Using benefits of BA Gold while crediting to AY+
 

I spent a significant amount of time researching this topic, since I know that there is a lot of information available. If something exactly like this exists, please delete this thread.

During this entire year I would like to be crediting all my OW flights to AY+ (no status). There is simply more value this way and makes more sense for someone based in HEL. However, I naturally want to use all the benefits of OWE through BA Gold. Here are my conclusions and questions:

1) When it comes to lounge access, there shouldn't really be any problems. Either change FF number after entering or enter with BA Gold card.

2) Check-in should be equally painless by just showing the card/app.

3) Priority security is really important to me and entering might pose a problem. More and more points have electronic gates that open once you have scanned your ticket. Agents can open these gates manually, for example when travelling with a non-status member, but I don't really trust them always even knowing what BA Gold is or caring since my FF status is not printed on my ticket. Same with other forms of priority security,

4) Seat selection is not particularly important to me unless the airline blocks the Y seat next to mine automatically, which I understand is not that common anymore (except on BA flights?). I might be flying AY longhaul in Y at some point, which of course offers the possibility for complimentary Y+. If I have understood previous threads regarding other airlines correctly, the safest way to keep the Y+ seats both on the outbound and the inbound flights would be to simply credit to the OWE program (BA in my case).

5) Complimentary upgrades and better service during irrops is really important to me. So, it would probably be smart to always have the BA ff number on the ticket right until boarding has commenced.


Besides these points I have pondered over some solutions to my problem.

- FQTV and FQTS being separate would of course be absolutely perfect for me, but how many agents are able to do this...? Is this something that should be done at the airport or well in advance?

- Taking a screenshot of the ticket with the BA number and then getting another ticket at the airport with the AY number seems like a good option, but still leaves me with the problem of the airline not "thinking of me as an elite" when upgrading people or similar situations.

Having said all of the above, I'll probably credit my J flights to AY and Y flights to BA. The reasoning behind this is that with a J ticket I'm "well covered" anyway and the only significant additional benefit of OWE is better lounges that can easily be accessed with the BA card or app. When flying Y, the mileage accrual is peanuts anyway, so not that important to credit to AY. However, the benefits of OWE compared to the travel class are enormous.

I hope this post is informative to people in similar situations and that someone has more knowledge than posted above on how to find the best solution.

1, 2 and 3 are easy - just show the BA Gold card and you'll get in. Most of the time the agent won' t change the FF number on your booking but even if it does so, a quick phone call to BA call centre will allow you to swap numbers again.

4 is easy as well just by adding your BA number when booking, making the seat selection and then switch via Finnair website to your desired FF number.

5 is a no go I think as you need to fly with the FF number you want to credit, hence if you are ready to fly or in between connections (which is when IRROPS happen) you should have that number on file and not the BA one. That said, I am sure that if you need rebooking you can just wave your BA Gold card to the agent and get the "special treatment" anyway.

Separate FQTV and FQTS seem to be a nightmare judging from other posts, hence I would not try.

When I did all of the above migrating from CX Diamond to BA Gold I always credited everything on BA (including lowly Y flights) as I saw little reason to leave avios and TP in separate pots. A part from the odd security/lounge agent, I never had any issue enjoying OWE perks on all my flights.

Thanks! Pretty much what I figured. I'm surprised that priority security is so easy. I've had problems entering with non-status members at various airports (never HEL, luckily) and don't really trust these agents knowing the various status levels, even Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald.

Update on how everything went. Everything went bad. Two of my flights that I especially wanted credited to AY went to BA and I’m currently in the process of having them removed. In the first case, I asked the gate agent to add the AY number, which she did and I have a ticket to prove that. The AY lounge agent told me I have to ask at the gate. In the second case, everything went fine until I wanted to enter the MH First Lounge in KL and the lounge agent wanted to see my card for that. Well, you guess what happened. Points credited in an unbelievable two days, to the incorrect account of course.