Hi

I am planning to buy CDG-BKK business with QR.
considering to fly this route 3 or 4 time next year as they use A380 and they have good promotion ex CDG now
This would mean i would have ONEWORLD as my main FFP
Already have BA with 8869 avios.
I am french living in Thailand , giving me access to credit cards from both countries.
Curently use AMEX AIRFRANCE.



(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
my main target is redemption for business /First BKK-CDG or BKK-LAX

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
i would say 50-70K per year.


(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Reply: Economy, Business long distance if i find a good deal

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: I always choose and pay myself

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Reply: I have almost the same schedule every year:

BKK-CDG 3 or 4 time a year
1 Bkk-NRT
1 BKK- BAH
1 BKK-SHA
1 BKK-LAX

(6) What is your home airport?
Reply: BKK ( can position myself CDG when i need to )

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
Reply:
Air France Gold 76000 miles
Etihad Silver 30000 miles
24000 miles on united
8869 avios on BA

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: now i enjoy Etihad but i want to try Qatar as they serve CDG and BKK with A380

Thank you for your help :)

OneWorld Status - QPoints or Tier Points or EQP?
 

Hi Guys,

This is my first post - so please be gentle.

I am trying to make sense of all the different frequent flyer programs, and am thoroughly overwhelmed by all the information.

Long story short, I am trying to get to OneWorld Sapphire (currently at Ruby via BA Bronze). I have about 180 tier points right now on BA and 1100 elite points on AA, and have 4 separate OneWorld roundtrips coming up:

1. MIA - Lima (American Airlines)
2. Lima - Cuzco (LAN)
3. MIA - HYD (Qatar)
4. MIA - HYD (Undecided)

I am debating whether to continue to use my BA FF# for all the above trips, or to use AA or Qatar (afresh). The only reason I would be looking at Qatar is because they also have a Qmiles bonus for signing up (2000) and for flying out of MIA (about 5000).

This could be a silly question, but with just 180 tier points on BA, would it be worth looking at a different program to get to OneWorld Sapphire quicker?

I looked at the AA Status Challenge, but it seems to have closed for now.

Any advice appreciated - thank you!

Welcome to FT!

I'm moving this to the "which Oneworld FFP" thread. You might want to look at the "questionnaire" to give us more help.

Gardyloo
Oneworld moderator

Looking at a backup to Star Alliance for next year. Trying to figure out which FF program to credit my flights to. I think it'll either be BA or QR. Thanks in advance!

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
C, and preferably F redemption on a quality airline. Don't think QR offers IAD-DOH in F though.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
2 x IAD-LHR in BA PE
2 x IAD-SE Asia in QR C
1 or 2 other OW short haul flights in F
* should be able to make top tier status on either BA or QR

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Business

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Pleasure - have flexibility in picking airlines

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
For OW, planning on IAD-LHR, and IAD to SE Asia

(6) What is your home airport?
IAD

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
No FF status with OW at the moment.

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
LH to Europe (except to LHR), ANA to Asia

The airline you fly and the airline ffp you credit those ff miles to / awards from does not need to be same.

USA based airline ffp's tend to more generous (status benefits/earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry) compared to non USA based airline ffp’s.

Airlines offering international long haul & medium haul first class is reducing over time.

Living in USA go for AA.
The QR ffp and they way the QR ffp operates is a lot different than the operating method for USA airline ffp's.
BA will/does have very high award surcharges. As does the AA ffp when redeeming awards on BA (due to BA - not the ffp)
But check the earning on QR and BA flights. http://www.wheretocredit.com/

Thanks for that link! The reason I'm looking at BA and QR (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that there's no way I'll be able to make Exec Plat on AA with those trips, but I can make top tier status via BA tier points or QR Q points.

OK. You will need to check that assumption very carefully. Especially with QR.
BA (and AA, QF) require 4 own marketed flights for status. As a wild guess QR is the same. But looks like you will do that

What do expect top level status to give you?
Non USA airlines do not give out upgrades like USA based airlines do
The miles/points/avios between ffp's are not equal. Nor is earn to burn

If the question is frequent flyer status, I would go for BA. Otherwise if had to choose between BA F or Virgin C I would go for VA. I think that the Clubhouse is nicer than the Concorde Room.

To be honest, neither FFP excites me. I wouldn't be expecting upgrades on either airline. I'd pretty much be parking miles to use for JAL or CX F awards. If that were the case, which would you recommend?

I'm thinking that since QR flights to SE Asia would award more miles, I should use and credit to PC.

Thanks again!

What is the cost (miles & co pay $$) of a typical long haul F or C award from any of the ffps (AA, QR & BA)? Finding out what the cash co pay will be, as opposed to real taxes, can be hard.

Newbie question: where should I apply my miles - BA or AA?
 

Hi guys! Newbie here, just getting started learning about the world of FF miles. :)

I live in NYC and primarily fly to London, Paris, and Bangalore, India. It looks like American Airlines and British Airways are my best bets for getting to both of these destinations, so I'm trying to limit my travel on one of these two airlines.

Which would be the best place to start aggregating my points? I'm especially concerned because I read this article that mentioned that starting 2/1/16, only 25% of BA miles count towards AA.

http://thepointsguy.com/2015/11/aa-d...earning-rates/

abnyc2016 Welcome to FT

There is no "best" or right or wrong answer. Depends on your travel & spend profile. Frequent flyer programs are tending to being frequent spender programs (credit cards)
Please read the wiki and an the questionnaire

AA is a good choice for some one living in the USA. The airline you fly most and/or an airline ffp from your home country/city tends to be best for many people. USA based airline ffp's tend to more generous (earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry)

Do not be influnced by bloggers. :(

What FFP for a DONE5 ex-JNB?
 

Hi all,

I am planning a DONE5 (ex-JNB) for my fiancee and I in late 2016-2017.
We have no status with any airline, nor mileage banked.
This DONEx could well be the first of several (assuming they are around!)

Objective with regard to FFP is to gain status (mostly for the mileage accrual benefits) ASAP to maximise accrued mileage on the DONE5, and then to redeem miles for a J class mileage based alliance award the following year.

Usually fly at least once trans-Atlantic (family in UK) annually in economy, but looking to increase our travel significantly.

Home airport YVR.
No restrictions in airline choice.
Looking for best hard product in J.

Tentative DONE5 routing:
JNB-HKG-MLE-HKG-DPS (overland) BKK-NRT-YVR
YVR-JFK-SCL-IPC-SCL-LIM-EZE-DOH-LHR-CPT

5 sectors CX, 2 JL, 5 LAN, 2 QR and 1 BA for 55523 miles

I've lurked here for a while and have picked up a wealth of useful information, so I hope this first post is not too flameworthy!

Thanks

Living in North America AA is the obvous choice, even with the upcoming changes
But AA status is on calender year, so Nov & Dec status earning get lost

USA based airline ffp's tend to more generous (earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry)

MM may not be 100% accurate with earnings or routes
http://www.slfft.org/mm/award.htm?ow...R-CPT&cabins=y

Makes sense to go AA - except that they ended the Explorer reward and the challenge too. Additionally I'd need 4 sectors on AA metal to qualify for status, correct?
CX seem to still have a reasonably useful mileage limited award through Marco Polo/Asia Miles, and I'd attain status during the trip, but I don't know if they give a mileage bonus with status.
BA is expensive to claim rewards, but I'd attain status if I altered the itinerary to fly more BA metal.

Seems like I should wait and see what AA come up with?

AA, CX & BA all require 4 own marketed flights for status. (codeshares qualify)
With a DONE5 you can change any of the flights to the AA, BA or what ever airline codeshare, if offered. You do not need to change the route, but only the flight number. That may/will increase your earnings. Should be at no cost. Look at AA & BA on line or pdf timetables.

CX is OK if you fly with them in the pointy end a lot.

BA has awards surcharges. AA will also charge surcharges on awards redeemed on BA flights.

USA based airline ffp's tend to more generous (earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry)
Even with the upcoming AA changes (in the AA forum) is OK for some one living in North America compared to others
BA had some savage changes to the ffp announced recently.
These changes (for worse) will continue to happen with all ffp's Such is life (with ffp's) :(

I've been looking to redeem miles on a product similar to the former AA explorer, i.e. mileage rather than segment based.

Is CX the best of the remaining FFPs with such an award?

For a simple 3 or 4 leg transpacific itinerary, would you say AA awards are viable, by comparison to mileage based?

BTW, thanks for your help and advice so far.

For a simple 3 or 4 leg transpacific itinerary award space is nominally the same for all OneWorld airline ffp',s but there can be differences. There are only a few flights so choice is very limited.
BA awards are segement based (others will correct I am incorrect)

Have a look here. But does not have all ffp's and may not be up to date
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...demptions.html
It is very hard to estimate/calulate award surcharges. Real taxes are less of a problem and the same for all airlines

I'd definitely monitor this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...y-sourced.html - and its successors, as this could be quite important to you. For example, it sounds like AA is going to eliminate one of the options used for qualifying for elite status, the "elite qualifying points" (EQP) option, and instead substitute a changed "elite qualifying miles" metric which will have a "multiplier" option doubling or even trebling EQMs earned in premium cabins. This would result, for example, in 2x EQMs for segments in D, which - if extended to Oneworld partner flights (we don't know yet) - would mean that a 50,000 mile DONEx would qualify you for Executive Platinum (Oneworld Emerald) status, along with its systemwide upgrades, access to first class lounges, the works.

If that comes to pass (and evidently we'll know before the first of the year) then I would seriously look at amending your route to include more AA metal options, even if it means fewer stopover points. As for codeshares counting, my own sense is that Oneworld and AA are becoming less flexible at using codeshare numbers on flights that wouldn't qualify for codeshare booking outside the RTW, for example AA codes on flights that don't originate, connect, or terminate with AA flights or destinations. And we don't know how AA's revised program will handle codeshares in terms of the "4 flight" rule either.

For example, this route - JNB-HKG-MLE-HKG-DPS,BKK-NRT-DFW-YVR-JFK-EZE-SCL-IPC-SCL-DFW-LHR-CPT - would allow you to use AA metal on NRT-DFW-YVR, JFK-EZE, and (using the allowed "second entry" rule between South and North America) SCL-DFW-LHR, allowing 5 AA metal flights but losing LIM and DOH. I'm sure there are other permutations that would work; however by flying that route it looks like you'd earn EXP under the new rules. The only issue would be if AA maintains the "calendar year" part of the test, which might throw a monkey wrench into the whole shebang.

One last thing, just for your consideration. Right now DONE4s bought and started in Egypt are around US$600 more than DONE5s started in South Africa. As one who adores SA and gets there whenever I can, I hesitate to suggest skipping it, but in considering the cost of access along with the ability to free up two segments out of 16, it might be worth doing a little thought experiment on a CAI start instead of a JNB start, just to see what it looks like.

Stay with BA Executive club or move to AAdvantage?
 

Hi All,

I am a long time FF member, first time poster on the forum, and would really appreciate your help!!

I would like to know whether it makes more sense for me to credit my miles to the AAdvantage program instead of BA Executive Club? I think Executive Club works great for European short haul redemptions, but I am never able to find availability on long haul upgrades and there are lower earning rates on economy flights (I earn almost nothing for flying to Australia), plus higher taxes/surcharges on redemptions on BA.

Secondly, can you advise on any tips for using my Avios for personal travel?

Below are all my details.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
I am most interested in being able to upgrade long haul flights from economy to business (good award upgrade availability) and being able to buy short haul award flights in Europe (good award redemption)

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
I fly about 45k-75k miles a year.
35-45k miles (12-14 flights) in business, 10-30k miles a year in economy (12 flights). About 25 flights in total

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
I buy all work-related flights in business (12-14 flights) and all personal travel I will buy in economy (12 flights) and upgrade with points if it is long haul and available (not very often).

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
I need to buy the cheapest direct route for business but can choose my airlines for personal travel. I travel for work and pleasure, but earn the majority of my miles with work travel.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
I fly UK-US mostly for business. For personal travel I will fly mostly in Europe and to South America or Australia once a year.

(6) What is your home airport?
LHR

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
I am a BA silver member with 140k household avios. I am also a Delta Skymiles member (30k miles) and a United MileagePlus member (20k miles).

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
I like BA/AA for UK-US flights, Qantas/Singapore for travel to Australia (I know Singapore is not OW).

My wife and I also have BA Premium Plus AMEX cards which we spend at least £20,000 on each year and so we normally receive two companion vouchers a year.

Welcome to FT!

AA is about to announce (maybe within a week or two) a major revamping of the AAdvantage program(me)'s earning and elite qualification structure. AA has also recently announced a reduction of earning metrics for BA/IB flights credited to an AA account. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...y-sourced.html

So I would advise patience, see what changes AA institutes, and then do a fresh analysis. It won't be long.

Thanks. Do you have any guidance on the best way to use Avios for business class travel from the UK? I would be interested in travelling to central/south America, South Africa or Japan. The main issue I keep coming across is that the BA fuel & surcharges are huge, yet I have difficulty finding availability on partner airlines for flights originating in the UK.

Are there any other tips/techniques I should be using, or should I just be using the BA award flight search tool on the BA website?

BA surcharges are part BAEC program. As is the UK APD on departures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...os-2015-a.html

Stick with Cathay or change based on move from HKG to LON
 

Hi all, thanks in advance for the help. I’m looking for guidance from the experts on my current situation - apologies in advance for the long e-mail.
I'm currently living in Hong Kong and flying mostly with Cathay. I qualified for Gold last year, and have already re-qualified for Gold for next year. I have 46,025 miles to go to qualify for Diamond (by Jan 31, 2016), but that doesn't include the following:

1) About 9,500 miles for a Business Class fare from ORD to HKG just the past week that hasn’t posted yet
2) 7,479 miles for a Business Class fare from HKG to LHR Dec 5
3) Unknown miles for a Premium Economy fare from LHR to HKG on Dec 14
4) I then go from HKG to JFK and JFK to LHR on reward tickets

I figure that I’ll still be short about 20,000 miles from Diamond. I’m looking for advice on what to do given an upcoming move to London (I'll probably be there for about 2 years). Should I switch to British Airways, and start accruing miles with them since I’ve already re-qualified for another year of Gold with Cathay and probably have no chance at Diamond?

Regarding the questions at the top of this thread:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP? Chance for upgrades (which I never get currently) and lounge access for me plus guests.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors? I'm really not sure. It was HKG to NYC about 4 times per year in business class, and probably HKG to Tokyo about 4 times per year in Economy plus misc. personal travel.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy? varies

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Economy/Business is dictated by travel time (+/- 6 hours)

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often? See above. Post move I assume it will be mostly London/NYC


(6) What is your home airport? Will become London in January


(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP? AA Platinum expiring at year end; no miles banked, but 100,000 AMEX miles I'm waiting for a transfer deal

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on? No preference currently
___________________________________________

Any advice is appreciated, and please let me know if you need additional info.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply: priority services when flying the airline, good award redemption rates,

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply:25-50 in discount economy

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Reply:cheapest

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply:Yes, Pleasure

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply:US Domestic (or Canada)

(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply:SGF (Springfield, Missouri)

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
Reply:About 30,000 in American and 60,000 in United

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply:American, United, Air Canada

As you are in the AA ffp & UA ffp you will not do any better with another ffp. (AS or DL or non USA)

USA based airline ffp's tend to more generous (earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry), even after the recend changes to some USA ffp's

The grass in not always greener on the other side

Looking to move out of QF membership, given their poor earn rates on Qatar.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Lounge access, extra baggage allowances, good award redemptions.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Between 50k-100k, depending on work travel requirements.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Cheapest Economy and Business

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes, both.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Asian routes. Typically, 2-3 major trips annually.

(6) What is your home airport?
SIN

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
Qantas WP (OW Emerald)

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
No preferred, QR/MH/CX seems to be having lots of good deals recently.

Since you're traveling frequently within Asia, why not go with CX since they have a good network and they earn miles even on lowest discounted rates. See if their new 2016 program fits the bill.

Since I fly 99% only within Asia for leisure, I chose to go with MH.

Cheers, thanks will look into CX or MH.

Hello experts!
Looking to apply to a OneWorld FFP (already an Asiana Club member). Appreciate any help!

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
- Good award redemptions and burn rates.
- Miles that don't expire so quickly.
- Good network of partners apart from oneworld partners

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Between 10k to 30k mainly on economy class. Approx 20 flight sectors.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Cheapest Economy and Economy

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes I choose my airline and class of service. Entirely travel for pleasure.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Within South East Asia and East Asia. Occassionally Australia. Mainly Singapore Airlines, Thai or Jetstar.

(6) What is your home airport?
SIN

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
Non in OW.

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Singapore Airlines. Occassionally CX, Thai, Jetstar and once or twice a year on JAL.

Would be grateful for any advice on my situation. I have a number of flights already booked for 2016 and want to make sure I'm with the best program. I've read up about as much as I can but most info on this is pre-AA devaluation (and sometimes pre the BA one too)

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Upgrade long haul flights to business, lounge access.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
I fly about 75k miles a year (although will be 100k+ this year)
Probably 30 flights total

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
'I' class

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes, I can choose. Some work travel to the US (average twice a year). Work pays for premium economy although I typically pay the difference and take an ex-Dub route.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
LHR to JFK and ORD. Fly US for both personal and business, for personal I also travel to Europe, as well as South Africa once a year. Currently have flights to JFK, JNB, MIA and SEA booked for first half of the year

(6) What is your home airport?
LHR

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
Currently Silver with BAEC, and 70k miles. Have a 2-4-1 voucher with them from Amex, although I typically struggle to use these (last one lapsed)

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
AA or BA for UK-US flights, Qatar for South Africa, BA for Europe.

One final thing to add - there's a good chance I'll be moving to the US with work this year.

Any thoughts very welcome :)

I think you should review the thread and wiki covering the revisions to American's FFP that are now taking place. Just on the basis of the flights you've already booked you'd easily qualify for AA Platinum (Oneworld Sapphire = BA Silver) and it wouldn't take too much effort to make Executive Platinum (OW Emerald) which would convey some systemwide upgrades, auto upgrades on domestic flights, and quite a few spendable miles.

Thanks Gardyloo, appreciate the link you included, what I meant to say was I haven't seen much in the way of a head to head comparison of BA and AA since their devaluation.

If I were to get, I'd estimate, 3,500 TPs with BA or hit Executive Platinum with AA, whats the current thinking in terms of how those stack up against eachother? In theory both would come with 4 upgrades per year.

IMO AA upgrades are more useful than BA's because AA (as of yet) doesn't have a premium economy cabin, so Y upgrades book into J or F, whereas using BA upgrades from economy would just put you in PE. OTOH AA status doesn't get you into lounges on domestic segments while BA status would.

But some homework would definitely be advisable; both programs have their strengths and weaknesses.

If you only fly (even severely discounted) business class, you will hit EXP and earn 4 SWUs after just 50,000 miles (every mile flown in premium cabins earns 2 EQM per mile now with the 2016 changes). At 75,000 miles you'll earn another two, and at 100k miles another two for a total of 8.
Looking just at this aspect , AA comes out ahead of BA here.

HOWEVER, I see several issues why AA might not be the best program for you. First, AAdvantage SWUs are only usable on AA metal flights on AA tickets. Not all good BA deals like the DUB fares are necessarily found on AA as well.
Then, keep in mind that AA is in the process of removing its F cabin on all aircraft except the few (13?) 77W frames they have. Those service LHR-JFK only (from the routes you mentioned), and you will not be able to use your upgrades on any other route as there wont be a cabin to upgrade into. BA offers F on way more routes, and you'll be able to upgrade all your longhaul flights using BAEC instruments.
Also, AA will move redeemable miles earning from distance-based to spend-based later in 2016. This will greatly and negatively affect those who buy heavily discounted premium cabin longhaul flights. Example: FRA-FDW-GRU and back right now nets 41,000 redeemable miles before any bonuses as an EXP, but that will be reduced to ~15,000 miles after the move to spend-based earning if the ticket cost just $1,500 - as an EXP you'll earn 11 times what you paid for the ticket (minus certain taxes). Also, AA charges co-pays for upgrades when using miles.
Even with the 2015 devaluation, upgrading with Avios remains one of the sweet spots of BAs program.

My advice would be to stick with BA for this year and see how AAdvantage will evolve, especially how upgrades will get handled with the introduction of PE, before deciding on a switch.

Asia Miles or AAdvantage?
 

I know this question is person specific. I have been researching but with the new changes for both programs, I am still a little confused. Here is my situation:

• I am based at LAX USA
• Most of my travel will be through CX (4x+ this year alone)
• I will be flying on W,R,E Premium Economy classes for the LAX-HKG route and Buisness on the Dragonair HKG-PVG routes
• all other travel will be in the western US via Alaska
• I am currently Marco Polo Silver (OneWorld Ruby)
• I prefer miles over status. The goal is to fly the family (3 of us) to Europe in 18 months.

Some things I currently dislike about Asia Miles/Marco Polo

• miles expire after 3 years (fine for now but I don't want to stress over this if I do not have too).
• the new point system seems more difficult to get to Sapphire Status through Marco Polo (Marco Polo point generated for roundtrip LAX-HKG-PVG will be 150 and need 600 for Sapphire, while AAdvatage I can earn at least 16,860 of actual miles flown per trip and gain Sapphire in 3 trips if my Dragon Air flight counts towards AA)
• I have heard that redeeming miles though Asia miles is difficult. I have no experience with this yet. Just what i have read.

So my questions are:

• Am I going to accumulate more (or similar) miles if I switch to AA? If so, would it be a mess to redeem 1 seat though Asia miles and 2 seats though AA for a future family trip to the EU?
• Can I use my current Ruby status at the Cathay lounges if I am using a AAdvantage # on that flight?
• Anything else I am not considering?

Moving this to the "Which Oneworld FFP" thread.

Gardyloo
Oneworld moderator

AAdvantage will change their mileage earning to spend-based later this year (miles will be awarded as status-based multiplier of fare paid, regardless of distance flown). It is currently unclear how partner earning will be handled, but expect a major devaluation from the current status quo. I would definitely wait for this to be officially announced in a few months.

As award seats come out of the same inventory bucket and are made avilable to all alliance partners, it shouldn't be a problem to redeem MP miles and/or AA miles for available seats. I have done cross-program redemptions with multi-passenger awards before, redeeming AB miles and AA miles for seats on QR flights...

You should be able to access the CX lounges with your CX status regardless of the FF number that's attached to the itinerary. Just show your card in addition to the boarding pass. That's one of the very few occasions one needs the physical card nowadays...

One thing you need to be aware of: AAdvantage is now enforcing their long-standing minimum segments rule. You must fly at least four segments on AA-marketed and -operated flights in order to qualify for AAdvantage status. If you only fly Alaska and CX, you will not be able to gain AA status.

Leaving Etihad but where to?
 

Due to an unresolved issue with Etihad I am currently thinking about moving to oneworld. Would moving to AB topbonus make more sense? Can I transfer miles 150k miles to them? Or would it best to go with BA or QR? Thanks

Effectively you cannot move freq flyer miles from 1 ffp to another ffp.

As to if AB is best for you go to post 1 or the wiki and anwser the questions
Do you realise AB is controlled by Etihad?
What is the issue you have with Etihad?
The grass in not always greener on the other side

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html