Achieving BA status
 

I had a friend asking; is BA the easiest program to earn Oneworld status in if you frequently fly long haul Y or PEY compared with J? I usually fly in premium cabins;) so I was wondering, do people flying on full fare tickets typically come out ahead compared with other programs?

sorry misread question

i think AA is the easiest. it's the best as well, as you can earn loads of miles easily and cash them in for great seats on etihad for next to nothing. makes etihad members want to join AA. All depends where you're flying, but yeah, i'd say BA is one of the best.

You don't earn anything crediting to AA on Z class for EY:td: But in terms of earning status, do people usually come out ahead; given the TP system?

One big question which ought to be answered first: What is their travel pattern? Many of the OW schemes have a minimum sector rule. So if your friend were to decide that AA is easiest, but never flies anywhere that AA goes, they could be very disappointed if AA enforced its 4-sector rule and they didn't actually earn any status.

He is currently based in FRA but he didn't jump the boat when the BA FRA-HKG J fares came up:D. Typically ex-EU to West Coast US and EU-Asia.

To have meaningful status you need 600 tier points and 4 flights with BA in a year (silver). Not particularly difficult if you fly business class and on flights over 2,000 miles. It can be done as easily as a return trip to vegas for under 1,000.

If you have no long haul planned, then you'd most likely need at least five or six medium haul return trips in premium economy and double that for economy.

You can also achieve status through number of flights (50 for silver), but it is possible to miss out - someone took 49 and missed out a few months back, so a big factor can be distance of travel. Obvs, the greater the distance, the fewer flights required.

AA has been enforcing the 4 segment rule for a while now, as does BA, so that is the first hurdle to jump. Otherwise the ease depends on your flying pattern and the best bet, if things are stable, is to work out the alternatives for the past couple of years of flying. If you are changing your flying pattern then you will just have to do some analysis of the expected pattern. There is no simple answer, though if you fly in J/F on AA a lot then BA works out quite well!

I've made Silver this year in just three TATL r/t in WTP with UK domestic legs attached (so 220 TP per r/t).

I've actually done more flying than that, with some more WTP legs but also discount Y which has me currently on 895 TP with a TATL WTP out, CW back booking to come over Christmas that will put me on 1125 TP by the end of the calendar year.

With my TP year ending on April 8th I have a decent chance of making Gold.

If it's just extra legroom, then getting getting silver status asap would be advisable and then getting main cabin extra (for free) for all american flights in economy afterwards would keep costs down.

Alas, AA is changing their programme which devalues their miles considerably.

See Head for Points

http://www.headforpoints.com/2015/11...e-uk-impacted/

For details.

I had Silver for years, usually earning 600-700 tps a year... thanks to one trip to Vegas and clever routing I got BA Gold this year :)

Was that 1500 TP for one trip to Vegas or 900-1000 to add to your usual 600-700?

I think Gold achieved entirely through LH Y is...something deserving of considerable respect and an annual golden ticket for a one-off CCR entry.

To the original question: I'd say very tentatively yes.

I ran the numbers for a friend a while back, who travels mostly paid J or F, often full fare, and he would be better off with BA. Meaning, he would get a higher status more quickly with BAEC than with AAdvantage. Now with the recent AAdvantage changes that give 2 or 3 EQMs for business and first, it's now slightly less clear, but he still comes out ahead, meaning BA Gold (OW Emerald) versus AA Plat (OW Sapphire). The question is, though, if the redeemable benefits are better. BAEC has some perks; AAdvantage others. Will he get more out of Avios? Sure, complimentary lounge access on domestic US flights is nice, but would would upgrades on the (rare) occasions he flies paid economy be better? How frequently will he really be on BA versus AA metal? Maybe the lower tier on AA is actually more beneficial than the top on BA.