Which OW FFP should I go on?
 

I'll get flown regularly (say at least 4 times per month) from Shanghai to North America or Europe on various carriers, mainly *A and SkyTeam -- though the last couple of times I've been flown on AA and CX, a rare exception. I travel only in economy and I don't get to pick airlines or fare class.

I have Gold status on both *A (SQ) and SkyTeam (AF). Will any OW airline match status for me on OW?

I don't have any credit cards, nor will I be racking up miles in any other way other than flying. I currently have about 14000 miles on AA, and expect to have another 14000 miles or so from CX (credited on AA) within these few days. I should've done the AA Platinum Challenge, but wasn't sure if it would be worth the price (and sadly I don't have a credit card to pay for it anyway) as I don't fly on OW much.

Should I change to another OW FFP other than AA? If so, which one? I'd like one which would fit my current travel patterns better, as well as not being a PITA for me to redeem miles on.

Sticking with AA will net you 8 eVIPs/year if you make it to EXP. You say you "don't fly oneworld much" but at 4x/month on such long trips, you're certainly flying a lot, and might consider giving some of your business that way. Plus AA is known for having well-valued awards available.

Peace.

I think AA will be a good program for you. And what do you mean by you don't have a credit card to pay for the AA Platinum Challenge? I didn't know there is something to pay, other than having to fly.

The have been fees for the AA plat/gold challenges for nearly two years. They also increased recently.

See this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...l#post10524688

Thanks! Didn't know what was happening on that front.

Check the AA website, but IIRC you must fly at least four flights on AA metal each year to maintain status, regardless of how many AAdvantage miles you earn on partner carriers.

It wasn't enforced (unlike Qantas) the last time I checked.

Thats correct. While the policy exists, it is actually not enforced at the moment and never had been.

I've been flying in this pattern for only about 4 months (since Feb), and I've only been put on a PVG-ORD round-trip on AA once, and on a HKG-LAX round-trip on CX once. Out of which, I realised that the latter wasn't in a high enough fare class to earn miles on AA! That's not much at all, I don't think? I do fly inter-continental a lot, but it's usually on non-OneWorld carriers.

Bump...?

I have Gold status on both *A (SQ) and SkyTeam (AF). Will any OW airline match status for me on OW?

And, is the final consensus for me to stick my OW flights on AA?

Yup.

Since you can get status easily on AA, vis a challenge, it seems like the right thing to do.

Plus, there is some evidence here on FT that CX treats other OW elites well.

Similar question
 

I am wondering which is best OW programme. Resident in Ireland but frequent travel to HK and China. Had gold in QF but lost it due to not doing 4 sectors in QF so now using star (bmi - gold) and emirates (gold). I have a BA flight this week to Trinidad in Club so want to put it into the right programme. There is no point in putting it in QF as my ear is 31 Aug and so the tier points will be wiped out at thend of the month.

Answered my own question by doing a bit of reading through other posts - sorry should have done this first. Conclusion is the best option is BAEC especially if I move to France to take advantage of the lower thresholds for Silver & Gold.

I have a similar question. I mostly fly SAS / * and secondly airBaltic but also AY and BA. The highest status I have ever achieved with AY is Silver / OW Ruby.

I am planning a DONE4 which may involve BA/LN/QF/CX/JL and AY. Which program should I credit my miles to?

My criteria is (in order of importance)
1. no fees/fuel surcharges on award trips preferably even on OW partner airlines
2. easy to achieve OW Emerald/Sapphire
3. awards with reasonable value

Hoping for an answer in this quite quiet forum!

AAdvantage may be your best bet as that program may nearly satisfy most of your criteria (1 [few/low award fees], 2 [Plat Challenge] & 3 [comparively])

I am new to this forum which seems to be packed with business class flyers. I'm, however, a student and I've never flown business. While reaching there I have this big question:

I'm at a stage where I should pick the program before I collect a lot of points/miles and find myself flying with the wrong card.

I mostly fly OUL-HEL about ten times a year and also about 3-5 times a year between HEL - Mid-European destinations like Paris and Barcelona. I also visit the U.S once or twice a year so my overall flying isn't very frequent. Nonetheless I want to grind benefits as much as I can, and I find the Finnair Plus program a total waste of time for infrequent flyers like me. There is absolutely no way I could reach even silver status (40k points) and points plus cash offers they have are total BS too.

In the future, when I travel more and more and will be eligible for higher status, I'd value travel class upgrades, possible free flights, lounge accesses and overall travell easiness. I think The silver status threshold should be the lowest possible. I also fly with the cheapest possible tickets so the program should award me with lots of points/miles even then. I naturally fly 90% on planes operated by Finnair, and that might have an effect as well.

Thanks in advance!