Switch from American Airlines to BA?
 

I am moving to London January 1st and am formulating a miles and points strategy. Currently, I am Platinum (Sapphire) on American Airlines. Any advice from knowledgeable flyers or others who have made similar moves would be appreciated.

It's not clear whether I should:

(1) Stick with AA and earn points on code shares to maintain status.
(2) Switch completely to BA.

For option 1, it's unclear whether I would run into booking impediments with BA. For option 2, it's unclear how I could leverage my current Sapphire status during the transition year.

Any guidance is appreciated.

BA scheme is better if you regularly fly premium (Elite status is very Tier Point based which focuses on F and J travel).
AA scheme is better if you regularly fly discounted economy as it is miles and sector/no of flight based.

We really need to know your travel patterns when earning and redeeming..

Also, BA FF scheme charges fuel surcharges on miles redemption (even if you are redeeming on AA or IB) which only makes sense to redeem in J or F. AA's FF scheme does not and is useful for redeeming in Y. Also AA gives Upgrade vouchers which BA does not.

AA Platinum (OW Sapphire) will get you into the BA's Galleries lounges. You can check in at business class desk. Not sure if you can access LHR T5 FastTrack Security Lane.

BA does not upgrade to business unless economy is oversold. Elites do not get upgrade vouchers.

Thanks KenJohn, I do typically fly economy and take advantage of AA upgrade segments. On BA, premium economy is an option on transatlantic flights. Once in London, I'll do 3-6 long-haul round trips per year and a number of shorter European flights.

If you think you have a chance at making EXP (and remember, even cheap WT+ fares earn 1.5 EQP/mile) then AA has some advantages when you're on AA metal; you'll get the 8 SWU upgrades and free domestic US upgrades (plus much better domestic US mileage upgrade uptions).

However, you cannot upgrade cheap WT+ fares with AA miles, though you can with BA miles. You'll also have lounge access on all domestic US itineraries with BA status. Also, if you fly to Asia you'll be able to use your carrier's metal if you're with BA and hence can upgrade with miles while the only way to do this with AA miles is on exorbitantly expensive fares.

Perhaps let us know a little more about your travel patterns (portion domestic US, portion intercontinental)?

Thanks for this info! My best guess is that there will be (from London) 3 round trips to North America. 1 to Asia, and 7 to Europe each year. For USA domestic, I am guessing 3 round trips per year.

One advantage to note of having BA based status is that you get lounge access on solely domestic itineraries, whereas you do not with AA status.

On the converse side, BA status does not qualify you for first class upgrades on US domestic like AA does.

Well, given that, these seem to be your two choices (assuming availability):

1. Fly J on int'l flights and Y on US domestic flights

2. Fly WT+ on int'l flights and F on US domestic flights

If you like option 1 then take BA's program so you can book WT+ on the NA/Asia flights and upgrade to J w/miles, but if option two suits you better than pick AA so you can accumulate a lot of elite qualifying points quickly (w/their treatment of WT+ bookings) and upgrade on cheap US-domestic fares.

Were it me I'd probably accumulate on BA through flying and keep an AA credit card so I could accumulate mileage to use for domestic US upgrades.

With this profile you're probably better off sticking with AAdvantage.

Also depends on how you're planning to redeem your miles. Given your travel plans seem fairly set in stone calculate what you'll earn on both and what it's likely to cost you to get where you want to go.

My suggestion if you already have your AA status this year is to start crediting your oneworld flights to a
BA account now in preparation of your move.

This will build up your tier points and miles in the BA account, you can still use your AA status for any airport benefits on the flights you credit to BA.

Once in the UK look at the BA Amex, Amex gold card which currently offers 20,000 membership reward points for taking it out and the tesco MasterCard

All of those programs earn you BA miles, and if your flying WT+ will allow you to upgrade to CW where seats are available. The BA Amex will also give you a 2for1 voucher upon spending 10,000 (happy to refer if needed)

Also when in the UK you can sign up to tesco clubcard which is a supermarket loyalty scheme which allows you quarterly to move points to BA miles

cs

If you are looking to redeem on AA, be aware that AAnytime awards are NOT bookable with BA miles--only MilesAAver inventory is available. That cuts down on the possible inventory of award seats.

This is what I do. I live in the US but fly mostly BA long-haul in J, so I accumulate lots of tier points. I have an account with AA and a Citi AA credit card, and use those miles when I need an AA flight that my BA points won't buy me. I also shift my flight-based mileage accumulation to AA as soon as I re-qualify for Gold each year.

I think if I were you I'd keep the AA base.

I believe that you can upgrade BA flights with miles if the ticket itself is purchased directly with BA. So if you're moving because of business and your business has a travel policy that requires using their travel management company you won't be able to upgrade your BA segments even if you collect BA miles.

This is all very good advice. Thank you all.

A quick back of the envelope calculation suggests that you have no chance of qualifying for EXP, which is far more valuable (if you fly AA metal) than BA gold. However, if all your long-hauls are in WTP, you may just squeeze by and get 800+ TPs. In which case, you could search for 'euro-cheat' on this board. I am not necessarily condoning it, and its days may be numbered, but it might mean that you might be get BA gold status for <50k flown miles a year.

In terms of redemptions: as already stated, BA miles are essentially worthless for Y redemptions (unless booking at last minute), so if you e.g. have a family and want to redeem for all in Y, BA just isn't worth it. Even for straightforward J/F redemptions, there isn't a huge difference between AA/BA, even when redeeming on BA, and if redeeming on AA, AA wins hands down. But BA really comes into its own for UG of WTP to J, and for the BA Amex 2-4-1 (but the card is fairly pricey).

tb

PS welcome to FT