit cards offer companion vouchers but I never explored it. I think they also have some limits to where the departure should be. For example, US cards might restrict you to start your trip in the US etc. I believe BA has AMEX card in the uk with similar features.
If you want a status, BA seems easiest but I don't see much value in collecting BA avios because one can easily transfer it from cc or other programs. However, Avios is useful for London based travelers for direct flights within short distance but I think AS has more or less similar redemption costs.