Since you have lifetime gold status, you can get into the lounge by showing the QF membership card for domestic travel

They need some searching, but had lots of success with QR and MH in getting awards with some flexibility - useful if you want a holiday back to Oz

The redemption rates are so much better on AA that I would seriously look at the travel profile and see if you come out ahead - if at a travel level that can get lifetime gold status in QF, good chance of decent earnings on AA

Another thing to consider is your day to day mileage earning potential. London is almost entirely a cash free city and equipped with the right credit card you can earn miles/Avios by breathing.

Theoretically less expensive but with AA cutting its business class capacity and with its judicious application of dynamic pricing, these theoretical advantage fizzle out in practice. How much does an AAdvantage redemption cost now for intra European flights?

Besides, with no affiliate credit card in the UK market, AA is a weak programme here.

for flights to places like Asia and Australia, AA award availability is hardly relevant - award availability is no sifferent on OW airlines than for BA

intra EU flights are not so cheap, but for travel back to Australia, BA rates completely suck compare to AA

Credit card earning may not be that important unless he can get credit cards as a new resident to UK

Sure, it’s good to know about this but these appear to be tertiary requirements for the OP

Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum dwglee, it's good to see you here, and I hope we will see more of you.

As with all these sorts of questions (and there are a number of thread on this in the oneworld forum) a lot hinges on what benefits you are seeking. If it is lounge benefits in the USA then BA and other airlines are worth consideration, indeed many USA residents have BA cards for that reason. However AA Clubs - not Flagships - do have various paid for entrance options. For getting trips back home then follow this forum to learn all the tips you need to do this, however on every flight to SYD on BA metal there are always at least 6 redemption seats made available, 4 in WT, 2 in CW.

The one benefit that may have been overlooked is that if you only have a few years with us in the UK then you perhaps will want to grasp the opportunity of visiting the vast array of European cities within 90 minutes of London. And BA's Reward Flight Saver deals with Avios are among the highlights of the programme. Just keep good records just in case you have to fill in an Indefinite Leave to Remain form in a few years time!

The OP has LT Gold (Sapphire) status with Qantas , so no issue with lounge access

Something that's good to know: I found that Avios flight bookings within Australia on Qantas had great availability and the same low fees we have for shorthaul in Europe.

This let me bounce between MEL/SYD/BNE on my last trip back without any hassles using my BA FF points.

It really depends on your precise flying pattern, but bear in mind you can renew QF Platinum with 1,200 SC, and QF somewhat frequently run double SC promo etc., whereas qualifying/maintaining BA Gold requires, 1,500 TP. If you are 'only just' qualifying for QF Platinum, you might fall short of obtaining 1,500 TP with BA, particularly if you tend to fly on lower fare economy class, as some fare buckets only earn 5 TP with BA.

On many routes SC/TP may be the same for the same fare class but there are some differences (e.g. aforementioned 15/60 SC routes, MEL-BNE for instance comes to mind) but there are some major differences, e.g. you earn at least 10 SC for QF E class with QFFF but it earns no Avios or TP with BA.

I'm in a similar boat these days, I only do about 1/3 of my flying on QF but have decided to maintain my FF membership for a couple of reasons that might be of interest to you:

1. Qantas rewards flights aren't a great use of Qantas points but the long haul classic upgrade rates are pretty reasonable. For example, to upgrade from flexible economy to business on the SYD > DFW route costs 55000 points. If you fly into/out of Australia a couple of times a year on your own dime it's a good way to get premium fares at economy prices. Although upgrades aren't guaranteed I've never been denied a points upgrade as a platinum FF.

2. 1200 status credits is easy to maintain if you do any amount of long haul flying in business and 4 QF sectors can be covered by 1 return trip home from London per year (either via Perth or Singapore).

3. The Qantas Q tags look cooler than the BA Gold cards.

4. BA now sponsors English rugby whereas Qantas sponsors the Wallabies. I rest my case.