Paren

I have been flying EK J from BHX (nearer to me than London) recently due to my employer relocating me to Dubai and Mauritius.

Like others, I quickly realised how much better the EK J hard product is compared to BA's along with other things such as the lounges, chauffeur service etc.

I also discovered it's a lot more difficult to get status with EK compared to BA.

However, although it's not quite as glamorous as T5, flying to/from BHX is a lot more convenient for me.

I then saw that our friends at QR have some good rates in J to DXB (I tend to fly to DXB often). Yes, there's the connection which EK doesn't have, but at least it allows me to put the tier points in one pot (I.e. my Exec Club account). In short, a rate I booked in J was the same, if not less, than what I used to pay BA to UUA (where I would pay Avios+££, I am now paying just ££). For tier points, it works well too, since from DOH to DXB/DWC, they upgrade from J to F since there is no J product on the route.

I figured I would use BA (or perhaps AA from BHX to JFK) if I go to North or South America, which I wouldn't be able to do so with QR or EK.

But also using oneworld in general as I tend to hop around from one country to another when I'm visiting a region (E.g. flying with CX to go from HKG to China).

Hence, this isn't me saying "BA are crap etc" like others may, but more so that I intend to stick with oneworld due to the choice I get with other airlines and routes.

In short, does it make sense to stick with BAEC for these reasons rather than completely jumping ship?

Thanks

ENTP

Have you been able to get any EK trips on a QF code, thus earning TP and Avios?

Paren

Unfortunately not as the company just books EK trips based on the date I need to travel, they wouldn't look at QF codes etc

However, are QF codeshares available from BHX anyway?

vibguy

I will give you a potential reason to stay with BA : you have a Tesco clubcard and hence you might qualify for a discount on the BOB snacks that BA will introduce. I suggest to BA contact customer service to get details and conditions for this potential discount.

Paren

Haha!

Every little helps...

mrvincent

It makes sense to try to achieve/maintain OW status if UK based, I feel. I wouldn't mind the additional stopover if I stood to gain from it - assuming that EK vs QR flights were similarly priced. The most important thing for me is getting home to a local airport.

Paren

Yes, this was my thinking too. The flights are similarly prices if I pay QR cash compared to what I was paying BA for cash+Avios to UUA. Plus as I say, I get the tier points for J+F with QR as opposed to BA in which I would get WT+ tier points for UUA.

1010101

I stuck with BAEC when i emigrated. As great as EK may be for you when going East, they're not much use when you want to go West. Unless you're lucky (unlucky) enough to maintain top tier status on multiple alliances pick the one that suits your location rather than your preferred airline.

Paren

Yes, again, this was my thoughts. As I mentioned, I can use AA from BHX to go to JFK, or if I don't want to connect (if I'm going somewhere other than JFK) then I use BA from LHR.

I did consider VS but the route network with oneworld is better for where I usually travel in my opinion, but also all of my tier points and Avios are currently tied into BAEC anyway.