BA versus AA
 

We fly boston to london heathrow once or twice a year. usually with miles on American. American is now using planes that are 3/3 seating. rather small. no entertainment center, etc. were using 2/3/2 also no entertainment center.

with the recent volcanic activity this week they are not flying at all. BA and Virgin are. - must be going around.

If we switch to BA and start accumulating miles on their plan- (thru starwood). what can we expect re planes and understand the fees are much? higher on tickets bot with miles? why? since both land at heathrow.

any info would be helpful.

Keep you fingers crossed and hope the EU doesn't squash the AA/BA agreement. US has already approved it. If the deal goes forward, you could fly BA and earn AA miles. In any case even today, your AA status will let you use the preferred check-in lines/ lounge etc if you are platinum or platinum exec., as both airlines are members of the OneWorld Alliance.

In my opinion BA offers the far superior product, but like you pointed out you need more points / flying to get things like upgrades and free trips. In most cases people have found this is simply not worth it and so they frequent AA.

I'm finding it difficult to impossible to actually use my BA miles. AA award availability has been much better for me.

[QUOTE=Joanel;13934162

If we switch to BA and start accumulating miles on their plan- (thru starwood). what can we expect re planes and understand the fees are much? higher on tickets both with miles? why? since both land at heathrow.

any info would be helpful.[/QUOTE]

Unlike AA , BA do not include the Fuel Surcharge as part of the redeemed miles used but rather as a cash supplement with the taxes etc.

Sounds like you are flying in the back of the plane.

Don't expect status/miles on cheap fares with BA.

Could you make use of the AA power ports in coach and bring your own entertainment along?

Care to share an example? I've yet to find an instance where a ticket I could get with AA miles was not available with BA miles (though, I've needed to call BA in some cases).

LAX to NRT a few weeks ago. Nothing available at all according to BA's website, even when "including partners". Plenty on AA.. so I of course went AA. I didn't call in. By the way I basically struck out to every destination in Asia on BA. According to their website anyhow. Is that tool not worth using?? I do notice that now BA has a disclaimer when searching for mileage redemptions that: "You can currently only make BA Miles bookings on American Airlines via our contact centres, so please call us to book.
It is temporarily not possible to do this online". But, that wasn't there before.

I've already spent 150k miles on US-Asia flights this year. Finding seats is a bit tricky, but far from impossible if you're patient. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific trips in mind.

From where to where , America to Asia - and using which partner ?

I've booked: LAX-HKG-CAN, JFK-NRT-PVG, and PVG-ORD-LGA, all in business class.

off topic
 

are we getting off topic here?

I don't think so. People have a right to wonder about whether or not they'll be able to use their miles.

Either way, you needn't worry and can continue with AAdvantage easier redemption and inclusion of fees with miles if the BA/AA antitrust exemption comes through. I think the best course is to wait until that is determined. if approved, do nothing fly and redeem using whichever you prefer, but accumulate on AA. if disapproved, you ned a decision over the two programs. So, wait, then decide.

I'll definitely take you up on that offer. I see that you generally fly business class.. and I'm a dedicated cattle class flyer. Perhaps coach awards disappear faster?