Given all of your flying, how close are you to lifetime BA status?

I don't know how valuable AA miles are for someone who is based in NZ. AA miles cannot be used as far in advance as BA and other partners, which puts one at a disadvantage when it comes to premium cabin long haul redemption.

While that's true, we don't know how far in advance pianoperson typically books his redemption travel. From AKL, AA has several partner airlines. (And a couple from WLG.) AA itself offers seasonal service between AKL and the U.S.

Notably, AA does not collect carrier surcharges for award travel on any carrier except BA and IB.

Hi and thanks for the question and I�m not close at all to lifetime BA status as much of my flying life I was collecting on AAdvantage as when I first moved to NZ their redemption rates ex NZ were v generous but were eventually devalued and also they were not able to confirm what my RTW tickets would earn me in terms of miles and status � so I switched to BA as it was then v easy to earn Gold status with the on my RTW tickets .
It might still be my best bet � I am about to find out what my current RTW will earn as I�ve 13 flights coming up and at present am thinking I willl credit to BA to find out what happens ..

Hi - yes i don�t derive much in terms of eg lounge access or baggage allowances from elite status
It�s more about maximising my FF points with elite level bonuses and also which is programme as the best redemption rates.
I will take a look at Iberia as am thinking I would like to keep earning Avios as I�ve a decent chunk earned already.
I switched from AAdvantage a while ago as they both did v steep increase in redemption rates ex NZ and also couldn�t confirm what my RTW tickets would earn me �

It varies how far in advance I book but it is not v often for ultra long haul as my RTW tickets usually cover that.
I have used Avios often for partner travel eg QF to OZ and use them within Europe for short/medium haul travel

See reply in earlier thread - i forgot to reply to this message !
but not close is the short answer

AAdvantage awards on most partner carriers (AS and FJ appear to be exceptions) are fixed price. Examples:



Awards for travel entirely on AA metal are dynamically priced, sometimes at eye-watering levels, but sometimes very reasonable.

In terms of miles earned for each segment on a round-the-world ticket, once you know the fare code for each segment, you can see how much a particular flight earns by pulling up the AAdvantage earnings chart for that particular carrier. Examples:




If you determine that earning Avios is better for you than earning AAdvantage miles, note that Iberia's program does not require any flights on IB to earn status. Iberia has one elite-points earnings scheme for flights on AA, BA, and IB, but a different scheme for flights on other oneworld carriers:

https://www.iberia.com/us/iberiaplus/earn-elite-points/

In any case, be sure to take note of each program's annual start and stop dates for earning status.

Good luck!

If you find that BA is not worth staying with, I suggest Finnair because their program is relatively easy to maintain Oneworld emerald with D/A fares on BA / AA coded flights. If you are able to get BA codes on most flights then this shouldn't be too much of a change.
Plus, you can transfer avios between BA and Finnair easily.

Hi and thanks for that and I will for sure check out Finnair - the issue might be if they require a certain no of flights with their flight numbers as I’ve never yet taken a flight with them in part as they’ve not F class and I try to maximise my time in F on my tickets !
And can you change Avios between Finnair and Qatar easily as well as BA ?
Many thanks again

I think that Finnair (and Iberia) Avios must first be transferred to BA, and thence transferred or linked to a QRPC account if you want to redeem at QR's redemption rates.

Avios may be better for intra-European travel than AA miles. Note that for travel on QF, AAdvantage awards include connections (where necessary) for no additional mileage.

Finnair program doesn't require flights on Finnair to qualify.

Hi thanks for that
I had a quick look and not sure how Finnair would calculate Avios and tier points on a RtW ticket as it’s a revenue based scheme .I probably need to sit and read more about it to see if I can figure things out a bit.

Finnair is distance based earnings except for flights marketed by Finnair. Recommend checking out the Finnair forum threads. Good luck!