Hello, I am a frequent long haul flyer and would greatly appreciate any advice on FFPs.

Questions
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply: Mainly upgrades and reward flights, but also priority check in and baggage - these others are mostly covered in Executive Tiers
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: Around 50000 miles in Economy, and around 10 flights per year
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Reply: Economy - almost always discounted low fare class rates
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Travelling for work mainly, and airlines can be chosen
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Reply: Flying between HKG and LHR 8-10 times a year, usually with CX or BA, plus one or two short-haul, mostly in Europe and Asia with aforementioned two airlines
(6) What is your home airport?
Reply: Constantly moving between HKG and 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?
Reply: BA Bronze and Asia Miles, but will soon use up miles banked in them
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: CX and BA

Thank you in advance for your help!

Which Oneworld alliance member do I choose?
 

Hi all

A new member here.

I am flying to Australia a lot in First on Quantas. And over the past couple of flights I have collected BA Avios and moved up from nothing to Gold.

I was always told that you should join the airline club that is located in your home country hence why I joined BA.

However because I am collecting BA miles it results in me only getting less than half the possible miles but I still get miles as Quantas is in the Oneworld Alliance.

The only time I use the miles is taking short European flights. In the future I would use them to go on a family trip once a year to Hong Kong. Which currently I do in Cathay Pacific. Again this is on be Oneworld Alliance. Annoying you cannot fly with them to Melbourne.

So my question is what do I do? Should I swap to join Quantas? Or does that devalue the miles I get if I try to use them on BA? I suppose it doesn't matter as the advantages I get are the same as they are all in the Oneworld Alliance? I.e. Gold checkin, access to all Oneworld lounges and priority booking?

The other option is leaving the Oneworld Alliance and joining Emirates as they fly to HK as well.

Any guidance appreciated on how I should proceed and who I should collect miles with appreciated.

Have a look at the "Which oneworld program to join" thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...help-here.html. (where you should have posted in instead of opening this one - it'll probably get merged there)

Generally, key element in choice of programs is what you want from it. For shorthaul flights within Europe, BA is indeed a very good choice thanks to RFS. For longhaul premium cabin redemptions, especially taking surcharges into account, not so much.
As you say that you fly paid F on Qantas, there's not much you can gain by having status with them (see the recent What is Platinum One really worth? About 1 bottle of champagne... thread there). There is nothing to get upgraded into, and as an F passenger you are already getting treated well.

Gleaning from other threads on here, it appears that QFF is mainly interesting to Australians who can (and do) earn points through non-flying activity, but not the best choice as a FFP. You may earn more miles than you do with BAEC, but the redemption cost is also very high. A lot of frequent fliers have recently abandoned QFF for BAEC and AAdvantage after particularly nasty devaluations.

If your goal is to maximize earning for longhaul premium cabin award travel UK-HKG on CX, look at Marco Polo and Asia Miles. As a Diamond member, you'll get systemwide upgrades you can use for your family, and also have advance access to reduced mileage award inventory. It can get rather tricky getting a whole family on one flight on award tickets in a premium cabin these days, with airlines managing award inventory more granular than ever, so this is a nice benefit.

If you fly enough (that's to say way more than it takes to qualify for Emerald status in any one program), it is also an option to split earning between programs. In your case, credit to BA so you'll have enough Avios for those intra-European trips, and the rest to a program that will provide you with a better value for those HKG trips (AA or CX).
Although my primary program is AA and I credit most activity there, I always see that I have some Avios (for short intra-US domestic flights on AA which would cost a lot more using AA miles, or intra-EU RFS awards on BA) and airberlin topbonus miles (so I can take advantage of their "topdeal" redemptions which are a very good deal).

Welcome to FT!

I'm moving your post to the existing thread regarding which OW FF program to choose.

Gardyloo
Oneworld moderator

[QUOTE=ccfc27;28216334]Hello, I am a frequent long haul flyer and would greatly appreciate any advice on FFPs.

Questions
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply: Mainly upgrades and reward flights, but also priority check in and baggage - these others are mostly covered in Executive Tiers
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: Around 50000 miles in Economy, and around 10 flights per year
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Reply: Economy - almost always discounted low fare class rates
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Travelling for work mainly, and airlines can be chosen
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Reply: Flying between HKG and LHR 8-10 times a year, usually with CX or BA, plus one or two short-haul, mostly in Europe and Asia with aforementioned two airlines
(6) What is your home airport?
Reply: Constantly moving between HKG and 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?
Reply: BA Bronze and Asia Miles, but will soon use up miles banked in them
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: CX and BA

Thank you in advance for your help![/QUOTE

CX discount economy fares earn nothing at all in most programs save BAEC and Asia Miles (Asia Miles has more fare classes earning at 100% than does BAEC). I´d stick with what you're doing now, with BA as the main program. BA has the advantage that your points will not expire as long as you keep earning some constantly, unlike Asia Miles where they expire after three years (the fees for extending expiration another three years are outrageous).

Unless you're starting to fly Premium Economy (check fare sales and airport upgrades - with BAEC you earn according to the upgraded cabin!) you will not get status beyond Bronze even with monthly flights given the shameful 20 tier points earned for discount economy flights... It's the same with Marco Polo.

Hello all, am already an Elite Plus on Turkish Airlines. As such, am exploring getting status on a Oneworld program so that I have more flying options. I'm a former CX Gold, but as we all know CX's program is nigh impossible nowadays. So any others recommendations would be 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?
Reply: priority check-in, free lounge access, extra baggage allowance

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: >50,000 miles, 25-50 sectors. Mostly economy but sometimes business.


(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: Mostly work travels. Just anything that isn't CX's program.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Reply: Southeast Asia to Europe

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

(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: Turkish Elite Plus, CX Green

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: I like CX but not their FF program. I don't like BA much. I guess that leaves Qatar and Finnair?

Exactly these two would be what I`d recommend looking into. Royal Jordanian also deserves a honorable mention.
If you like to keep flying CX but credit elsewhere, Finnair Plus clearly wins there as they have a bunch of fare classes that earn 100% or 50% whereas they will only earn 50% or 25% with QRPC.
Also, check if airberlin will let you match your TK status. Anecdotal evidence (see the FT thread) would suggest you shouldn't have a problem getting matched from TK. You can then keep this for a year and enjoy the benefits while determining to stay with them or build status in another program.

Flying Y on QR is a markedly better experience with oneworld status. You can select seats on the upper deck of the QR A380 between BKK and DOH (much, much nicer). Also, although QR doesn't let elites traveling in Y into their premium lounges in DOH but relegates passengers to subpar-in-comparison "First" and "Business" lounges that have been created solely for this purpose, these still beat the terminal, and they have showers and food during the unavoidable DOH layovers.

Finnair is very nice overall. Oneworld status will get you free (Emerald) or discounted (Sapphire) Economy Comfort seats, too. They're now my preferred carrier between Europe and Asia. Their FFP hasn't been devalued as much as others yet.

Thanks a lot bhomburg for the insightful reply! But well a lot has happened in such a short time, including the Qatar sanctions... I was originally going to go for Qatar (since Finnair tickets from Bangkok to Europe seem more expensive), but now am back to square one...

Thanks a lot, but I've never flown on AirBerlin, and friends have said it isn't worth flying, so I'm torn...

Hmmm maybe I should try them. But somehow when I checked, the tickets were 20%-30% more pricey than on Qatar?

While the common consensus around here is that you should pick the FFP of the airline you end up flying the most as your primary program, you don't have to follow this. You can very well fly airline A a lot but credit all those flights to a partner airline program if that works out better for your specific needs.

Look at the Finnair plus earning tables for Qatar flights. Right now, Y,B,H,K and M booking classes earn 100% (status qualifying) points in Finnair Plus, L,V,S,N,T and Q earn 50%, and only the three lowest booking classes O, W and G earn just 25%.
With QRPC, only full-fare Y and high-priced B and H fares earn 100%, the number of mid-priced fare classes that earn 75% and 50% is lower and the number of 25%-earning fares higher - including the widely available, discount "T" fares.
So, on average, if flying Qatar in economy on tickets that the average business traveler books (excluding special promo pricing or fare sales) you get more Finnair Plus points flying Qatar than you would get Privilege Plus miles.
Example:
Flying BKK-DOH-FRA and return on QR on a T fare, you'll earn 3,060 qmiles (award miles) and 40 Qpoints (status qualifying points). To qualify for mid-tier QR Gold/oneworld sapphire status, you'll need 300 Qpoints in 12 months. You will have qualified for Gold status only on the return leg of your eight annual trip to Europe.
Flying BKK-DOH-FRA and return on a QR T fare but crediting to Finnair Plus, you will earn 19,700 (status-qualifying) points. With the AY+ Gold status threshold set at 80,000 points, that means you'll have qualified for Finnair Plus Gold/oneworld sapphire status on the outbound leg of your fifth annual flight - twice as quick than if you credited the same flights to Qatars' program.

I only suggested to go with Airberlin topbonus because they will offer a status match from TK (to my knowledge, no other oneworld airline will do this at the moment). The program as such isn't very attractive for you. But you can use your matched status for the benefits while building status on another oneworld airline.

There's a simple logic behind why Qatar flights are cheaper than Finnair's: You will have to connect in Doha going to Europe, and Finnair flies non-stop (Well, to Helsinki...). The operational and economic advantages of having a hub halfway between Europe and Asia in a region with no/low taxation, cheap labor etc. enable lower prices and are the reason why Qatar, Emirates and Etihad have lured so many passengers onto their planes and away from the European and Asian airlines.
Personally, in economy, I don't mind the stop in the middle of the night as sleep is compromised anyway, and the option of having a shower, getting some food and stretching the legs is appreciated. In business class, different story. I can get a night of uninterrupted sleep on a nonstop Europe-Asia flight, which for business travel is crucial as it allows me to hit the ground running.

Hello to all! I have a question also regarding the best program to choose from.

Questions
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Lounge access, baggage allowance, priority check in
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Around 20000 miles (Economy), with 15-20 flights
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Economy, probably the cheapest prices
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes, I can choose airlines. I travel mostly for work and sometimes leisure
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Mostly within Europe, and about one intercontinental travel. Airlines ... depending on destination and prices (i try mostly Star Alliance).
(6) What is your home airport?
I have been to different places, but for future reference I would say ATH (Athens, Greece)
(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?
Yes, I am Gold in Star Alliance (Aegean) and I have about 25000 miles in AA.
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Aegean in Star Alliance - I am looking the one in One World!

Actually I have credited my miles in AA but I do not think that I get so much out of this ff program. I would like something that I could easily hit a status (not the top one) to have access in lounges mainly when travelling. I have seen the previous discussion on Qatar and Finnair, and I wonder if this apply to my case also (and perhaps Jordanian Airlines?).

gmaravel Welcome to FT

You do not fly enough (distance, price paid and class of travel) to get status.
That is the sad reality.

Ok, I can live with this. Thanks for you reply!

Sad, but true.
Adding to this - for what you aim to get from status (lounge access while flying economy, airport benefits) you generally will need to qualify for the mid-tier level, which in most programs kicks in at 50,000 flown miles/50 segments. Also, most airlines have made it more difficult for passengers on deep discount economy fares to qualify for status, be it through outright spend requirements (AA) or through a tier point system (BA, QR...) that disproportionately rewards premium cabin travel and disadvantages those in the cheapest fare classes.
With only 20k miles flown annually on deep discount shorthaul flights within Europe, forget about status. Buy a Priority Pass membership (or get a credit card that comes with PP) for lounge access. Even though this is FT, flying an extra 30k miles and spending four figures on mileage runs just to get status is not something I`d recommend in your case.

Continue to bank your miles with AA or check out the IAG airlines (BA, IB, maybe Aer Lingus' new program) as in all other programs your miles will expire before you have collected enough for redemptions, especially if your aim is longhaul premium class awards and/or multiple awards for family travel. Also, look into co-branded credit cards for non-flying points accrual (some programs even award status miles for cc spend, like AB topbonus German and Austrian cards, or the higher-tier US airline cards on offer for US residents).

Hi bhomburg, just want to say thank you for taking so much time answering me - your advice is really appreciated (even if I do reply quite late!). I learned a lot from what you said.

Well, circumstances made it way easier for me to decide - I have to fly to Astana next month all of a sudden, and from Bangkok to Astana there are basically 0 Star Alliance options as Turkish Elite Plus. So I decided on going with Air Berlin topbonus since if I fly Etihad I get status miles on topbonus. Plus I can (maybe) status match...

But I read that I need to be a resident of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and USA to do the status match? This will be an issue since I live in Bangkok right now...

Any advice is appreciated!

You can get status of sorts with low- fare European economy flying - BAEC gives Bronze at 20 segments I think, and Silver at 50.

First of all many thanks to you and Mwenenzi, for taking the time to respond to me.

Actually I just entered the forum now to ask the very last part of your answer, but you have been already one step ahead of me! Since I am flying mainly star alliance then I was wondering where is the best place to put my extra miles gained from other flights. If a status level was reachable ok, but apparently it is not. Unfortunately I do not know any card programs in Greece for this alliance, so it is almost impossible to obtain with another way.

From my understanding AA, BA, IB and Aer Lingus are the top options to park your miles (and get an extra trip at some point) as you don't get your miles expired. [My experience with AA at least is this, with just an occasional flight your mile expiration is postponed - I was just thinking which other airline offered something similar, so now I will just look at the other programs].

Thanks again!

Yes. AA and the Avios-based programs (and, technically, Qantas, but that program is of no use to you otherwise) are the only programs where any activity in an 18-month period will reset the expiration clock and keep all points in the account from expiring.
All other program have 'hard' expiration dates, with very limited exceptions (airberlin topbonus miles don't expire as long as you hold Gold or above status, for example) and thus are not really suited for you. This is a point that gets overlooked by many if not most casual fliers.

Hey guys. I'm living in Singapore now and flying back to US to visit home about 2-3 times per year. I currently have status on CX, but with flying cheap economy tickets and the new program there's no way I can earn status (I've actually earned 0 miles this year after 2 round trips)

I was looking at AA, but read something that you don't have access to all OW lounges. I also saw mentions of Finnair and Alaska, but don't really see what's so great about these programs.

Any advice is really appreciated. Thanks!

(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: OW lounge access, upgrades, awards redemptions for premium cabins
(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: Deep discount economy, about 50,000 miles per year (2-3 round trips between Asia and US)
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
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: CX
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: 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?
(AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: Marco Polo Silver, basically no miles banked
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: The better Asian airlines- CX, SQ, etc.

The grass in not always greener on the other side

If you fly low priced economy flights you will not get status (or many/any ff miles) with any ffp.
If you continue to fly CX back to USA and bank to another ffp you will not get more ff miles/status earning. http://www.wheretocredit.com/cathay-pacific-airways
That the way it is. Look as post 1334 above.

AA is now a revenue based ffp, with different rules for earning on non AA flights.
AA status does not get you into USA AA/OW lounges on USA domestic flights.
An equivalent status with any other OW airline will get you into USA AA/OW lounges on USA domestic flights.

AS has many OW and Skysteam partners. Is not a revenue based ffp. The AS award chart is limited on carriers & routes. You need to understand the award t&c's. AS is a good ffp for many people.

The grass in not always greener on the other side

Unusual question :-)
 

So, I am a (highly precocious) 2 Year Old, who will be flying 7 2000-3000 miles segments all in J on BA and AA over the next several weeks, and who may well be doing another 6-8 2000+ miles segments on BA and AA early next year.

My Daddy (unsurprisingly) is a BAEC Gold member as will be mommy after these flights.

I seem to recall that I cannot earn status on BA myself until I am 18! (Boo! :td::td: )

Can anyone advise me what FF program I should join and credit these upcoming flights to?

https://www.aa.com/loyalty/enrollment/enroll
And if you enroll for the plat challenge you will soon get status like than the oldies
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...challenge.html

What is most important to you in a FFP?
reply: good award redemption rates and better award access

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: >50,000 year. Deep Discount economy for personal 4 day vacations around Asia. Business Discount fare to USA 1x year. Business full fare Long Haul to USA 1-2x a year.

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

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

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Reply: HKG – SIN 3x, HKG – NYC/ORD 1x/2x, HKG-APAC 3x cheap personal 4 day weekends.
SQ HKG-SIN
KE & JAL HKG – USA
LCC HKG – APAC

(6) What is your home airport?
Reply: 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?
Reply: UA Million Miler = UA Gold and *A. Korean Air Morning Calm.

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: SQ, NH, KE, JL. Will take UA HKG-EWR once Polaris rolls out.

Basically, I want to know where to bank one world miles given the above answers. I traditionally put them in AA, but am wondering if JAL might suit me better if I am looking for an award on JAL F to the USA or perhaps trying EK F. The concern I have with JAL is mileage expiring. I am not sure if having a JAL credit card keeps miles alive as with other programs like UA and AA.

Forgot to note that I am not a fan of Cathay so no Asia miles.

No, having a JL branded credit cards won't change your miles expiration date. You should look at BA if you want non-expiring miles and receive miles when you fly in deep discounted Y fares.

2 years old can be ba gold just cant earn guf2

Paid cabin upgrade awards
 

Probably a question for those who have experience with multiple OW FFPs.

Which OW FFP has given you the best chance to use miles to upgrade a paid full-fare Economy ticket to Business?

I am not a member of any OW FFP. Just bought an I fare ticket from AA and couldn't decide which FFP to deposit the miles to. Paid cabin upgrade awards are what I'm after.

I am a US Expat living in Bangkok, but planning on moving to Philipines next month.

I only started traveling with any frequency when I moved away from the USA late last year and am just now trying to figure out the rewards game.

I don't think I will travel enough to get huge miles or perks from flying itself, but I do own a marketing agency and plan to start using cards for ad spend to rack up miles that way. Currently I have the Citi AAdvantage card and a simple Amex green card. My credit is good except for the fact my balances are too high from quiting the corporate world to start my own company, which is driving down the scores, preventing me from getting some premium cards like the Chase Saphire Preferred or one of the AMex business platinum/gold cards. But my goal for the rest of the year now that the business is stable is to pay those down and get 1 or 2 of the really solid rewards cards.

So with that in mind, whatever program ends up being my program of choice will probably need to revolve around points or points transfers from Citi, Chase and/or Amex.

I look forward to your feedback.

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

Flying first/biz class as an upgrade or 100% using miles. Also, discounted or free lounge access while on the ground.

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

Not really sure. It has been sporatic over the past year with a 1 way from Dallas to Bangkok and then a handful of flights around asia and a round trip from naminal to london which I am on now. I want to increase my travels though to maybe one round trip a month. Half being regional and the other half being ong haul.

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

In the past, cheapest, but with a catch I am a bigger guy and always buy 2 economy seats instead of 1.

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

I can choose. I am own my own company.

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

Most often asian, but I want to increase the asia to europe and asia to the Americas trips.

(6) What is your home airport?

Was Bkk, but soon will be in Manila or Cebu.

(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 current status. Have miles scattered over. AA 9k, AirAsia 1k, Philipines Airlines 1k, Qatar 2k with a biz class flight scheduled from London to Manial next month

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

There have been no pattern, just the cheapest. 2 flights from USA to Asia on Korean Air and American Airlines. A handful of flights scattered between AirAisa, Philipine Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar, and so on.

Hi Guys,

Any thoughts on this? I thought I made my mind up and was planning to go for CX MPC but have doubts between that or AA or even AS.

(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: Awards redemptions for premium cabins, lounge access, priority or fee waivers when rebooking/changing

(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: 150-200K+ miles in I/C/J across ~100 sectors (cheapest business class I can get), occasional short-haul Y

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: Cheapest Business class for overnights & long haul, economy for short-haul

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Both and yes can choose.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: Asia, 2-3x Asia to Europe/US

(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: TPE or CGK

(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: Marco Polo Silver, Alaska Miles (no status but ~100K miles banked)

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: CX, SQ, BR, GA

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
OW will be mainly for award flights, so best point redemption

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, and somewhere around 30 flights. Mostly in the eu, cheap = best

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

Cheapest

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

I can fly anything I want since i fly 100% for fun

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

EU only last year, but looking at deals all the time to fly to new places

(6) What is your home airport?

Amsterdam, but also flying from the regional airports here

(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?

Saving milles with klm and status with A3 (and thus also milles)

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
No. Sadly, ryanair...

OW would be flybe, BA, maybee finair from Amsterdam

This might be a dumb question, but I'm only new to alliances as I didn't really realise them until recently. But can you earn points as for example just OneWorld points with any of their alliance airlines? Or should I make a FF for each airline I begin to regularly fly with.
So far I've got British Airways, American Airlines and Qantas.

There is no such thing a Oneworld ff points (or Star alliance ff points)
With alliance's & ff partners if say you are a member of the BA avios ffp you can also earn BA avios on QF & AA flights.
Earnings can vary. www.wheretocredit.com
Airlines have alliance & non alliance ff partners For example EY Etihad is an AA ff partner. VA is a partner with SQ Singapore & EY Etihad.
It is not a good idea to be a member of many ffps'. You never get enough miles/points/avios to be useful. They can expire.
FF miles/points are not equal between ffp's . For example QF is poor compared to AA (earn/burn).

I see. Still trying to get my head around all these points and systems. I mainly use Qantas as I live in Aussieland but I've been looking to try different airlines recently and dunno what to do in terms of points.

You need to look at how many frequent flyer miles/points/avois/what ever in your Qantas, Emirates, Korean Air, Qatar, Etihad, Singapore, BA, VNA & AA ff accounts.
Then when they will expire. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...-t-expire.html
And then how many are needed for an award/upgrade/toaster from the QF ff shop/what ever. What do you want to do the ff miles/points?

25% earn rate in a fpp where they can be used is far better than 75% earn rate in a ffp that will expire before you get enough to use.

Upgrades are generally only on the airline of the ffp (not partners) But as is the way with ffp's there are some limited exceptions

Isn't FlyWithKaeMarie after a different answer: the three airlines you mention are all in the same OneWorld Alliance. You should choose just one FF programme from one of these airlines and use that FF membership to accrue mileage and tier points when you fly on all these airlines into that single FF programme. This is how you move up the tiers and get more benefits/privileges.

If you open accounts and save points in the FF programme of each individual airline then it's unlikely you'll accrue enough miles and tier points to be useful for redemptions/upgrades/lounge access etc. Unless you're a road warrior and flying in business class with all these airlines all the time which is unlikely given the question you ask.

Generally people choose the airline they fly the most with. Choose one and stick with it. When you reach the next tier with that airline the benefits will apply across all OneWorld airlines and you can redeem your miles on all OneWorld airlines (for example, I redeemed Malaysian Enrich points for a Qatar flight - it was fewer points and less cash than redeeming on Malaysian itself).

Thank you, yes this is what I was asking just didn't know how to put it. As an Aussie, I have a credit card that accrues our national airlines points: Qantas. As they are part of the OneWorld Alliance I was unsure if I would accrue points under "OneWorld" or individually and have to get individual FF programs for each airline I fly with - as I like to fly with different ones all the time.

The next question, though, is if I fly with American and use my Qantas FF number - as they are one alliance, would I receive the full points I would if I used my American Airlines FF number or would it be reduced?

If you've got a credit card that converts points to Qantas miles and this is your "local" airline then Qantas FF scheme should be the one you use.

Don't be hung up too much on maximising each individual flight like the case you mention. It is the accumulation of miles and tier points in a single scheme that releases the greatest value. If you end up with points strewn across different OneWorld schemes you risk not accumulating enough in a single scheme to buy a flight or upgrade a seat or move up to a useful membership tier like Sapphire which gives you lounge access on OneWorld economy tickets.

You cannot move points between OneWorld programmes once they're banked - just use them to get tickets on other OneWorld airlines if you've got enough in a single programme.

As post 1352, you will earn QF points flying an AA flight
You do not always earn 100% flying a QF flight number on QF aircraft. No different with other airlines
Earning rate depends on the class. www.wheretocredit.com/aa

25% earn rate in a fpp where they can be used is far better than 75% earn rate in a ffp that will expire before you get enough to use.

It is not a good idea to be a member of many ffps'. You never get enough miles/points/avios to be useful. They can expire.
FF miles/points are not equal between ffp's . For example QF is poor compared to AA (earn/burn).

Thanks both of you for your assistance. There's a lot of miles I've missed out on over the years from not understanding/being part of FF. I joined Qantas because I learned about their upgrade possibilities.

This puts it into a better perspective.

So it would be best to keep Qantas for my OneWorld flights and Emirates for my SkyTeam flights only? (those are the two main alliances i fly with).

The chances of getting upgrade with QF points on QF flight is low. Some cheap QF fares are not eligible for upgrades.
But only QF points can be used to upgrade a QF flight.
You cannot use QF points to upgrade a flight on another airline.

Emirates EK is not a Skyteam alliance member. EK is not part of any alliance.

Emirates EK is a frequent flyer partner of Qantas QF. You can earn QF points flying eligible EK flights and vs

If you fly EK you should credit on a QF ticket to your Qantas FFP. Qantas FFP,ers are allowed in the EK lounge but other OW are not. as I discovered on a QF ticket credited to my BA exec and on EK metal.