FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Which Frequent Flyer Program to Join? Help Is Here!
Old Feb 12, 2026 | 9:15 pm
  #1951  
alerys
100k
All eyes on you!
 
Join Date: Oct 2024
Posts: 60
Originally Posted by guv1976
alerys , assuming that your pre-tax airfares total ~$22K USD, you should be able to achieve OWE status by crediting all flights within an elite-earning year to AAdvantage if all of your flights are on BA. The AAdvantage program credits miles/Loyalty Points for travel on BA based on pre-tax fare. Travel on Cathay, Finnair, Qantas, and Qatar, on the other hand, credit based on distance and fare class, with some Business Class fares earning more than others.

Though it's not a oneworld member, flights on Etihad do earn redeemable miles and Loyalty Points if credited to AAdvantage. But again, credit would be based on flown mileage and fare class, not on pre-tax fares.
Nice, thanks! It seems like flying Qatar, BA or Finnair and crediting to their own FFP would work too, QR and BA are a bit tighter though. And QR would be route-based rather than distance based, but the math looks good.

Given these options, are there any benefits I should consider between these 4 programs, or are they all the same? I would hope that when flying their own program, the status would give more, but maybe that's not a significant factor? Also, for flying, I assume the quality in J is QR > SQ > BA = Finnair?
All the non-SQ options mean extra layovers for me, which is sad. But the PPS status just gives me so little value (I can access the SQ lounge on J flights already, and I fly other airlines for Y).
alerys is offline