Originally Posted by
flyhurl
Thank you for the examples.
I am new to RTWs and typically only book one a year in business class DONE3 or maybe DONE4. Have been crediting to AA without any regard for Loyalty Points just to get miles to book award flights. I don't think I could earn enough LPs to matter since I don't fly that much. Am I missing something here?
Also I am confused on the requirement for booking the TATL or TPAC on american metal to use the AA RTW desk. I have seen posts that a Codeshare would work. I don't even understand Codeshares at all - does it matter if you only want AA miles?
Yes, you are missing two things: status, which is earned by accumulating loyalty points, affects how many redeemable miles you earn. There is a multiplier at each status level. And the second thing is that your award miles are also affected by the scheme of the airline you choose to fly. It's more than ironic that if you want AA miles you will earn more of them on other carriers (in most cases). Those examples I gave also apply to award miles earned: 1 mile = 1 loyalty point (again, in most cases).
Codeshares will work: you can fly on Qatar with an AA codeshare flight number across the Atlantic and AA will happily issue your ticket, but the AA earnings will apply, not the much more generous Qatar points. It also works in reverse--fly on an American airplane with a QR codeshare and you will earn under the QR scheme. (Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert and find myself bumping into self inflicted sanfus all the time.)