Hello everyone,

I need a little help from the experts, I'm completely clueless since I've never consciously collected miles (I started flying around more recently), which lead to me having little miles here and there. Now I'm trying to make some conscious decisions about where to collect miles from my next flight on. Here is my status right now:

Etihad guest 11,015 miles
British Airways Executive 6,231 Avios
Miles & More 1,625 Award Miles

Now I have another upcoming flight Germany-Japan and I'm considering Finnair, which has its own mile group but is also part of one world. Meaning I can collect those miles on BA Executive too? Or would it be better to move to one world now, if there's a possible way to transfer the BA miles to one world too? I guess the Etihad miles are stuck as Etihad miles....


If you have any advice how I should proceed to become a little more effective, I'd be really really thankful!

kind regards,
Lola

A good reference site, but of course verify the information you find there for yourself, is wheretocredit.com It'll show you the Alliance partners & off Alliance partners and the rates for such earnings for the fare class(es) you'll be purchasing.

Miles don't earn in Alliances they earn in programs of members of Alliances & Partners. There are no "one world miles" and program miles generally can't be transferred around without severe loss of value.

Orphan miles, small amounts in programs you won't use, may be worth transferring into other programs such as hotel programs.

Do you have any earning potential visa banking & credit card programs where you're based? A card that either earns in BA or LH programs or that earns points that can be transferred into them could be a way to edge up your miles balances.

As a Blue tier member of BAEC, you will can earn Avios on a Finnair flight from Germany to Japan (each way) as follows:

Economy class, lowest fares (fare classes O, A, G, N, R, Q, S, W, Z): 1482 Avios, 20 tier points
Economy class, low fares (K, M, P, T, L, V): 2964 Avios, 35 tier points
Economy class, flexible fare (H): 4150 Avios, 70 tier points
Economy class, flexible fares (B, Y): 5928 Avios, 70 tier points
Business class (J, C, D, I): 7410 Avios, 140 tier points

Most booking sites, and any travel agent/telephone representative, will tell you the fare class that applies to a given fare. It is rarely worth paying more to get a fare class that earns more Avios, as it is usually less expensive to just buy the additional Avios directly, but it can happen if the fares are really close. It may be worth asking about that. (It can be worth it if the additional tier points will help you reach BAEC Bronze, Silver, etc., as tier points can't be bought and the benefits of elite status can be worth a great deal, but I doubt you're in that situation.)

To get BAEC credit, enter your BAEC number into the booking web site, or give it to the travel agent/telephone representative, when you book your flight. If you don't do it then, you can do it when you check in for the flight or, probably, within a reasonable time limit (30 days?) after it if the flight has not also been credited to a different program.