Carolina2Cali

After weeks of debating, finally decided to fly to Dubai in a 7-12 days or so from now for a couple of weeks. There's an awesome Emirates direct flight, but they aren't AA or an American Partner, and I am trying to build up my status here. Looks like it'll be British Airways, sold both on BA and AA. I had a few questions, hope the community can help.

-I stupidly got excited thinking I found LAX-DBX for 1700 USD in business RT, but I realized my search was one way. Economy is 1000 RT, but business is 3500ish RT. Is it possible to book RT, business outbound, economy back, versus two one ways? How much might that be? When booking economy 1 way, the flight is like 850ish, versus 1000 when RT... was hoping the same percentages would apply for business (an extra 10-20 percent ) but that was just dreamy, wishful thinking on my part.

-Does it make a difference if I book via BA or AA? I am currently AA gold, not even a BA member or my account is ancient/expired if I indeed did have one... assuming I apply the miles to AA... I'd prefer to get the 10-25 percent of the 9000+ miles distance EQD rather than straight EQDs. I'll be staying at a few different Hyatt's upon arrival.

-Would it be better to start chasing a BA status instead? I vaguely remember seeing everyone needs 1 British segment, and I assume this would count since routed through LHR? I am strongly considering becoming a digital nomad in later 2021 and beyond.

-Emirates is an Alaska partner, who is about to become a full AA partner, but no connection between Emirates and AA coming ASAP, right?

Thanks in advance!

Mwenenzi

Make no sense to start a new ffp if you have AA status. AA Gold=OW Ruby (lowest OW tier). https://www.oneworld.com/travel-benefits
BA require 2/4 own flights for status. The "own flights" has variations - rules

AS is a full AA ff partner now. AS due to join Oneworld March 31, 2021

EY is an AA partner. Is a short road trip from AUH-DXB. May/may not be possible now (C19)
A map from Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper

Flight numbers are what is important. Not so much which airline.

Can you enter Dubai under current C19 restrictions?

Carolina2Cali

Thanks. Don’t know what country I thought might be Ethiad but indeed it’s UAE. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem they fly to LAX or even come up when searching flights. Yes. Dubai has lots of Covid protocols but other than some basic PCR testing they’re OPEN to Americans and their stuff is open too (restaurants, activities).

hw711

I came to Dubai a couple weeks ago. SFO-DFW-LHR on AA then LHR to DXB on BA. The advantage of flying LHR-DXB is that you don’t need pre flight test coming from UK (they will give you one on arrival for free). If you don’t fly from UK, you will need a pre flight test and it may be hard to get it in time if you are flying from west coast to DXB in one shot.

Carolina2Cali

really? Hadn’t heard anything about free LHR testing except when booking on Emirates.

did you fly to DFW for the extra miles?

so how are EQDs earned? Standard for the AA portion and then the remainder via the fare class multiplied percentage for the BA part?

regarding test times - isn’t it required just before your initial departure? So if I test on Tuesday and get results Thursday can’t I leave LAX Friday and be ok even though I won’t be to Dubai until later?

erik123

You could check combos with EY to AUH if covid restrictions allow.

hw711

the test on arrival is free no matter what airline. But if you don’t fly from UK, you have test pre flight. What individual airline offers is probably pre flight test.

DFW-LHR was the only transatlantic flight to LHR AA offered in December. I originally booked SFO-ORD-LHR but AA cancelled all the ORD-LHR flights in December.

My SFO-DFW-LHR on AA reservation was bought separately from my LHR-DXB on BA flight.

you probably don’t want to fly into AUH. There is a 10 day quarantine even if you test negative. I read they put gps tracker on you so it seems super strict. But if you fly into Dubai, you only have to quarantine one day until your test on arrival result come back and it’s not that strictly enforced. If you stay in Dubai for 10 days, you won’t have to quarantine when you go down to Abu Dhabi after 10 days in UAE (but you need to take another test before going to Abu Dhabi).

Actually cancel what I said about test on arrival only from UK. I just checked the rules again. Starting from tomorrow(1/16), they are requiring preflight test from UK as well. Probably because of the new UK strain.

fly747first

Yes, the situation is very fluid right now and things change overnight

IAATM

Does the OP have an AS account? If so, the OP could fly EK non-stop LAX-DXB and credit to AS, and then in the future credit all AA and BA flights to AS, while flashing the AA gold card for benefits.

carlosdca

Hello almost neighbour! (just moved out of WeHo to be closer to the beach, miss pre-pandemic WeHo times!)

• AA.com allows to book a RT in different cabins for the inbound/outbound, so you should be able to see the combo price on AA.com (you can always give them a call).
• As far as booking on BA vs. AA, it depends. In general, I would book on the website of the airline you want to accrue miles with. Unless there is a significant price difference. As far as upgrades, same, book with the airline you have available upgrade instruments with, in your case probably miles, which you could use to upgrade an AA leg, if there is any (you can use AA miles to upgrade BA flights but the value is not there and it starts getting complicated regarding the rules).
• For me, who you want to chase status with depends on your future travel plans and what you value the most of the status perks. Planning to fly a lot of domestic in 2021? international? 50/50? work paid business? leisure economy? Will you fly enough to achieve AA GLD, PLT or EXP? (or BA Bronze, Silver or Gold). Too many variables to consider to give you appropriate feedback.

Cheers

Carolina2Cali

Thanks Carlos, probably a mixture of international and domestic.

If I book this flight on AA, half the trip is on an AA plane, and half is on a BA plane. How will the EQDs get calculated?
Am I required to book on BA so that at least their half of the trip gets credited as 25 percent of the miles flown for EQD?

JJeffrey

If you are crediting to AA, then it doesn't matter where you book or what metal (plane) you're on, all that matters is the flight number.

If the flights have an AA flight number, then you'll earn miles/EQD according to the AA table at aa.com

If the flights have a BA flight number, then you'll earn miles/EQD according to the BA table at aa.com.

Carolina2Cali

Half is AA, half is BA. How do they decide how to split the dollars between each leg?

aztimm

I'd suggest you peruse the various threads in the forum that cover this topic. Here are some to get you started:
AA oneworld & Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (master thd)

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...d-flights.html


As noted, the AA system will use the flight numbers to determine which method to use for posting EQM, EQD, etc. If it is exactly half, then half will get posted using the AA method, and half using the BA method.

Carolina2Cali

A known travel blog says the opposite of what most of you guys have been saying, if I book on BA it'll be distance based, if on AA, it'll be per dollar based.

The only benefit I can see to booking on AA is that I'll likely get a premium economy type seat, since I am gold...? Actually I can't even book on AA, it keeps glitching out and saying all fares are not available no matter what date I choose. But if booking with BA, I imagine my "Ruby" status from AA won't do me squat.