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Thread: Oneworld miles?
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Old Jun 3, 2005 | 1:09 am
  #9  
number_6
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Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
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Originally Posted by the_p0et
What about www.asiamiles.com? It looks like they cover all the same airlines as Oneworld. I'm not wanting AA or a North American airline like that because we're going to continue working abroad. Our next move will be after this RTW trip to France.

Should we just stick to Asia Miles? It looks like we can get miles from all of our flights onto asia miles.
All of the FF plans allow redeeming on all of the Oneworld airlines (and some others) so it doesn't matter which country you are in as to which FF plan you use. There are small nuances to this, and it gets very complicated, but broadly all plans are the same for redemption in terms of where and whom you can fly. They differ widely in the cost of the award and in the earning potential. A mile credited to Asiamiles is not worth the same as a mile credited to QFF or to AAdvantage or BAEC. This creates some arbitraging possibilities if you want to maximize the benefit. Similarly the earning potential isn't the same. For the number of miles you get from a single RTW trip it really doesn't matter much. For larger numbers of miles, the various plans differ by over 100%. Unfortunately the optimal plan differs on how you earn miles and how you use miles. For example Asiamiles lets you upgrade on CX and is the only way to do so; while AAdvantage miles give roughly twice the travel on awards as Asiamiles. So for upgrades on some airlines/routes Asiamiles is by far the best; while for free travel on other routes Aadvantage is. Every plan has some good and bad points. Most people find Aadvantage is the best plan for them; in my case it is worth at least 50% more than the 2nd best OW plan (but I use miles in unconventional ways, for example many one-way trips). So the bottom line is you cannot pick the best plan unless you also pick how you will use the miles (and hope the plan rules don't change too much by then).
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