New Joinee - BAEC, AAdvantage, or Qatar Privilege Club
Dec 27, 2019, 5:39 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 1
New Joinee - BAEC, AAdvantage, or Qatar Privilege Club
Hello there! I'm a college student based in PHL (plan on staying in the US after graduating), and I travel yearly to MAA (Chennai, India). I currently have 10k miles on BAEC. I think I will remain a fairly infrequent flyer, expecting to make 2 roundtrips (with one being to MAA) yearly. I wonder if I should stick with BAEC, or if I should move to AAdvantage.
I'm pondering moving to AAdvantage mainly because I think I'll be flying around the US a lot and don't want to lose miles by crediting those flights to BAEC. Already, I have another 10k miles worth of trips on American booked that would benefit from being credited to an AAdvantage account. On the other hand, will AAdvantage allow me to get full credit for the miles I travel when I visit India? (Usually on Qatar or Air India from JFK).
Here are responses to a few questions that should provide more info:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: Upgrades on travel, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rate - I basically want to save extra cash or gain extra benefits on flying I'm doing
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: I fly PHL - MAA yearly apart from visiting family in the US so about 25000 miles per year. I plan on spending a semester in Europe, where I may do 3-4 flights this year.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: Cheapest (usually Economy)
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Yes, can choose. Most flown American. Travel for pleasure.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: travel to India.
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: PHL, but may move to New York/Bay Area in the future
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: BAEC lowest tier, 10k miles (from other oneworld flights funnily)
(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: Qatar, British, United, Lufthansa (keeping India connectivity in mind), American (keeping connectivity to PHL in mind)
I'm pondering moving to AAdvantage mainly because I think I'll be flying around the US a lot and don't want to lose miles by crediting those flights to BAEC. Already, I have another 10k miles worth of trips on American booked that would benefit from being credited to an AAdvantage account. On the other hand, will AAdvantage allow me to get full credit for the miles I travel when I visit India? (Usually on Qatar or Air India from JFK).
Here are responses to a few questions that should provide more info:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: Upgrades on travel, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rate - I basically want to save extra cash or gain extra benefits on flying I'm doing
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: I fly PHL - MAA yearly apart from visiting family in the US so about 25000 miles per year. I plan on spending a semester in Europe, where I may do 3-4 flights this year.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: Cheapest (usually Economy)
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Yes, can choose. Most flown American. Travel for pleasure.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: travel to India.
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: PHL, but may move to New York/Bay Area in the future
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: BAEC lowest tier, 10k miles (from other oneworld flights funnily)
(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: Qatar, British, United, Lufthansa (keeping India connectivity in mind), American (keeping connectivity to PHL in mind)
Dec 27, 2019, 7:19 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2016
Programs: Marriott AmBE ; AA EXP; Amtrak Select Executive; Hertz PC
Posts: 151
As a college student I wouldn't worry too much about getting status anywhere. It doesn't really pay to stick with one airline. Your main concern is to save as much money as possible on flights. To do that you don't need to remain loyal to any one airline.
The best strategy for you is probably to go off of what alliance your bi-annually flights are in. For example, if you're flying mostly Air India, they are with Star Alliance. The members include Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, THAI, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, and United.
In the U.S, this maps you to United Airlines. You can take advantage of the star alliance status.
With American Airlines they belong to the One World Alliance. The members areAmerican Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LATAM Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and SriLankan Airlines. They also have One World status that you can take advantage of if you fly with Qatar.
The bulk of your earn is the PHL - India flights so thats where I would stick with one airline and earn points/flights that way.
I personally fly to HKG via Cathay twice a year and it works out well that I fly AA in the US. I am an AA Executive Platinum which gives me OW Emerald status.
The best strategy for you is probably to go off of what alliance your bi-annually flights are in. For example, if you're flying mostly Air India, they are with Star Alliance. The members include Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, THAI, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, and United.
In the U.S, this maps you to United Airlines. You can take advantage of the star alliance status.
With American Airlines they belong to the One World Alliance. The members areAmerican Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LATAM Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and SriLankan Airlines. They also have One World status that you can take advantage of if you fly with Qatar.
The bulk of your earn is the PHL - India flights so thats where I would stick with one airline and earn points/flights that way.
I personally fly to HKG via Cathay twice a year and it works out well that I fly AA in the US. I am an AA Executive Platinum which gives me OW Emerald status.
Dec 27, 2019, 9:13 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,016
Hello there! I'm a college student based in PHL (plan on staying in the US after graduating), and I travel yearly to MAA (Chennai, India). I currently have 10k miles on BAEC. I think I will remain a fairly infrequent flyer, expecting to make 2 roundtrips (with one being to MAA) yearly. I wonder if I should stick with BAEC, or if I should move to AAdvantage.
I'm pondering moving to AAdvantage mainly because I think I'll be flying around the US a lot and don't want to lose miles by crediting those flights to BAEC. Already, I have another 10k miles worth of trips on American booked that would benefit from being credited to an AAdvantage account. On the other hand, will AAdvantage allow me to get full credit for the miles I travel when I visit India? (Usually on Qatar or Air India from JFK).
I'm pondering moving to AAdvantage mainly because I think I'll be flying around the US a lot and don't want to lose miles by crediting those flights to BAEC. Already, I have another 10k miles worth of trips on American booked that would benefit from being credited to an AAdvantage account. On the other hand, will AAdvantage allow me to get full credit for the miles I travel when I visit India? (Usually on Qatar or Air India from JFK).
BA, AA & QR are all Oneworld so you can fly any airline and credit to any OW ffp. Subject to the t&c's and fare booking class. Nowadays not unusual for low cost economy fares to earn little on any ffp. AA is a revenue based (AA flights) and distance based (other flights) ffp. Can be hard to determine AA ff earnings. BA is a distance based ffp.
Air India is not OW, so not a ff partner of AA, BA or QR.
In EU flights are/can be cheap and short, so earn little to any ffp. Be careful with checked bag cost with EU airlines. Trains in EU can be better
With only a few cheap flights a year the chances of getting an upgrade (with ff miles & cash co pay) are close to zero. And not flying enough to get status where extra baggage can kick in and/or higher up an upgrade list on USA domestic flights. So forget about getting those benefits
I would pick flights based on cost & schedule and treat ff miles/avios as a possible bonus that may or may not be able to be used in the future.