Best FF program for International upgrades?
 

It is eary in the season for earning elite status and I am lookig for the airline with the ability to earn upgrades for international flights. It appears that NW does not offer upgrades on Int flights. Is this common? Any reccomendations?

Go with British Airways. Get their credit card to start building your account with 20K points. You can put American Airlines flights in the US in the account. When you are ready for your International Flight, purchase a Premium Economy ticket, which is often only about $200 more than coach and you can upgrade to Business class for only 25K miles. BA has one of the best Business classes in the air.

Welcome to FT!

That said, you'll need to do a little of your own work to get the most out of FT.

You want one of us to just pick a program for you? OK, AA, UA, DL, CO, ..... Heck, depending on where you're going you might be better off with BA, BD, or LH. The point is you offer no info on which to base an informed opinion.

You might start by figuring which carriers service where you are and then figuring out which carriers service where you want to go. Then you review the FAQs and forums for those carriers. Then you can start to ask informed and meaningful questions. Then you'll find all the help you'll need.

Also, double posting is frowned upon.

I have merged two threads started by the OP, on the same subject.

AA and UA both offer systemwide upgrades which can be used on international flights to their top tier flyers.

LH also offers upgrade instrument for SEN and HON members IIRC.

That being said, depending on where your destination is, AA or UA has the best program for international upgrade.
AA gives 8 e-VIPs to EXP members while UA gives 6 SUWs to 1Ks.
Personally, I like UA better because my primary destination is Asia, but if you fly often to S America, for example, AA makes whole lot more sense.
The only catch is that you'll have to fly 100,000 miles per year to get those upgrade instruments.

In the case of AA, there are some workarounds (100 segments, or 100,000 points will also work). We do have a number of AA FTers that make EXP with segments.

And I feel sorry for those who qualify EXP or 1K on segments. I mean, 100 segments? That's a lot of flying. ;)

That's more than a little catch.

I would factor in upgrades using MFU as an option for those that aren't flying enough to reach the highest elite tiers. With that in mind, BA's Premium Economy -> Business upgrade is very well priced. AA's miles+copay option is nice if you tend to buy bottom-barrel economy fares, UA's and NW's "higher fare basis" requirement may not matter if you tend to book on comparatively short notice.

Availability is always an issue, of course.

Any idea if this would also apply to miles that I have with CX (as I could transfer my MR points)?

Or would this only apply to miles that I have with BA's FT program?

this has been a nice comparison of BA to UA & AA

Can't beat the complimentary systemwide upgrades with OK+ (though, outside Europe, the "system" is confined to the US, Middle East and Central Asia).

Yes, but it is the only way to earn the coveted "EXP Lite" designation on FlyerTalk. ;)

You can make 1K on UA with segments as well.