Back up FFP
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2014
Location: LON
Programs: BAEC Gold, Lufthansa Senator, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, Accor Gold;
Posts: 12
Back up FFP
Hello All,
I'm 10 tier points shy of renewing my gold status (which I have to do by August) and I am wondering whether I should book non BA/oneworld flights to start building up a back up FFP. My travel patterns are predominately trans-atlantic, business and first, as well as Europe in business. I'm based in London. Do you think I should bother, if so, Miles and More given my spent?
Thank you for your advice!!
I'm 10 tier points shy of renewing my gold status (which I have to do by August) and I am wondering whether I should book non BA/oneworld flights to start building up a back up FFP. My travel patterns are predominately trans-atlantic, business and first, as well as Europe in business. I'm based in London. Do you think I should bother, if so, Miles and More given my spent?
Thank you for your advice!!
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2014
Location: LON
Programs: BAEC Gold, Lufthansa Senator, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, Accor Gold;
Posts: 12
#4
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Battleaxe Alliance
Posts: 22,127
Then, of course, thoroughly compare the benefits of the programme, quality of lounges (e.g. space, food & beverages), earn/burn ratio etc.
No, the grass is NOT greener, on average, IMO.
One thing you could look at is to have a second FFP in another alliance anyway, without chasing status.
Signed: LH SEN, SQ PPS, A3 Gold*, QF LTG & last but not least, BA GGL/CCR/LTG, giving me a fair few opportunities to compare and contrast between programmes
*In case you're wondering about the point of having status in 3 Star Alliance programmes, simple answers are:
LH SEN: Access to certain F redemption not available through non-M&M
SQ PPS: x2 baggage allowance (Star Gold only gives 1 bag or 20 kg extra)
A3: Benefits /earning on OA which is NOT a Star member
Last edited by LTN Phobia; Feb 3, 2019 at 6:55 am
#5
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,769
If you fly a reasonable amount of Lufthansa (or whatever) and/or it's a valid alternative for some of your travel then yes it makes sense to have one account in each of the main 3 alliances. Lufthansa isn't the easiest one to get status, so if (e.g.) TK is more useful given your travel pattern you should look at that - but I'd see it more as getting some frequent flyer points/miles to do things when BAEC can't help. I am sceptical of the value of maintaining multiple frequent flyer schemes within the same alliance since that is the way to having small buckets of expiring points all over the place.
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK.
Programs: SQ LPPS, A3 *G, BA Silver aiming for Bronze
Posts: 1,506
If you're going to chase *A status just beware that many LH shorthaul C fares earn nothing with either A3 or TK programmes. Given that LH is the major *A carrier in Europe that can be a catch and M&M is now revenue based too. If you are going to use LH then look at SK Eurobonus which still earns well on all but the cheapest fares.
#7
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 1,280
Hello All,
I'm 10 tier points shy of renewing my gold status (which I have to do by August) and I am wondering whether I should book non BA/oneworld flights to start building up a back up FFP. My travel patterns are predominately trans-atlantic, business and first, as well as Europe in business. I'm based in London. Do you think I should bother, if so, Miles and More given my spent?
Thank you for your advice!!
I'm 10 tier points shy of renewing my gold status (which I have to do by August) and I am wondering whether I should book non BA/oneworld flights to start building up a back up FFP. My travel patterns are predominately trans-atlantic, business and first, as well as Europe in business. I'm based in London. Do you think I should bother, if so, Miles and More given my spent?
Thank you for your advice!!
#8
Join Date: Oct 2017
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Platinum; Hilton Gold, IHG Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Wyndham Diamond
Posts: 788
I don't have a backup FFP in the sense that you're talking about, but I have a 'bail out' FFP researched in case adverse changes happen to BAEC. I'll probably jump to Flying Blue.
#9
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,514
Many schemes work on a calendar year so why not a back up indeed, but as others say, I certainly wouldn't pick that within OW. Look at whether ST or *A is good for you and if you want status or useable miles. If *A, TK, A3 and SK all have advantages. If ST, AF-KL is probably your best bet for status and AZ for miles.
#11
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Somewhere in the Air
Programs: BA GGL, *A Silver, OW Emerald, HH Diamond, Karahi Express
Posts: 554
You could ask TK for status match. I did a few years ago and they gave it pretty quickly. I got Star Alliance GOLD for 2 years and had never flown Star Alliance
#12
Join Date: May 2014
Location: BRU
Programs: BA GGL, TK E (*G), ITA exec
Posts: 4,082
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2014
Location: LON
Programs: BAEC Gold, Lufthansa Senator, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, Accor Gold;
Posts: 12
Thank you all for your advice, much appreciated. Being LON based it is a no brainer to maintain Gold Status on BA, so I will make sure I will always maintain that. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I don't fly enough to achieve GGL, but I can still continue to chip away on lifetime gold and collect avios. For the other flights, I'll be a free agent and select them on schedule and price.
#14
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: Executive Club: Gold - Flying Blue: Gold
Posts: 1,382
Go for it. Since BA doesn’t roll over excess tier points, I stop using them when I reach Gold. I have built up my Flying Blue Platinum status and Aegean Silver (which gives 2 upgrade coupons and 4 voucher to access their lounges). AF/KL ended up taking most of my business as with the roll over policy I will reach Platinum for life quite easily.
#15
Join Date: Oct 2017
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Platinum; Hilton Gold, IHG Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Wyndham Diamond
Posts: 788
Many schemes work on a calendar year so why not a back up indeed, but as others say, I certainly wouldn't pick that within OW. Look at whether ST or *A is good for you and if you want status or useable miles. If *A, TK, A3 and SK all have advantages. If ST, AF-KL is probably your best bet for status and AZ for miles.