I'm not surprised at your sister's reaction. This lack of reciprocity between BA and its major TATL partner, AA, is clearly very damaging to the value of the BAEC program. And, to a lesser extent, the AA program. If my carrier applied this policy to - for example - their partner, the BlueDemons, then I'd reconsider my enrolment.

After all, what could be better than jolly old Schiphol and those iconic blue-clad workers? At least when there is no customer service, they make no excuses. Het is niet moegelijk and that's it. That's preferable to "I'm sorry sir, your route/fare class/accent doesn't allow... mileage accrual/redemption on our partner, American Airlines.."

I am surprised, however, that people don't understand the terms and conditions and consider their EC enrolment accordingly. While BA, like other organs of the British establishment, can be criticized for a serious lack of transparency in many operational aspects e.g. the secret but apparently real policy treating all male pax as potential child molesters, the same can't be said for BAEC T&C.

RTS