I'm changing jobs and relocating to Paris for several years. In my current job, I flew 10-20 times a year on business (usually one or two RTWs), about 2/3 of that either trans-Atlantic (from Canada) or trans-Pacific (the rest Canada-US). I had a lot of autonomy in terms of which airline I flew; I usually flew Air Canada in North America and Oneworld for other trips. Initially, the Oneworld allegiance came from the facts that I was already BAEC Silver (following a year in London) and it was one of the few airlines with a premium economy product. I have a Royal Bank BA Visa (great for companion tickets) and a CIBC Aerogold Visa with Maple Leaf Club access (I always flew economy in NA, so it was worth it to pay personally for MLC access.) I've had BAEC Gold for two years now and will keep it at least until August 2006; I've got no status on Aeroplan, but 12,000 status miles for the year to date.

In my new job, I'm not sure how much I'll travel but I expect it will be somewhere between 4 and 20 times per year. A lot of it will be short haul in Europe and around the Mediterranean (e.g. North Africa, Middle East), but it could very well involve long haul to Asia, the Americas, etc. I also expect that ticket booking in my new firm will be much more centralized, and I'll have less choice about which airline I fly (and I'll be flying economy more often). So I expect that I'll have to fly Air France a lot. My partner and I also expect to travel fairly often (buying tickets when it makes sense, but using my stash of points for some luxury trips). An airline that has a premium economy product and allows upgrades with points from E to PE or PE to business would attract some of my business to the extent I can control it.

Can anyone offer suggestions about maximizing points-earning and status-earning opportunities (through business travel and personal spending)? I've heard that there's no chance of a status match with Skyteam, but should I try it with Star Alliance while I'm still BAEC Gold? Am I better off signing up with AF's frequent flyer program or with another Skyteam member? If I'm going to change allegiance, when should I do it? (Do Skyteam airlines' points programs view points on a calendar year basis or calculate from the time you join, as BA does?) What about credit cards with points accumulation? I'll need to get rid of most, if not all, of my Canadian cards (tax status issues). Thanks for the advice.