hombri Congratulations on you first post on FT (after ~7 years)

As above AA, for AA tickets, is a revenue based ffp. AS is a distance based ffp.

Been reported that AA-AS will introduce a cross airline upgrade system (outside of the OW alliance).
Details slow being released. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...-upgrades.html
But would expect any airline would favor upgrading its own freq flyers ahead of the other guys.

For award travel AS (currently) has a very prescriptive award chart. How that will/may change with AS now in OW alliance is unknown. AS awards can be very good value and the free stopover useful for some. But all ffp award charts have sweet spots. Depends on where you want to go with award flights.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...advantage-733/
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...eage-plan-442/

Hello everyone! I would appreciate your help in deciding which FFP to settle on.
Notes:

• I was considering a move from CX/QR to AS because of great F redemption rates to Southeast Asia on CX & JL but am worried about potential devaluation from AS joining oneworld.
• I’m a student, so QR’s new student club program sounds pretty good, but redemption rates are not the best. Please let me know your opinions.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Good award redemption rates, better award access, priority services when flying the airline.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
25000-50000 in discount J. At least two BKK-SFO roundtrips yearly.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Discount J.
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
I can choose my airlines and class of service, I travel to college in the US.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
BKK-SFO almost exclusively, often on QR, CX, and JL. BKK-HND for holidays every other year.
(6) What is your home airport?
BKK and SFO.
(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?
~200k miles in CX Asia Miles but am looking to switch for better redemption rates.
~90k miles in QR Privilege Club Gold (OW Sapphire).
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
QR, CX, and JL.

Thanks!

please delete

might be tricky since you only fly QR, CX, and JL , Any poossibility to try AA ?? Any other routes than BKK-SFO or BKK-HND ???

OW is done in such way that you dont always have full benefits granted by your status unless you fly with the airline who owns this FFP unlike skyteam , so unless you fly different routes on regular basis or change criteria , then your choice is limited

having two pools of miles in same alliance is not a good tactic , unless you have no choice

In general , unless you fly a lot , having two FFPs is not a good idea also

In my case my main focus is skyteam but i also have star alliance (A3) and i had oneworld (RIP AB) ... just in case of flights with airline of these alliances so i dont loose miles .... but i wont open an FFP with every airline i fly often with as its counter productive, so my main focus now is skyteam (soon it might change , thats why iam also here)

i would suggest to focus on one FFP only , and collect everything there . Up to you to check which one is the best between CX and QR

Redemption rates are going worse and worse every year , regardless of airline , so sitting on a giant pile of miles (assuming these 90k/200k are worth something) and not use them now or in the near future is just a waste due to constant devaluations

Since you only fly in J , then a status wont bring much difference , and as your flight patterns are limited , having a 3rd FFP wont change much

I can recommend you to restart your investigation about new FFPs across all 3 majors alliance once you finish your study and your life will change significantly (maybe more travel , maybe different routes , different home airports , etc .....)

Hi folks

iam looking for an FFP in OW , as ST doesnt fly to airports i will visit a lot after covid . First to collect miles just in case and later , depends on life changes (trips,location,job,projects,etc...) i could target a status (ruby or sapphire) if i get close .

My plans might be centered around 6 airlines

Three carriers i think i will use the most

BA = america + UAE
S7 = russia + CIS
RJ = middle east

The rest will depend on other factors (prices+destinations)

AA = north/central america
IB = central/south america
QR = africa / UAE

i checked and studied the FFP of BA ,S7 , AA , RJ and QR a bit ..... I can say that for me QR and AA are out of the game , so iam open to suggestions regarding BA vs S7 vs RJ or others .....

Unfortunately the benefits are not homogeneous across airlines as in skyteam , so to get the best out of it , i will probably need to target sapphire (if i fly OW a lot) and stick mainly to the airline of my FFP and use others as bonus (if i understood OW FFPs correctly)

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
free luggage , lounges , priority boarding/checkin ....

If possible a FFP who signed partnership with hotel chains like ALL or IHG , so i can either gain points or transfer miles to my hotel account in such way

ALL with A3 M&B = convert M&B miles into ALL points
AFKL FB = cash spent on tickets grants you ALL points

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
40k/60k miles per year , a mix of mid and long haul flights (between 40 and 60 segments)

Check my flightradar24 profile to get an idea

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Y , or J if no choice and its cheaper than Y

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Airlines = yes
class = not

work = 33% (short/mid haul)
private = 66% (mid/long haul)

its not static and work can fluctuate a lot

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Skyteam airlines (80%) + star alliance (20%)

some trips within europe
one yearly trip to UAE
from europe to south america

(6) What is your home airport?
WAW and BER

(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?
Skyteam FB platinum

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
S7,BA,QR,RJ for OW

I have been a BA Silver member for years (was even BA Gold for a year).
With QR having undone their devaluation and removed lounge access from their cheapest business class fares, I have been wondering if it could make sense to switch.
I never earned a lot of Avios from flying. Avios, however, are easy to come by. They are sold through partners all the time (like The Economist) and basically all banks' points can be transferred to BA/IB.
I would usually use them on things like IB business class flights between MAD and the Americas or shorthaul flights, for example in Asia (HKG-PVG in CX J, stuff like that).
However, QR points are harder to come by. For example, in the US, they only partner with Citibank. And DXB-DOH-FRA is only 45k QMiles one way now...


(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Security fast track, lounge access, good award redemption rates.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Hard to estimate. When I used to live in Europe, I would have 1-2 long haul business class return flights (like OSL-BKK in QR R class, or Scandinavia-USA flights on BA/AA), plus a couple of BA/IB shorthaul flight in economy. Also a couple of error fares, if there were any. That was always enough to easily renew my status.
I also used to have a ton of shorthaul flights on Star Alliance (mostly SK and a little bit on LH).
I generally prefer Oneworld for longhaul flights.

In the meantime, there has been covid and I have moved to DXB. I have 5-10 return flights in business class between Dubai and Europe per year, I guess. But some of them could be on miles, I've flown EK on miles a lot.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Economy for short haul. Business for flights of over 4 hours.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
I can choose freely, I'm self-employed. It's mostly a mix of work and pleasure.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
FRA-DXB/FRA-DOH, something like that. I'm flexible otherwise. Preference for QR on longhaul.

(6) What is your home airport?
DXB

(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?
A3 Gold, still BA Silver.

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

Moving to CPH, what to do for OW FFP?
 

Hi all, I'm pretty new to FT but grateful for all the incredible knowledge and opinions already.

I'm moving from London to CPH in May 2022, having lived in Australia before that. I'm about to start flying more for business (short and long haul) but the exact amount isn't clear to me yet, nor is the amount of choice I'll have in who I fly with for business (and will likely include flying SK). For business, I'll likely be in economy short-haul and business for long-haul. Business trips will likely be CPH-LON, CPH-USA, and CPH-NRT/HND.

In addition to my answers to questions below, my main flying for leisure would be CPH-LON, CPH-USA (East & West coasts), and CPH-MEL, where I will try to prioritise upgrades to premium cabins on points (I don't mind flying extra sectors here).

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: lounge access, priority check-in and security, good award redemption rates or ability to use points to book award seats on partner airlines

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: Probably ~50k, but this is the biggest unknown in my equation as the amount of business flying will be unclear until I start the job.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Reply: Business, premium economy, economy

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Definitely for personal travel, but not sure about business travel as yet.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Reply: At the moment, I fly mostly with BA in Europe and transatlantic. Business & personal travel routes once in CPH are likely to be as described above, with personal CPH-USA and CPH-MEL trips being 1-2x per year each.

(6) What is your home airport?
Reply: LHR currently, CPH from May 2022.


(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:
FFP Status - QF Gold, OZ Diamond, BA Bronze (I was trying to build BA status as I thought I would be in London long term and wanted to use Exec Club benefits like advanced seat selection, etc; I recognise this may have been a mistake)
Banked miles - QF 99k, OZ 44k, BA 22k, Amex MR 81k

QF have said they are extending my QF Gold until January 2023 because of the pandemic.

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply:
Most common flown on at present is BA; QF or QR when I was based in Australia.
Within OW, I don't have a strong preference if in economy. For premium, my preferred are QR, QF, CX, AY, and new BA suite.

I think I might actually be asking: 1) stick with QF, 2) continue building with BA, or 3) switch to someone else?

Thank you so so much for the help! I really appreciate it.

For QF you need to fly 4 eligible QF or Jetstar flights to maintain status. So your QF Gold (OW Sapphire) status will be gone unless you get to AU (QF/JQ) or Asia(Jetstar) to get those 4 lights. So is very good you have OW Sapphire until Jan in 2023. Very useful for free seat selection on BA, including business class

OW does *not* has a cross airline upgrade scheme, But may happen (OW site press release), If like Star Alliance or the AA-BA-IB-AY upgrade scheme will require a high base fare. So totally useless for most people. Really need to fly the airline of your ffp to have a chance of an upgrade. But upgrades are not guaranteed and hard to get. Would not select a ffp based on the hope of a upgrade. Some airlines will only upgrade1 class. Like economy to premium economy or premium economy to business. So check the ffp's detailed rules for upgrades.

A lot of what you want come with mid level status. EU is small so getting status on short and/or cheap (long-short haul) flights is very hard.

If living in UK/EU BAEC would be considered by most to be a better ffp than QF. QF ffp is OK to a point if flying QF a lot (premium class's) and/or getting QF ff points from non flying activity (~living in AU). QF have a very high cost in QF points for upgrades. QF earn to burn is not that good compared to other ffp's. To me the time horizon for ffp's is 3 to 5 years at most. Earn to burn in ~2 years..

Be careful about ff miles/avios/points expiry:--> https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mile...-t-expire.html
Many (to most?) ffp's are not extending ff miles expiry. Only status.

Edit
Blog (ExecTrav AU)--->Is BA Executive Club membership worth it for Australian travellers?

Great advice! Thanks very much again Mwenenzi! This may be a silly small print question, but is it possible to use my QF Gold on the BA website to access things like seat selection/lounge/etc while then crediting the points (avios & status) to BA? That seems like the sweet spot until 2023 for me.

Thanks again

Are threads on using 1 ffp status to get a benefit and then changing to another ffp number for earning ff miles/status. In OW the Finnair AY or Royal Jordan RJ web sites are often used. However the changing of the ffn does not always stick. People have reported getting a boarding pass with the "new" ff number, but flights still get credited to the old.. So a gamble

Sample threads

• https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...selection.html
• https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...advantage.html
• https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ge-access.html
• https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...y-any-fix.html
• https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ing-avios.html

For status, BA is fine. You'll easily make BA Silver (OW Sapphire).
If you have a chance to get 4 segments on Alaska in, I'd go for Mileage Plan. It's probably the best Oneworld program, and you can also redeem miles for flights on Singapore Airlines.

New to all this here looking for advice, and planning for several trips next year with a P2, centered around purchasing a business class flight (I) from Qatar with cash (KUL-SFO), and 2-3 more transpacific flights. I'm wondering what would be a good FPP and strategy moving forward. Have some miles scattered here and there before but nothing significant enough to be tied to.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Good award redemption rates, better award access, extra baggage allowance
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Next year is likely >50000 miles, 10-20 segments, with one business trip, but after that should be 25000-50000 miles per year in <10 trips.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Economy/Premium Economy
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Personal pleasure
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
SFO-SIN/KUL, US Domestic, haven't stuck to any particular airline so far
(6) What is your home airport?
SFO
(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?
None
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Considering centering future SFO-SIN/KUL travel redemption around Qatar Qsuites with P2, but no preference otherwise.

Spent a bit of time researching so far but a bit hard to pin down what information is recent and is outdated given all the changes since the pandemic. My general sense is that Alaska Airlines is probably the best overall in terms of award earn, and my idea of centering travel redemption around the QSuites for US to Asia could be not wise given that it seems tied to either CX asiamiles or QR, that have worse earn, and redemption availability could be limited. So I'm fine moving away from that idea. But maybe the Qatar family benefits is interesting enough to reconsider? I'm not sure.

QR ffp does have many fans outside of those who live in Qatar and/or fly QR a lot. Even then some detractor from people in Qatar,
Agree as you live in USA (SFO) AS would be a reasonable fit. But AS has a limited very prescriptive award chart
A guide (check the ffp web site)--->https://www.wheretocredit.com/qatar-airways/i
What other airlines do you have ff miles and/or fly? Any in Oneworld?

Premium awards hard to get with any ffp/airline. Would not select a ffp on the hope of particular airline for an award.

Be careful with ff miles expiry of the scattered ff miles.
Link-->https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mile...-t-expire.html
QR ff miles have a hard expiry. Use them or lose them

Edit
AS does not offer QR for USA Asia award.
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...s/award-charts
Map-->http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=c%3Ablu...=bm&PW=3&DU=mi

That circle map definitely puts some things in perspective, huh, thanks. Yeah, originally this started with me trying to figure out what are my best options for an premium award travel on KUL-SFO routes and whether I should plan my credit card strategy around it, and then realizing QSuites can only be reasonably redeemed through QR and CX I think. It's fine if I have to move away from the QSuites idea.

Good points. Among oneworld I think I just have 9k with Finnair but it's fine, being scattered and the upcoming travel plan is why I'm trying to figure out my strategy going forward so I'm not as wasteful on them.
You're right that I won't be earning any significant points through flights alone, so expiry is one big thing to consider. So it sounds like for me I probably should just focus on what I can get out of the business trip (wheretocredit shows it'll grant me 19k AS points while the Qcalculator shows me I'll get 22k on QR for one-way), balanced with what makes sense longer term, and what I can supplant with credit card program transfers (I'm 1/24 on credit cards right now). The last part is probably where the AS ffp plan falters a bit.

Not anymore:
https://mainlymiles.com/2020/07/29/q...with-activity/

Totakeke :
I’d write down some typical routes and fare classes, then calculate how many miles you’d earn in different programs, and then check what you’d get for those miles. E.g. if KUL-SFO is a typical route for you, how many KUL-SFO trips would you have to take, before you’d get one free?

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Emerald status benefits; upgrades; award redemption; access to exit row seating on domestic flights without charge.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
~125,000; maybe 30 segments. Most flying is long-haul.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
80% in paid international business, the remainder on U.S. domestic flights in economy.
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes and both.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
U.S. Transcon on AA; London on AA or BA; S.E. Asia on AA, CX, or JL.
(6) What is your home airport?
LAS, BKK, 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?
AA Platinum Pro. Most miles in my AA account
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
CX, SQ, JL

Would like to make Emerald without the onerous spend and segment requirements coming on AA.

Can you get those 4 flights per year on AS metal in? Could be a good choice. I unfortunately don't know enough about the programs of CX and JL.

Based on your flying patterns, I don't think that you would have any trouble maintaining Emerald status with AA. Remember that under the new earning scheme, an AA Plat Pro gets an 80% Loyalty Points bonus on qualifying flights, and you also get a cabin bonus.

If you were willing to fly Finnair for just one JFK-BKK Business Class roundtrip, for example, I think that you would end up with more than 50,000 LPs.

If you'd rather obtain elite status in another oneworld program (which would give you Admirals Club access when flying AA domestically in Coach), I would look into BAEC (if you can satisfy BA's annual minimum BA-flight-segment requirement), or Iberia Plus which, unlike BA, does not require any flights on its own airline to attain status. Here's a recent Inside Flyer blog post about this:

https://insideflyer.com/2021/09/27/w...h-iberia-plus/

Since you're already Platinum Pro with AA, you might want to look at a status match with Alaska, which would give you immediate MVP Gold 75K (Oneworld Emerald) status with AS. https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...%3aMileagePlan. You could then decide whether to pursue long-term Emerald status with AS or with any other Oneworld program. I guess the main question is what benefits do you depend on that require Emerald status?

The Asian carrier programs tend to be pretty poor.

I've never flown AS. Doesn't mean I couldn't, but I don't seem to fly on their route structure.

AS is interesting, however, as I would keep domestic upgrades alive, which I would lose with any other oneworld carrier status.

Not sure how the math works on that. I thought it was flight distance on foreign carriers and the class of service bonus, e.g., 1,000 mile flight would be 1,800 Loyalty Points.

How does JFK-BKK get to 50,000?

I already have two QR business class tickets between LAX and BKK through DOH that I will be flying in the first quarter.

I had BA Gold a few years ago. Wasn't worth much.

The other problem with BA is that as you hit each lower tier, it resets to make the next level.

IB sounds very interesting with the two year status benefit.

I fly mostly international and enjoy the F lounges at LAX (QF), HND and HKG.

I also value domestic upgrades on AA.

I'd prefer to stay with AA, but the 30-segments to unlock Loyalty Rewards just isn't going to happen.

I'll take a look at AS.

Query: If I have IB Emerald status, can I reserve exit row seats on AA without charge?

How does JFK-BKK get to 50,000?

JFK-HEL-BKK-HEL-JFK is ~ 18,000 flown miles. Finnair Business Class gets a 100% cabin bonus when booked on a C or D fare. (Finnair Business Class booked on an I or R fare only gets a 25% cabin bonus.) And Platinum Pro gets an 80% bonus on base miles. So, 18,000 + 18,000 + 14,400 = 50,400.

I also value domestic upgrades on AA.

Don't count on getting upgrades on AA unless you have status with AA.

I'd prefer to stay with AA, but the 30-segments to unlock Loyalty Rewards just isn't going to happen.

Fair enough, but will you get additional benefits by attaining oneworld Emerald status in a different program? If not, you're giving up potential domestic upgrades on AA for what? Admirals Club access on domestic AA flights is all that comes to mind. And you also have to consider how the value proposition from redeeming, say, IB Avios compares to redeeming AAdvantage miles.

Query: If I have IB Emerald status, can I reserve exit row seats on AA without charge?

Both IB Emerald and IB Sapphire get free MCE at time of booking. IB Ruby gets free MCE 24 hours before departure time.

Edited to add: If you opt to pursue oneworld status with AS, AS flies from LAS to three international gateways: LAX, SFO, and SEA. And flights on SQ also earn miles -- including elite-qualifying miles -- on AS.

If USA domestic upgrades are *very* important you need to stay with AA ffp. Or AS ffp to a lesser extent
AS freq flyers on AA have some upgrade options. AA-AS relationship is few steps more than just OW alliance partners

• https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...erican-aa.html
• https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...-2021-a-3.html

AA-BA-IB have a cross airline upgrade system (outside of OW), but has onerous t&c's

• https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...aster-thd.html

As far as sear selection goes a OWS & OWE benefit is "preferred seating". Each airline has a different definition that I have never seen published
AA changed its definition to remove MCE for OW alliance S & E status. Then a few weeks later bough it back for BA freq flyers only.

• https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...-restored.html

Subject to t&c's you can move avios BA<--->IB. But not status

From aa.com:

"Elite member access

Who gets complimentary Main Cabin Extra seats?

• AAdvantage® Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro and Platinum members
• oneworld® Sapphire and Emerald members with elite status on Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair or Japan Airlines

All listed members are allowed complimentary access for up to 8 traveling companions on the same reservation.

AAdvantage® Gold and oneworld® Ruby members*

Enjoy complimentary access within 24 hours of departure when seats are available.

*oneworld® Ruby members with elite status on Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair or Japan Airlines"

So it sounds as though all I'll be giving up is the possibility of domestic upgrades on AA.

When I was an EP, I was usually upgraded. As a PP, I am batting about a third, but usually on the short haul flights. I flew LAX-MIA last week on a 77W and neither I nor the EP next to me were upgraded.

I can make the spend requirement for at least PP, but 30-segments on AA a year just doesn't even come close since most of my flying is international long haul.

I value Emerald status due to first class international lounge access, and MCE seats on AA on domestic flights is very important to me.

I also like that Iberia is good for two years so I think I am going to give them a try starting in April.

Thanks for all the help!

Unless getting access to Admirals Clubs when you're flying a solely domestic itinerary is important to you, I'm not sure why your inability to meet the 30-AA-segment requirement for getting AA bonuses matters. Between cabin bonuses and status bonuses, I can't imagine that you would not be able to retain OWE status (at least Platinum Pro, if not EXP) with AA. You're not going to get the AA bonus if you're OWE with Iberia, Alaska, etc., so what difference does it make?
​​​​​
​​​​​​

It's not the domestic club access that is important to me. It's the international first class lounges that come with Emerald status.

I can make PP on AA, but without the 30 segments, all I will get beyond IB Emerald is domestic upgrades, which aren't clearing much anyway.

With IB, status is good for the qualifying year and two years thereafter.

IB just seems an easier route to Emerald without losing anything other than domestic upgrades.

OK. If the AA domestic upgrades are not that important to you, and if you think that it will be easier to attain and retain IB Platino (OWE) than AA Platinum Pro (which has been OWE since 6/30/21), then the IB Plus program might be right for you. And IB Plus does offer the possibility of lifetime OWE status, so there is that.

Good luck!

This looks like an interesting thread. I have life changes coming up soon, I'll explain:

Currently:
Live and work: TLV
Family: London (LHR et al)
Work satellite office: SEA
Work owners: LAX

Hoping to move to the US next year, so could look like;
Live and work: SEA or SFO
Family: London (LHR et al)
Work satellite office: SEA
Work owners: LAX

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

Lounge access, priority security, upgrades in seats / class.

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

It varies. Assuming there are not too many COVID variants, I might fly TLV-LHR ~3 times a year, TLV-SEA 1-2 times and TLV-LAX 1-2 times. So we can say maybe 40,000 plus minus.

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

If I'm paying Economy or occasionally Premium. If work is paying, Business.

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

I can choose airlines, class as above. I travel for work and pleasure as above. Presumably if I move to the US I'll do more of my pleasure travel within the US.

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

See (2) and (8).

(6) What is your home airport?

Currently TLV, next year probably SEA or SFO.

(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?

Mostly American, hoping to save Platinum through 2023 (see thread on the subject). 59,205 award miles.
Also BA Bronze with ~16,000 Avios, Virgin Red with ~14,000 points.

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

I like Virgin, Swiss, Lufthansa, but they don't often suit my routes so I usually find myself flying American / BA, and I'm generally okay with them.

What does the font of all knowledge think?

If you want lounge access for domestic flights in the U.S. on AA/AS, you would need oneworld Sapphire or Emerald in a non-U.S. oneworld FFP. BAEC/Iberia Plus seem the likely candidates for you. And oneworld Sapphire or Emerald with BAEC or IB+ would also get you Main Cabin Extra seats at time of booking on AA.

But if you're looking for free class upgrades on AA or AS, you would need elite status in either one of those programs. That said, if you'd only be able to attain relatively low-level status with AA or AS, you might find that your upgrade percentage would be relatively low.

Edited to add: For Business Class roundtrips from TLV to U.S. West Coast, you would likely achieve oneworld status faster by crediting to BA, as long as you were able to fly the minimum number of BA flight segments. In fact, you could attain OWS status after just one roundtrip if you included one domestic segment on AA or AS. For example: LHR-TLV-JFK-LAX, or TLV-LHR-SFO-SEA.

Hi. has anyone ever had issues with securing main cabin extra seat on AA or preferred seat on AS while being AY gold or AY platinum?

i booked an alaska flight and can't choose preferred seat and shows me also baggage fees. i didn't have this issue with my BA status

More of a question for AA AS or AY forum as your other thread https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post33822945

I hated that AA can keep this discriminatory policy. I've written to CX several times that they should take away AA élites' benefit of booking exit row seats on CX flights for free. Sadly CX doesn't seem to care.

I would appreciate some outside opinions on this as I'm stuck in analysis paralysis. With the changes to AA was looking to switch to a new program and I'm torn between BA, AS, or staying with AA. Thinking of doing a status match to AS and then flying the 20k needed to keep it, which would also get me the 12 segments for 75k.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Lounge access during international travel and good redemption rates. Don't want to pay $1,000 plus miles for each business class award. SAN only has a contracted club which is accessible with Priority Pass but not sure if BA status would grant access when flying AA or AS.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
25k-50k with a max of about 20 segments.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Domestic: coach with family or business/first when solo.
International: business or PE
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
For non-work trips, yes. For work trips generally no.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Work: Bay Area 10x/year or East Coast 2x/year
Non-work: East Coast or Florida 2x/year and random trips to Europe or any good deals
(6) What is your home airport?
SAN but also drive up to LAX if need be since AA quit flying SAN-LAX
(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 EXP and 1MM. Have ~65k miles with AA and 2 J r/t awards booked which is worth another 300k if covid forces us to cancel. Also have 55 500 mile upgrades that I haven't been able to use during my time as EXP, which I could maybe use if I drop down to gold from 1MM.
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Been AA EXP for the past 6-7 years and platinum for about 10 years before that but that is usually through flying partners. SAN based so a lot of AS options and fewer AA options than in the past.

Also, I currently have the following booked for next year:
AMS-HEL-LHR-JFK-LAX//SAN-DFW-JFK-HEL-LHR-BCN all in business with almost all BA codes
CMN-MAD-LHR-MIA in business and first (LHR-MIA) with IB and AA codes, which makes crediting to AA pointless due to the "sale" price.
If my math is right that is 1030 TPs with BA or ~38k EQM on AS.

All you really need for lounge access is OWS on BA (or maybe IB). If you are unlikely to achieve OWE, I would just concentrate on attaining OWS. BAEC is not bad for nonstop Economy Class redemptions on AA/AS within the Americas; no cash surcharges apply. And BA has a generous policy for cancelling such redemptions: you only forfeit the $5.60 September 11 Security Fee you pay each way when you book. But both BA and IB charge extra Avios for each flight flown, so connections are not free.

IB, on the other hand, has relatively low cash surcharges when you fly IB between the U.S. (including LAX) and MAD. So I think it's really a question of how you plan to redeem the miles/Avios you earn on paid travel.

Keep in mind that you can freely transfer Avios between BA and IB. So there's no need to choose one over the other for award redemptions. If you're considering BA vs. IB, you should focus on the status earning parts of the programs.

Interesting. Never thought about IB. I'll need to look into how they do qualifying. With my already booked travel I have enough for BA Silver. They don't a challenge or match though right? So I would have to leave my AA number on the reservations for OWE benefits up to the flight and then change to BA number for earning.

Note that in order to transfer Avios to IB, the IB account must be at least 90 days old and it must have had some activity (you can transfer 1 Amex point for example, or buy some points).

Note that IB Plus' earning period runs from April 1 until March 31. IB has different earnings charts for different airlines, so be aware of how that might affect your already-booked travel. Here's an Inside Flyer article about IB+ that you might find helpful:

https://insideflyer.co.uk/2019/03/qa...f-iberia-plus/

As for switching your AAdvantage number to a BA or IB number just before boarding, what pre-flight benefits would your AA number get you on a Business Class ticket? Maybe free seat selection on BA-operated flights?

Yes, seat selection and access to first class lounges at LHR and HEL (if/when it reopens), with seat selection being the bigger of the two. Currently in 6K in a Club Suites 772 for the LHR-JFK leg.
All my planned travel is currently for May and later so IB's earning window should be OK.