You can also buy AA miles at a fair price, albeit with a 25k (I think) annual cap. So, if you do do a Platinum Challenge to get Silver / Sapphire status, you can buy the extra miles you need to get to a decent BA award. These are good value - ie F to India is, I think, 105k AA miles v 150 BA Miles. Club is, I think, 80k v 100k BA Miles.