dsitahal

I am a Platinum member with AA. In 2018, most if not all of my flights will be on British Airways. I am wondering if it is better to start a BA FF account or stay with AA. I am obviously interested in getting the most miles but I want to ensure that I still get the privileges of the AA Platinum such as 1. Priority Boarding 2. Access to lounges during international flights 3. Baggage allowance 4. Seat choices

Anyone has any thoughts or experience with this? Thanks for the input

nutwpinut

If you get the equivalent BA standing, Silver, there will be pros and cons. 1) You will still get priority boarding based on OW Saphire. 2) Yes you get lounge access for international flights AND you also get it for USA domestic flights [this is the biggest Pro] 3) Baggage allowance is based off of OW Sapphire which is good 4.) This part I am not so sure about. Look through FT and you will find answers. I believe you will have to call AA and some things are limited.

Mwenenzi

dsitahal Welcome to FT

How do you use AA ff miles / will use BA avios?
FF miles/points/avois are not always 1:1 to earn or burn

I note from your profile you are resident in USA
Do you get ff miles from credit card spend?

Have a look at the sticky threads in the BA forum.
With BA you need 2/4 BA flights for status.

A similar thread on the BA forum, but considering BA to AA ffp
BA Gold GL moving to USA....should I switch affiliation ?

The grass in not always greener on the other side
Deciding on a Oneworld Frequent Flyer Program? Help is here.

mvoight

It should be mentioned that using BA Avios for awards, even for AA flights, will require paying a fuel surcharge.

Gig103

I don't have a clear answer for you, so here's all the data I can provide to help you. First, BA doesn't offer status matches, so you'll be starting from scratch earning on your BAEC number. No seat selection is the big one on BA.

If you fly on BA and earn on AA, read this chart for how much EQM/EQD you earn staying with AA. See if you'll be able to maintain your Platinum (or even Gold) status if you credit to AAdvantage.

Read up on how BAEC earns status - it's based on Tier Points, not EQM. I couldn't explain the details but make sure your style of flying is enough to maintain your status

Benefit to having an Avios account are:
1) If you keep equivalent status (AA Plat - BA Silver) then you would gain access to Admiral's Clubs in the US.
2) You can supplement your account with Amex Membership Rewards points
3) Family accounts, so you all earn into one bucket for quicker redemption
4) No EQD requirement right now, if you have low budget flying.

CrazyJ82

I'm not up on the details of how AA's program works these days, but be careful with this assumption. BA doesn't have an outright EQD requirement, but in practice their tier point system for status functions as a form of spending requirement. TP earning is heavily skewed toward premium cabins. If you take LHR-JFK as an example, you can hit BA Silver (oneworld sapphire) at 600 TPs after 1.5 roundtrips in a year in F, after 2.5 roundtrips in J, after 3.5 roundtrips in Premium Economy, but only after 15 roundtrips in the deepest-discount Economy earning 20TPs per leg. That improves to 4.5 roundtrips if you're buying full-fare economy. The way around this is to game the system looking for deep-discount premium cabins, which I suspect can get you status for less spend than the EQD requirements on AA for an equivalent level. But you have to have the time to do that, and be based in a place where sale fares are available often enough.

broland

I would remain in AAdvantage and credit my BA flights to the account, if you're flying premium cabins. The EQM and EQD chart should give you an idea of much you'll earn during the year.

jlsw7

I agree. However, if you are going to be based in the UK, I would also open a BAEC account to credit avios earnings for various purchases other than flights.

broland

Yes, that's a good strategy too.

arlflyer

Is this a trick question? Well, even if not, I'm going to give a trick answer.

Every AA flyer should have a BA Executive Club login, if only for the sole purpose of searching AA partner awards not searchable on AA.com

eponymous_coward

Uh, no, not for a lot of flights. And the CX fuel surcharges are rather small (especially for shorthaul). I've burned Avios for AA and AS domestically, CX internationally, and the fees have all been just TSA (AA, AS) or a modest YQ + exit/airport fees (CX).

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...-avios-points/