I am sure this is somewhere in this thread, but if you are a U.S based EC member booking AA flights with-in the U.S that are NOT marketed as BA do not qualify for elite status. You will still get the tier points and AVIOS.

Anyone know a workaround for this?

To me your question is not clear. Its a question for the BA forum here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...tive-club-446/

I suppose that you are correct. Thanks - I will post it there. However when reading through the multitude of threads on which programme to select, this item doesn't appear to be mentioned. You can find all kinds of info on Avios and tier points but no mention of the number of eligible flights to obtain status. As an EC member in the U.S I was looking at plausibility of switching to the AAdvantage program.

Hi, all

Am new here and just want to get some advice for FFP. I thought over a lot but cant do decision.
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
TXL/SXF
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Economy in europe and Biz for travel to Asia
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
25k-50k, maximal can do 50k for LH
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)
MM, MileSmile
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? (Frequent upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, good award redemption rates, free lounge access, etc.)
As a priority i may prefer
Frequent upgrades on travel>priority services when flying the airline>free lounge access>good award redemption rates
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
Europe over all 6(travel)+6(work) times in 1 year + at least 1 to China or sometime plus Japan
(7) Preferred Airlines
TK, A3, LH group, NH, SK for *A and OW with AB, JL, BA/CX
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure?
both

I d rather to choose *A as my priority, however i base in Berlin so to be honest AB is the best choice for short flight, and can be + EY or JL to Asia. As a possiblity.
To keep TK as Elite isnt so diffcult for me but it is still a little bit difficult if i choose LH and keep as Senator, not unpossible but better not.
Actually NH and JL is one of my choice because of my work. But if i do not live in Japan, its doesnt make sense to join and keep...think it.
And if i choose JL i can still keep my status within JGC so OW may more comfortable for me.


Can someone give me advice?

Mwenenzi, thank you so much!!

Hi there!

I asked in the Iberia forum already but got the recommendation to ask here as well.

I have about 14k on TK (goal is gold) and will fly ZRH-MAD-MEX with Iberia on Business.

What's my best bet in terms of program to choose on oneworld, to add those Iberia miles and then match it with TK to get Gold on Star Alliance?

Someone said the Iberia trip would be enough to get gold there and then I could status match with TK. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Need help to find best FF program now that I am back in Europe
 

Hi,

I moved from South America where I was TAM Fidelidade Black member.

One of the best perks of the program was the unlimited complimentary upgrade. I am looking for an equivalent program in Europe

I will be based in OTP

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?

Reply: Upgrades to business


(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?

Reply: Over 300K miles and > 80 segments

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

Reply: Premium Economy, Economy Full, Promo business

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

Reply: Work

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?

Reply: Europe to US

(6) What is your home airport?

Reply: OTP

(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: LATAM Fidelidade Black, Flying Blue Platinum for Life, TAP Gold, Turkish Miles & Smiles Elite

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?

Reply: TAM, LAN, TAP, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, British Airways

Thanks!!!!

You will not find a Eu based ffp that offers unlimited complimentary (free) upgrades.
Even USA based ffp's now are limiting upgrades and making them harder to get.

How long will you be living in OTP? A few years or for ever?
Probably best to keep yours TAM status, at least in the short to medium term.
With over 300K miles and > 80 segments you will get status with another OW airline

College student needs help with ffp
 

Hello!
I am starting college next year, and would be flying between HKG and JFK/EWR. AFAIK, i would need 3 round trips to qualify for CX silver or AA Platinum for lounge access. Would AA be better than CX, even if i'm flying on a CX plane? Would other airline FFPs like BA also work? Which FFP would be better?
Answers to the guiding questions are below; thanks for the help guys!

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply:Primarily lounge access; extra baggage and upgrades would be nice too!
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
3 round trips HKG to JFK; probably 2 in economy and 1 in premium economy (~48k miles a year?)+ one or two asia region flights during holidays
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: I fly mostly to commute to school; HKG to JFK is CX flight with AA Codeshare afaik, CX also operates HKG to EWR.
(6) What is your home airport?
HKG
(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 have neligible points in both cx and aa
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Cathay
__________

At least for 3 years I will be based in OTP. From the airlines in Europe which is the one that is more generous with upgrades in exchange for miles IF there is availability in BC cabin?

thanks

Hi, all

(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, LAX, MCO, etc.)
TXL/SXF
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? (C, F, Y, etc.)
Economy in europe and Business for travel to Asia
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k)
25k-50k, maximal can do 50k.
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? (UA Premier, M&M Senator etc)
AB Gold
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? (Frequent upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, good award redemption rates, free lounge access, etc.)
As a priority i may prefer
Frequent upgrades on travel>priority services when flying the airline>free lounge access>good award redemption rates
(6) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific etc)
Europe over all 6(travel)+6(work) times in 1 year + at least 1 to China or sometime plus Japan
(7) Preferred Airlines
AB(just because of membership i have now, but AB haven't its own flight to Asia so)
JL,BA,CX,QR
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure?
both



Hello again, because I haven't get any advice here. So please.
Just used my Senator matched AB because I can keep Senator anymore. So think over to join OW.
As I base in TXL so maybe of course AB and AB is easy to gain Mile.
However if it is possible i wanna to try another one when it fit me more.
So wanna get some advice from you.

Something I just realized, -- some of the cheap CX fare classes which don't earn on AA do earn on QR. I was specifically looking at an M fare bucket for this coming weekend. I'm QRPC GLD and I'll earn approximately 50% of BIS miles on QR, plus some QPoints. Zero on AA.

Can't decide on a FPP
 

Hi,

I do a lot of leisure traveling with my spouse and I would like to reap the benefits of that with the appropriate FFP. Also worth noting that we're based in the Middle East, most guides/posts out there that I could find were more geared towards people based in the US/EUR :(

(1) What is your home airport?
Reply: KWI, Kuwait.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class?
Reply: 25K-40K. Mostly Y, occasionally C in transpacific flights.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? ( First, Business, Economy etc.)
Reply: Mostly cheap economy, occasionally premium eco/business.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: I can choose the airline and the class of service. My travel is mostly for leisure.

(5) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: Around Europe twice a year. And to Americas once a year. Also US Domestic once a year (a lot of them). And would love to start exploring Asia next year, never been to that side.

(6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? (AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: No.

(7) What is most important to you in a FFP? (upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: Upgrades on travel, priority services, good award redemption rates.

(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: None really.. But Qatar Airways doesn't seem too shabby.

Based on wanting lounge access you are best off sticking with CX. They're one of the few airlines that still offer lounge access at lowest elite level i.e. OW Ruby (CX Silver).

1) What is your home airport?
Paris 6 months a year
Osaka 3 months a year
Kuala lumpur 3 months a year

Will add Lisbon to the mix in 2 years and reduce the time spent in France

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class?
Roughly 40-50k miles. mostly premium economy on long hauls. I fly 3-4 flights/year in the 10-15k range. For short flights, I just fly economy.
Those flights are split between Star Alliance and One World depending on what the prices and availabilities are.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
I try to buy premium economy if available and if it costs less than 40% more than the cheapest fare. I tend to do multi destinations return flights to have a small holiday in a different city when I return.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Mostly travel for pleasure but some trips are for work. When it's for work, I'm a bit more limited in the class of service I can choose

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
I mostly fly Europe to either Japan or Malaysia and I usually fly once a year to New York from wherever I am at the moment.

(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 have Aegean Silver and will probably get gold by next year

I have miles in:
One World:
- Quatar Airways (9k miles) (I could get the silver tier apparently if I credited my next flight to Qatar but it really doesn't seem that useful)
- Enrich Miles with Malaysia Airlines (10k)
- BA 18k Avios
*Alliance
- Aegean 13k miles
Skyteam:
- Aeroflot 9k miles

My credit card gives me a fair amount of miles per dollars spent (I get roughly 210,000 miles per year with it) but only in:
- Asia Miles CX
- Enrich Miles MH
- Krys Flyer SQ


(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?

I don't really have any. I used to really like Malaysia Airlines but they scaled back the number of destinations.
I do not want to fly on Aeroflot or Airfrance ever again.

(7) What is most important to you in a FFP? (upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)

Upgrades on travel, good award redemption, extra baggage allowance., better award access

I don't care that much about lounge access because I will soon have a credit card with Priority Pass select membership


I have a 14.8k miles trip with BA on premium economy coming up and I'm still not sure who I should credit those miles to.

EDIT: I've looked a bit at British Airways redemptions for long hauls and it seems outrageously expensive compared to Asia Miles for example.

Let me try this out, I've always been confused about which program to go for!

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: Upgrades and Priority Services


(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: Usually <25000, mostly Economy


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

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Usually yes, although its Economy most if not all times. I travel for both work and pleasure.


(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: Mainly Europe - between UK to Spain, and UK to Rest of Europe. Occasionally UK to Asia - China/India


(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: Mainly LHR/LGW as starting points, but consider MAD too.

(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 Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: Not really, BA is my main one.


(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: BA, Iberia, Etihad, Norwegian Airlines, Lufthansa

Could you help me decide which FFP of Oneworld to choose?

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply: good award redemption rates, long/no miles expiration
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: In Oneworld only about 1-2 return flights, 1-3 segments
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Reply: Economy
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Both. Can say preference but cannot choose.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Reply: Mainly EU, sometime U.S.
(6) What is your home airport?
Reply:Prague - PRG
(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: Delta SkyMiles, Lufthansa Miles&More; but none in OW
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: From OW mainly Iberia and BA

Thanks!!

Hi all, would appreciate some help selecting a Oneworld FFP.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply:Good mileage redemption rates

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: 15-50, depending on the year

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

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Mostly pleasure. When I do travel for work I can choose airline, not class of service

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Reply: Air Canada is my main airline, still deciding on Oneworld flights. Canada domestic, transpacific and transatlantic

(6) What is your home airport?
Reply:YVR

(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: Aeroplan: 150,000, AAdvantage: 16,000, LATAM Pass: 25,000, AMEX MR: 125,000

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: Air Canada (no preferred Oneworld airline at the moment)

As you can see I have a small amount of miles in a couple of different OW FFPs. Trying to figure out what to use going forward. I'm considering mostly AAdvantage and Avios because of my Amex MR points. I would like to capitalize on a few "mini-RTW" trips but not necessarily in J class - Y would be fine. Seems like this would be good for AAdvantage. However, I will also be wanting to do some short trips around Europe which favours Avios. Struggling on picking one, or maybe I should gradually build up both of them?

Which one world airlines to sign up for
 

Hi I am a member of the Qmiles program with Qatar airways however, dont travel to the middle eat and am now based in Singapore and travel around Asia Pacific and I need some help in which one world frequent flyer program to join.

Questions
For members asking for information, to help people to assist you, can you please provide:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc
Reply:
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
50000 miles 25-50,
Reply:
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Economy, cheapest
Reply:
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Work mostly and 3-4 trips for pleasure
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Malaysian air and occasionally Qantas
Reply:
(6) What is your home airport?
Singapore SIN
Reply:
(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?
Not on one worls - Am Star alliance gold but Malaysian air is on One World
Reply:
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: Malaysia air and Qantas

Qatar QR is a member of the Oneworld alliance. www.oneworld.com
The airline you fly and the airline ffp you credit those flights to does not need to be the same.
The Qantas ffp is very poor

I thought I had a good thing going with AA/OW, but with AA making a ton of bad changes at my level/spend it's time to consider other OW programs!

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply: Priority services, upgrades, free/discounted lounge access. Award availability nice to have.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: Right around 50,000 miles and right around 25 sectors.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: Economy/cheapest (work policy)

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Work and pleasure.
Work: International, economy. Choice restricted by availability of routes (see home airport), but in principle I can choose. (Example: I can choose to fly JL metal as AA codeshare). Work has agreement with AA, so OW is preferred.
Pleasure: Can choose airlines but I mainly fly AA on US domestic routes. Looking to fly award in J to Japan this year.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: SAN-LHR on BA, SAN-NRT on JL, SAN-DFW on AA

(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: SAN, with hometown DFW also an option.

(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 Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: AA PLT, 250,000 miles

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: Most commonly fly AA, prefer JL (but that only applies to flights to Japan)

blakerson Welcome to FT

AA is the only Oneworld airline is USA.
You will not your most of your objectives with another OW ffp and flying AA. Especially upgrades.

Look here in the AS forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...ng-switch.html

The grass in not greener on the other side

Thanks for the welcome and the advice! :)

Half Way Between Chicago and Detroit
 

After the changes to AA, I'm not sure if I should stay or move to a different FFP. I'm half way between Detroit and Chicago - so here's the question - AA, BA, or...AS?

Questions

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)

Reply (In this order):Redemption rates, award access, lounge, then upgrades
(Currently have the AA Exec card and Plat AmEx so a wide array of lounges are covered, not that I wouldn't mind losing one of fees if possible).

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)

Reply

Domestic Economy 5-10 trips/year
Int'l Prem Economy 2 trips/year (Europe)
Int'l Biz 2 trips/year
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?

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

Reply: Usually economy for domestic, Prem Econ for work, and Biz for leisure.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?

Reply: Currently AA and BA. AA mostly domestic, BA mostly Int'l using Chase and AARP.

(6) What is your home airport?

Reply: ORD, DTW (GRR/SBN)

(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 Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)

Reply:AA Plat

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?

Reply Most commonly AA, BA, I used to fly AZ/AF Prem Econ when I was flying with DL. I wouldn't mind access to EI's biz product and mile accrual since it's usually cheaper.

I should note, I have 2 trips in Club Europe coming up that could net me near Gold status on BA. However, not sure about the Avios redemption rate.

The grass in not always greener on the other side

You will not get most of your objectives with another OW ffp and mainly flying AA. Especially BA redemption rates and the BA award surcharge
Earn to burn is what matters. BA awards are zone-segment based.
http://www.awardace.com/redemptions/c32c44b531/ORD-LHR
At AA saver rates award availability is nominally the same for all OW airlines, but is does seem to vary a little.

Look here in the AS forum for the thread especially for AA refugees http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...ng-switch.html

Yeah, the BA award chart is what makes me queasy. Even with the Chase buy-one-get-one redemption certificate it's still a struggle (I'd like to access partner F once and a while). Thanks for the help!

Benefits for crediting to BAEC instead of AAdvantage:
- lounge access
- more miles, eventhough they're worth less

PQD is something we frequent flyers need to say no to.

Hi all,

I started crediting A3 out of college, but in the past few years, have made *G requal quickly enough that I was looking to find a second program. With the amazing ex-MXP I and R fares on QR, aiming for Sapphire on a OW program makes most sense. I think I've decided, but second opinions are always reassuring!

BAEC seems most generous - crediting a single MXP - DOH - CMB in I / R would net 560 TP out of 600 TP required for silver. However... I'd prefer not to have a min. sector requirement with BA. I'm unlikely to use BA for any long haul routes, and I much prefer the LX offering from ZRH to LHR. But if no other program would be as generous for my flying patterns, then I'll suffer ;)

The carriers that require a min. number of segments on that carrier are out as I'd likely not fly them (exceptions: Air Berlin, AA but neither have that requirement and look less generous than BAEC).

Questions
For members asking for information, to help people to assist you, can you please provide:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Lounge, priority services, quite some way behind: upgrades / redemptions
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
~50-70,000 miles; 25-30 sectors
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
The cheapest; unless a < EUR 2k J fare opens up on a long haul route
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes, and leisure travel only.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Typically 5 long haul RT per year - usually 2-3 trips Caribbean or Central / South America (UA, LH, LX) ; 2-3 trips SE Asia (SQ, TK). Up to 10 intra-Europe SH (LH, LX, A3 and TK). I want to have the flexibility to choose AA/BA (Y or J depending on fare) and QR (J) though. I can also see myself using CX Y and UL J in the next couple of years.
(6) What is your home airport?
ZRH
(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 status on BA but some 90k Avios
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
I currently don't fly OW, but going forward, I'm more likely to fly AA and QR. Making BA segments isn't too much of a challenge, however.

AA definitely has a 4 segment for status rule: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
BA has a 2/4 segment rule. More information on this in the BA forum.

I should have clarified - there isn't a 4 flight segment from 2017 for AA, but lack of clarity around the conversion to EQD from partners puts me off.

Any help with the above would be much appreciated

Hi all, thanks to the recent changes to the AA program, and the fact that I've relocated outside of the US, I'm debating changing my FFP. I'm going to book two Asia-US, one Asia-India, and one Asia-Europe flights soon, so IF I'm going to change now would be the time to do it. Any feedback or info is appreciated. :)

Questions
For members asking for information, to help people to assist you, can you please provide:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Lounge, priority services, less so: upgrades and redemptions
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
50-100,000 miles depending on year, 25+ sectors, but not many more because it's mostly long haul flights.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
I try to fly mostly discount business for long haul, and economy for shorter flights.
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes, almost all leisure travel.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
BKK-HGK 3-5 times per year
BKK-US 2+ per year
BKK-India 2 per year
BKK-Europe 1 per year
other asia 3-10
(6) What is your home airport?
BKK (Bangkok)
(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 Plat, 46k miles.
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
JL, CX, QR, AA

Bye, Bye AA
 

Just like JacobP post above I think AA will be no longer the ideal program for me because of their upcoming changes. I'm looking for some advice on what program would be right for me.

Questions
For members asking for information, to help people to assist you, can you please provide:
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
In order of importance: 1. Redemptions for award travel or upgrades, 2. (status that comes with actual benefits like lounge access)

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
+/- 25K miles
Usually I either just reach or miss the 25K benchmark for Gold status with AA. Class of travel is mostly Economy or Premium economy. Going forward I suppose class of travel will more often become premium economy.
Segments: 8-10. (of which 4 at least long-haul)

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Cheapest economy and as stated above towards the future probably more premium economy.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes I can as most travel is leisure.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Varies heavily and depends on the holiday destination.

(6) What is your home airport?
BRU is closest significant airport.
I often opt for AMS and DUS as well.

(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 PLT through challenge. Most miles in this account. (82K)
BA Executive club (no status, little miles). I use these for shorthaul rewards currently.
IB (no status, miles via groupon promo a few months ago 70K)
I can transfer miles to BA/IB from AmEx membership rewards.

The main reason I was loyal to AA were the challenges that offered access to status. The benefits most important to me as PLT member were 100% bonus redeemable miles and lounge access. Secondly I was loyal as the Aadvantage program used to offer:
- 100% redeemable miles of the actual flown distance on all fare classes when travelling AA (not anymore in the future with the changes coming)
- 100% redeemable miles of the actual flown distance on all fare classes when travelling BA (has already changed a while ago and is now 25% in deep-discount economy)
- 100% redeemable miles of the actual flown distance on all fare classes when travelling FY (this is still the case and FY is a good carrier for Asia routes)

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Currently I most often fly BA,AA,FY,IB. Not necessarily in that order, all depends on holiday plans.
Some travel on SN as well for short-haul flight. Miles for travel on SN are collected in UA MileagePlus account.

Current year 21K EQM miles in AA.
Upcoming flights this year is a long-haul to Africa. (most probably on BA)
Start of next year a long-haul to S-America (could be on either BA or IB)

I look forward to your opinions.

I would at least wait with a decision until after AA releases information on how RDM and EQD will be calculated on oneworld partner tickets on July 15. Seeing you'll be buying business class fares (albeit heavily discounted ones) and fly long distances - the changes might not even affect you too much.
And FFP numbers on bookings can be easily changed :)
Depending on if there is AA metal involved on those upcoming BKK-USA flights you're about to book and how many EQM you have accrued so far this year, you might qualify for EXP, good through 2/2018 - one BKK-HKG-DFW return flight in business will earn over 36,000 EQM! EQM earning will remain distance-based even after August, and the revenue requirement will only come into effect from Jan. 2017.

That said, you'll likely end up on QR planes the most for BKK-USA and BKK-Europe if you can plan ahead, as they have the lowest (promo) fares and frequent sales, so QR would be the most likely candidate for a switch.
QR Privilege Club also has way better earning rates for economy flights on CX compared to AA, should you want to stick to OW for those intra-asia flights - most discounted fares earn 50%, and the cheapest ones 25%.

Of course, CX is a very good contender, but they don't discount their premium cabins as much as QR does...

In addition to what you have mentioned, I would also have a look at ULs (Sri Lankan) program. They do have competitive (read: low) prices on BKK-Europe and BKK-India, a good business class product (same critically acclaimed Cirrus seats as AA on their 77W, at least on the A333 I flew with them) and their mileage requirements for status are much lower than most other OW carriers. You should be able to attain Platinum (Oneworld Emerald) with them (requires only 60k miles annually, even less to renew, half of which needs to be on UL metal) - something out of reach with all others, and which will give you First class lounges at airports, F check-in and Fast Track security all across oneworld. If you can make their somewhat limited network work for you, definitely check them out!

Stick with BA/IB.
All other oneworld programs (except AA, but that program won't do you any good as it's going revenue-based for 2017 and beyond) have 'hard' mileage expiration dates of around three years. You simply do not fly enough to build up any significant balance in any program with fixed expiration dates - your miles will expire before you have enough to use them for a meaningful redemption.
As you live in the UK, get a BA credit card and explore all other means to earn Avios through spend (Tesco!)


I gather you mean AY (Finnair) and not FY (Firefly, Asian regional LCC)?
Here again, you don't really fly much and will run into issues with expiring miles in all programs except AA and BA/IB as these all have 'hard' expiration dates that let your miles expire - commonly three years after earning - regardless of account activity.
The AY program is not bad, actually and if you can live with the 36-month mileage expiration limits I`d give it a look. Just don't expect opportunities for mid-tier status.

In any case, wait until AA has clarified how they will handle EQD on partners on July 15. I suspect that should you buy premium economy longhaul tickets on any other ticket stock than AA, things won't be too bad.
Get a credit card for lounge access instead of chasing sapphire status - the fee for an AA challenge is about the same as what you'd have to pay for an AMEX plat after the airline statement credit...

QF has an 18 month no activity expiry. But QF is not a good ffp.
Look here:- http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...-t-expire.html (click the wiki)

And for AA & other potential refugees:- The grass in not always greener on the other side

The airline you fly most or an airline of the country you live is the best ffp for many people. Generally however you are better earning on your primary airline due to greater recognition, better service when disruptions, ability to upgrade flights and possible operation upgrades.

Yes indeed, off course. Must be the jetlag from my last flight :)

This, and QFF has a four-segment minimum rule. No status unless you fly QF/JQ, which will not work for anyone not living in or (regularly) traveling to the region.

Thanks for the help bhomburg! :) I definitely plan to wait for AA clarification before I make a final decision, but the feedback is appreciated. :)

Sri Lankan is an interesting alternative I hadn't thought of, they also run a BKK-HKG service that might make them worthwhile, it's not nearly as convenient as Cathay, but the business class is almost the same price as Cathay's economy typically. Not flying to the US is a downer though as a huge chunk of my miles come from those flights, but I might still be able to put 30k miles on them via India, Europe, and Hong Kong flights.

I noticed you mentioned AY's program to someone else, I've never flown with them so I can't evaluate their hard product, but I've noticed they also fly nicely priced business class flights to europe and jfk from BKK. I assume it's not as nice a product as QR's business, but from a quick bit of research it would be easier to qualify for emerald with them based on my flight patterns. Plus at least for now they offer full points (km based instead of miles) for all classes of AA economy for any domestic US connecting flights I might take. Any overall opinions or impressions on AY both as an airline and a ffp? Thanks again!

AY FFP:
pros:
+ oneworld Emerald possible in less than 4 r/t trips
+ upgrade vouchers given at Gold and Platinum qualification (and re-qualification for subsequent years)
+ rather generous perks for Emeralds (and even Sapphires)
+ decent upgrade availability
+ bearable upgrade costs (50-60k longhaul, 5-10k shorthaul)
+ possibility to exchange a certain chunk of award miles into status miles, if you have trouble requalifying
+ no longer charges YQ for Euro award tickets

cons:
- award inventory rarely available in Y
- painfully expensive longhaul awards
- -"- oneworld redemptions
- limited network