BA the best in OW? (vs. AA)
 

which of the 1W FFP do you prefer and why?

im based from LHR, unforts i fly econ class for work and usually use *A for long haul intl. i fly just under 30 RT flights on BA inter-europe mainly to CDG and everywhere Germany. so i have trouble qualifying for BA Silver.

T5 is great for convenience, but overall feel that BA FFP is hard to qualify for elite and not sure they have that great benefits. upgrades seem slim and amount of mi to redeem worthwhile free ticket seems high. and feeling more and more that comfort on BA isnt that much better (some cases worse) than say UA, AF or Lufthansa?

am i missing something? whats your thoughts, is BA FFP any good or better off on a diff 1W or diff alliance?

Welcome to FT, JuniorAK!

You are essentially asking two questions: Which program is right for you within onworld and whether you should actually stick to oneworld at all.

There are many threads here which lists the pros and cons of different programs. The answer you will always get is: It depends. It depends on your flying pattern and what you actually want the program to do. Free flights? Upgrades? Lounge access? Lifetime status?

In the past, most here have recommended AA as the program for the occasional oneworld flyer. Partly, because it is a good program for people who want good value miles but also because they don't enforce the 4 flights per year rule (yet).
However, things have changed with the BA/AA TATL cooperation and with the changes to the BA program. It is now actually quite a nice program, even when flying in Economy. Yes, getting status isn't easy (it is much easier if you have a European address, not a UK one) but it is the best program for someone flying a lot on BA.

Which alliance to chose is a different question. At the end of the day, flights within Europe are almost the same among the big legacy carriers. BA/AF/LH, nobody really shines IMHO. Personally, I would have a look whether *A would be an alternative for you but the grass is not much greener on the other side. The main point might be that there are some programs within Star Alliance which give very easy status so you would have lounge access for your flights.

thanks downunder =)

yeah, im really trying to buck down on one programme. i think i screwed myself by using UA for TATL flights to SFO, and then BA for anything inter-europe. this way i have trouble achieving status on both.

i really like econ+ for UA, and really like T5 for BA, but nothing much else for either. now investigating AA and LH. really want to stop waffling, just chose 1 programme for both EU and TATL flights. my experience TATL on BA econ has been terrible every time (im sure biz is great tho!). and ive felt that UA gold gave me more than BA silver (upgrades, free econ+, miles accrue faster, easy to redeem, etc). i guess im just trying to convince myself to stay with BA for the sake of T5 ease (i do 30/yr EU and ~5/yr long haul). been considering LH and AA (as you recommended) more and more now...

the new agreement btwen BA and AA? can you fly either and earn miles regardless of FFP? i know in the past BA only awarded on BA flights and vice versa...

That is correct, you can now fly trans-atlantic on AA and credit to BA and vice versa. In terms of miles earning, you also now earn 1 mile per mile flown on both AA and BA metal.

You should consider *A, not LH. The LH program is a good program for people who fly F and C. If you fly economy, UA, A3, TK, AC, OZ etc. are better programs for you.

If you are doing 60 sectors a year on BA but unable to attain status with BA, you might want to consider the AA scheme and credit the BA flights there; you will earn miles on the BA flights plus 30 sectors will get AA Gold ( OW Ruby ) and 60 sectors will get AA Platinum ( OW Sapphire , c.f. BA Silver ). Depending on how much long haul travel you do, there is potential to attain OW Emerald status on AA

in general do you think BA Silver or AA Plat gives better benefits?

seems like both allow you OW lounge access. not so sure on which is easier to obtain upgrades, redeem miles, priority security/boarding, etc?

On balance the best FF program within OW is AA and if you are based near a hub then I always recommend the dominant carrier which in this case is BA.

I would not recommend UA to anyone.

It depends if you want to fly on AA planes or BA planes but in general for that list I would recomend AA Plat.

hmmm, even though i am based from LHR, thinking that i might switch to AA FFP since i would still be earning whilst flying BA metal inter-europe right?

then on TATL i could fly AA metal to ORD or LAX-SFO and hopefully AA benefits would be better than BA (plus possibility to get AA EXP and those SWUs).

does this make sense or am i trying to be too clever and just stick with BA? i always fly econ, so the chance to upgrade classes and have priority lines, is enticing.... :D

You are thinking reasonably.

Flying BA in Europe will credit to AA nicely. Until you reach gold status, your mileage earning will be based on actual miles flown; once you reach gold you will earn a minimum of 500 miles per flight

Flying to the USA, you can use AA miles to upgrade to a higher class of service if you have enough. Being platinum ( or gold ) and you can preselect exit row seats in advance for free which is nice

If you can reach the heady heights of EP, then AA transatlantic using SWUs will give you 4 round trip flights to USA a year in business class when buying economy ( subject to any waitlists clearing )

From your description, it does sound like it would be a good option for you

If you are travelling to USA to west coast, you might also want to consider looking at the AA Platinum challenge. If you can get a flight booked that earns full Elite Qualifying Points, you could attain the initial platinum status on 1 trip to the west coast ( costs USD200 to take ) and then have Platinum v quickly; just need to make sure to renew it in future years

Once platinum, the 100% bonus combined with the 500 min earning means that each BA flight will earn a minimum of 1000 miles

Dave

this type of learning is fab! @:-)
thanks so much dave!!! planning on booking my next LHR-SFO on AA codeshare which is just over 10K mi, enough to qual for the challenge. also might get the aa credit card. haha, 2 days on FT, im an addict now....

As the OP is based in LHR, BD is probably worth considering especially whilst it still exists. BD credit cards are available from MBNA and can help rack up a serious number of miles along with car and hotel spend.

Whilst the future of BD is still in doubt, it is likely either to fold into LH's M&M programme or be sold to either BA (or AF).

You need 10K qualifying points, not miles. Some fares generate only 0.5 points per mile. Details here.

Now be careful, the Platinum Challenge is based on Points, not Miles.
You will have to pay a for a slightly higher fare, maybe an extra 100-200 dollars. There is also a fee for doing the challenge. Head over to the AA sub-forum and read all about the requirements.

The challenge is well worth it, IMHO. Once a PLT you will have access to the BA lounges, which alone is worth the extra initial outlay.