Ibex340

Starting in September, I will be a first-year university student from New York at the University of Edinburgh. Throughout the next four years, I plan to make at least two round trips per year from the UK to New York but these flights will most likely be in off-peak times. In addition to that, I plan to travel as much as possible throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia from the major European hubs. Despite costs, I will try to fly non-LCC the majority of the time. I want to gain status to at least the point where you get +1 free checked baggage.

One more thing to know is that I will have credit cards both from the US and the UK. For AA credit cards, I will have to start new with Citi. But in the UK, I'll eventually switch to American Express to get the BA American Express cards since there are not many rewards cards out there. Also, the Tesco Clubcard will be in practical use for more Avios.

My main question is: AAdvantage or BA Executive Club or the other One World Programs?

Advantages that I see for AAdvantage:
- More benefits at the first tier level than BAEC
- Upgrades with miles
- Lots of Codeshare Flights

Advantages that I see for BAEC:
- Easier to get Avios in the UK
- Tier Point System seems less complicated
- Comfortable seats and planes

I definitely see AAdvantage as the better option but how will living in the UK affect my opportunities to get more miles with AA? With foreign exchange fees, I don't think using US Credit Cards the majority of the time would be a smart move.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

ORDflyer92

I'm not sure how it works in the UK, but in the US it would be nearly impossible for a first year university student to be approved for an Amex card. I was denied nearly any credit card with an annual fee when I was a student.

In terms of the program, you can credit pretty much all your Oneworld flights to AAdvantage, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. You'll need to fly four segments minimum on AA metal to earn status, but if you are mostly flying economy you probably won't earn meaningful status flying for leisure/travel to/from school. Most of the benefits of Gold status are the same as the credit card benefits (checked bag, etc.) except that you'll get MCE seats on AA flights (won't be very meaningful if most of your flights are in Europe anyway).

Ibex340

Besides flying and credit cards, are there more ways to gain miles through AAdvantage? If everyday spending, let's say, was to be used with some credit card in the UK, then I feel like I would be at a disadvantage by using AAdvantage when with BA, I could be gaining Avios through everyday spending. Even if I do not get the American Express Card, I could still go into Chase and get BA Avios that way as well.

Another thing to consider here is that BA has Reward Flight Savers which could be bought with Avios. I'm just not sure which route to take, though both AAdvantage and BAEC have similar benefits.

saltytheseagull

BA is tough to earn status on unless you are flying in premium cabins, which would have been impossible for me as a college student. Putting status aside, AA has a zone based award chart, whereas BA is distance based. I do not remember if EDI qualifies for RFS, but that could be helpful in your case.

I would recommend checking out this thread: Deciding on a Oneworld Frequent Flyer Program? Help is here.

Antarius

My personal advice would be to forgo chasing status and just fly LCC intra-Europe. BA shorthaul is largely indistinguishable from Ryanair, so you aren't getting much out of it.

​​​​​the time value of money saved will vastly surpass any bag fees at this stage.

​​​​​

physicsdude

Qatar Airways has a FFP for students from what I've heard.

Prospero

AAdvantage all but abandoned the U.K. market several years ago. If you can get a US Citi credit card, then this obviously opens up everyday earning opportunities although you should factor in forex transaction fees (if applicable)

DCAAlex

As other posters mention, BA is no different than Ryan air in the UK. They have slim line seats, all beverages are paid, etc.

Consider skipping status and just being a free agent. Go have fun in europe without being locked down to a particular airline. You can have a lot of fun trying out everyone. Heck with the money you’ll save, you can probably splurge once in a while for a few good intereurope Biz fares

For coming to and from the US, most tickets will include a baggage allowance, so you’ll likely be covered there.

Mwenenzi

EU is small. In a few hours you can overfly several countries. EU has many airlines & good train network. Spending more for short haul flights on an alliance airline (like BA, IE ,AY) for a few freq miles and status earning will not be value for money. Getting mid tier status on short low cost & cheap long haul flights will be a hard slog. Better to spend a few $$ on bags on the airline you fly selecting flights on best schedule & price. Or fly carry-on only (HBO). Same with (cheap) long haul flights to Africa & Asia.

Agree.

AA removed the 4 segments on AA years ago. BA has a 2/4 qualifying BA/IB flights for BAEC status. BAEC ff year is based on the date you join. Not calendar year as AA.

Is mid tier status, for extra bag on some flights, the only ff objective?
https://www.oneworld.com/travel-benefits

UKtravelbear

The link between the the Tesco points collection scheme and avios ended in January. The super market shoping link is via Sainbury's nectar

Have you read the two guides on the BA board - guide to earning and achieving status and earning and spending avios ?

To get any meaninful benefits flying on BA using AA status (free seat selection at the time of booking / lounge access / luggage*) you need to be a minimum One World Saphire (equivalent to BA Silver) which is AA Platinum.

And having status on BA will get you lounge access on US internal flights which AA dosen't

* If you buy the cheapest BA ticket 'economy basic' there is no checked baggage sllowance and status does not over ride that.

And since you say you want to fly LCCs as much as possible that limits your tier point earnings on BA and it's the TPs that get you status not avios.


BUT given your 'home' airport will be EDI I'm wondering if BA is even right for you, You could fly to all those places on your list by flying e.g. KL to AMS or AF to CDG. If you fly BA you'll have to connect via London anyay so doing that won't add on any extra connections

Mwenenzi

No. The opposite, which several of us say, will not be the best value for money for very short haul flights. LCC airlines could have better prices and with more routes.

shd9

What class of service do you plan to fly across the pond? BA status is heavily focused on the cabin/fare class, whereas AA is more focused on spend (EQD)

If you are flying primarily Prem Econ / WT+ or above, I think you will be better off crediting to BA since the Tier Point calculation would likely be in your favor. 1 roundtrip in Biz from the US to LHR with a connection somewhere makes you BA Bronze/OWR! Had you credited to AA the EQD/EQM will likely fall short of AA Gold requirements

If you were flying Coach/WT, it heavily depends on what fare class you book. It occurs to me that you might book lower fare classes since your travel is flexible and book long in advance, then crediting to BA you will earn next to no Tier Points, whereas on AA you at least earn 1 EQM per mile flown (just rack up EQD when you had to purchase exorbitant domestic airfares)

Be careful of baggage though - I think for the BA variant of Basic Economy (HBO fares), status doesn't give you any additional baggage. If you are flying AA-coded Basic Economy TATL flights, no EQD/EQM is earned. However, if you are flying non-BE TATL flights, you get one bag anyway. What's the point of status then?

UKtravelbear

Ah yes misread that but same point applies - if the OP decides to say fly the odd non LCC non BA flight then they still won't be earning BA TPs and still reducing their chances of earning the required TPs for BA.

stevendorechester

If you're in the UK I would go with BA. I' m in Canada and I am BA silver, which I got with one trip to South Africa. Just one rountrip in PE to the States can get you a free short haul ticket. The only disadvantage I see with BA's program is that award seats have been hard to come by lately.

Ibex340

Because I need to go to the US for immigration reasons, it doesn't really matter when I go and how long I stay. The plan is to return during the off-peak season and when there are mistake fares, so there is the chance I book in anything above Prem Econ. But then again, it would probably Coach/WT.

For long hauls then, is it better to go AA in general, regardless of whether I hit status or not?