xenole

Been looking at cheap fares to the US and at present, FRA-DFW-LAX is going for around £255 with AA.

Seeing as that fare is AA's B class basic fare which awards no TP or Avios etc., does it make a difference booking it through BA.com rather than AA.com?

I did a dummy booking through BA.com and it mentions earning around 14k Avios and gives me the option to use Avios to reduce the cost.

If it will give nothing, does say BA from FRA-LHR and then AA in basic economy make a difference?

Tobias-UK

What does the BA TP Calculator say?

xenole

It doesn't mention B class should the AA flights book into that.

I've checked the booking class and BA.com says O so an earning fare (BA's B class for PE).

Tobias-UK

If the BA TP calculator does not show a fare class then it is safe to assume that the fare in question does not earn TPs or Avios. If BA is selling the sector as an 'O' class fare then it should attract TPs and Avios.

flyuk

I booked a return to ORD from LHR that goes via HEL on the way out on AY metal, and direct on the way back on BA metal. Although it was a Basic Economy with AA, the booking code is O on both AY and BA, so I'm expecting the TP and Avios. I also get free hold luggage as a BAEC GCH, even though I'd not get it if I booked the more expensive ticket on a BA 125 ticket.

Crazy.

corporate-wage-slave

Indeed, and this is a difference between BA and AA codeshare versus prime. So broadly speaking one advantage of booking via BA.com for codeshares on AA is that you will get some TPs and Avios, which isn't necessarily the case on AA.com, however if booked under AA you may still get a checked baggage allowance with status.

flyuk

I could have travelled AA metal all the way, but it would have gotten me no Avios or TP.

With the BA/AY metal under AA codes (O class) I get just under 12,000 Avios and 50TP with one checked bag. Not bad for £240 return.

xenole

I did check the normal economy fares on BA.com and the AA flights book into O class for them as well.

May try and route through LHR, or start there for an additional £60-£100, just to use the T3 lounges rather than the T5 ones. Playing with options but don't want to earn zero Avios at the end of the day as they're useful, more so than the TPs at present.

Andriyko

Hmm... I just checked what F class earns on JFK-LAX (booked as a BA codeshare), and the calculator does not list first class booking classes at all - does that mean that no TPs/Avios are earned? That would be strange.

Tobias-UK

No, BA's TP calculator appears to have forgotten there is a first class cabin on that route. Of course the TPs will be 210. It is a known bug, the phenomena exists (IIRC) on the MIA-LAX and JFK-SFO code shares too.

gcuk

I have a number of conferences coming up and travel is in steerage. It would be nice to be able to book into MCE.
What happens booking a basic fare on the BA code but AA metal regarding seat selection, so O class as mentioned above on the BA code as opposed to B class on the AA code.
The seat would need to be reserved on the AA site. AA doesn't allow seat selection on basic fares so presumably as it's their metal, seat selection wouldn't apply?

xenole

AA.com is definitely charging me for basic fares. Some decent enough seats are only £10 though.

Often1

AA has a handy one-page guide to what you do and do not get in terms of the AA flight itself. Note that the waivers are for AA elite members and do not include the standard inclusion of OW equivalents:

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...ic-economy.jsp

xenole

Are there any real reasons not to fly AA over BA or to book through AA.com or BA.com?

As I said, I'm just looking for a cheap economy flight ideally earning Avios. TP are unimportant as they're not going to make any difference this year so PE/WT+ or above is immaterial and I'll survive.
Still not sure if booking an AA basic fare through BA.com would earn anything regardless of what it says, but then again, I've the 24hr cancellation window should AA not let me select seats thus indicating I'm getting nothing.

I would like to use the T3 lounges rather than the T5 ones as I've done them to death, haven't used the QF lounge yet and some noodles from CX F would hit the spot.

AA gives me the option of the 787 to ORD (which ticks off another cabin on this aircraft after already flying F and J, just leaving PE) although flying straight to LAX and connecting to SFO lets me use the QF F lounge for a shower and my favourite salt & pepper squid.

The AA website seems to be around £25+ cheaper than if I book through BA.com and can be on the same planes (£375 if I fly the A380 and book through AA; £404 if I book through BA)

corporate-wage-slave

I actually think it is a mistake of some description that B doesn't get TPs/Avios, since AA does credit a bit on their frequent flyer scheme. Usually that is the trigger (so for example AAdvantage customers often see AUPs crediting on AA when travelling BA, whereas the AA version doesn't credit for anyone). But the B not-crediting has been reported from long back, and I can't recall a report of someone saying "yes I have been given Avios/TPs on BAEC despite flying AA B". Similar example is Z on LATAM, which has multiple confirmation reports. There again Z on LATAM is a more enticing travel prospect then B in a AA 787. I'm not sure seat selection is persuasive either way though I agree it's a good marker.

However feel free to take one for the team!

You can of course get to the Qantas lounge on a trip to Luxembourg or Bilbao, which will probably be cheaper and get more Avios....