Well, then, it's really a mixed bag: With QR Avios you will likely see more award availability on Avios-based airlines, but you will also see carrier surcharges on most redemptions; with AAdvantage, more availability on AA, less availability on some other carriers, and no surcharges on any carrier except BA/IB.

Very good points.

What do I do, Noobie at all of this. Despite all the flying.
 

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Upgrades (especially on long-haul), priority services (check-in, boarding, baggage). Award redemption value matters, but in-flight comfort and reduced friction while traveling are the primary goals. Complimentary or realistically attainable upgrades are a key interest.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Approximately 150,000–160,000 miles per year, primarily long-haul international. Roughly 20 one-way flights annually, mostly Asia–US and Asia–Europe sectors. All flying is currently in Economy. Typical one-way sector is ~7,500–8,000 miles.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Economy class, often lower fare buckets such as O or M. Note my company buys on it's card. I don't get to use my CC.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes, I can generally choose the airline and routing. All travel is for work. Company tries to buy the lowest fare class, does this only 4/5 days prior to flying, so I guess O class, some times Y maybe.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Primarily Asia–US long-haul (India ↔ US), with some Asia–Europe travel. Currently flying Qatar Airways most often (but I can try and change that based on your advice), with additional flying on SkyTeam and Star Alliance carriers depending on routing.

(6) What is your home airport?
BLR

(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.
• Qatar Airways Gold (Sapphire)
• Flying Blue Silver
Also holding smaller balances across other programs from past flying.

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
No fixed preference yet; open to community feedback. In practice, fly Qatar Airways, Air France/KLM, Delta, British Airways, Emirates, and other major international carriers based on work requirements.

Thanks,
PF

If your company is buying late Economy tickets (even in lower fare buckets) then you probably want to look at a programme which credits on spend, so BA Club flying BA for example gets you the most bang for your (company's) buck. Status upgrades do happen on BA but realistically need a lower cabin to be oversold and for there to be space in the higher cabins.

How much are you spending each year?
Are you looking at upgrades to premium economy or upgrading to business from economy?

BA economy is generally miserable compared to Middle East carriers, so I wouldn't go with that program necessarily... And upgrading is almost always better if you are elite with the airline operating the flight.

FCO based | 100% Economy | Goal: Oneworld Sapphire & Biz Redemptions
 

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some expert advice on the best Oneworld strategy for my specific travel pattern


My wife and I are based in Rome (FCO) and fly exclusively for leisure, mostly to Southeast Asia. We almost always fly Qatar Airways in Economy because we enjoy breaking the journey in Doha (we dislike long 12h+ hauls).

I currently credit to Qatar Privilege Club (and hold a status match to RJ Ruby), but I'm wondering if sticking with QRPC is the best mathematical move given my discounted Economy fares, or if I should look at British Airways Executive Club (or others) to reach Oneworld Sapphire faster and pool miles for future Business Class redemptions


Here are my details based on the standard questionnaire


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

Gaining status efficiently to access Lounges and Priority services across the Oneworld alliance.
I’d like to use my points to redeem Award Flights in Economy or Business Class.

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

Approx. 15-18 flight sectors per year.
100% Economy Class
Note: I always travel as a couple with my wife. We fly on the same itinerary, so programs offering Household Accounts (pooling points) or guest privileges are highly preferred.

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

Discounted Economy / Promo fares (e.g., Qatar Airways Booking Class 'O', 'T', or similar).
Price sensitivity is high.

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

I travel for pleasure and I have full control over my airline choice and schedule

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

Europe (Rome FCO) to Southeast Asia (BKK, SIN) via the Middle East

(6) What is your home airport?

Rome Fiumicino FCO

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

Currently holding Royal Jordanian Silver (Oneworld Ruby) via a Status Match.
I am actively collecting Avios/Qpoints with Qatar Airways Privilege Club (currently Burgundy/Bronze level).

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

Qatar Airways is my absolute preference.
Reason: I prefer to break up long-haul trips into shorter segments (max 6-7 hours per leg) with a stopover in Doha, rather than flying 12+ hours direct.

Goal: I am looking for the FFP that offers the "path of least resistance" to Gold/Sapphire status given my flight patterns (Economy, multiple segments) and high usage of Qatar Airways metal.Thank you very much for your help

xandergenius Welcome to FT
Being pragmatic with approx. 15-18 flight sectors per year.in discounted economy / Promo fares you have no hope in getting the OW Sapphire that is needed for lounge access, based on status with any airline ffp. Even less chance for those ffp's that base status on money spent.
For 15-18 sectors per year better the select flights based on schedule & price, on any airline. Any frequent flyer miles/points/avios collected are just a minor bonus that may or may not be of use before they expire.

Avios is used as ff currency by QR, BA, AY, IB, IE. Subject to rules can be moved at no cost to other avios's ffp.
Generally no ffp will give more frequent flyer miles/points/avios than the airline you fly on. Note frequent flyer miles/points/avios are not equal to earn or burn. Cannot compare 1:1. Just as 1 Euro does not equal 1 US$. Some credit cards do transfer as the same rate to a range of ffp's.

With 2 people/2 ff accounts 1 account can be used for the award seats out and the other account for the return seats (one way awards)
Nowadays many people get more frequent flyer miles/points/avios from non flying activity like credit cards, shopping . hotels etc.

Thanks for the reality check. I appreciate the directness.

If Oneworld Sapphire is mathematically out of reach with my fare classes, I will shift my goal purely to maximising Redemptions.



I already have an Amex Platinum (transferable to Avios) and I am familiar with earning extra Avios via online shopping portals. So my "points engine" is not just flying.

Since I cannot get lounge access via flight status, I want to get it by redeeming miles (Amex + Flights + Shopping) for Business Class tickets.



Given this, which program is best for a couple flying Qatar metal in discounted economy solely for:

* Pooling points (Household Account is a must).

* Best earning rates on QR 'O'/'T' classes (to avoid the 0% earn traps).

* Good redemption value for future Biz flights (combining flight miles with my Amex transfers).



Should I just stick with Qatar Privilege Club or move to BA/Finnair or other?

Not going to get international complementary upgrades. With oneworld international flight upgrades with frequent flyer miles/points/avios, sometimes with cash co-payment, are generally only available on the airline that you have an account with and are flying. That is QR avios on QR marketed / QR operated flights for example.
Have you tried to get an upgrade on your QR flights?
Avios is used as ff currency by QR, BA, AY, IB, IE. Subject to rules can be moved at no cost to other avios's ffp.
BA & AA have an out of alliance cross airline scheme. Requires a high cost base fare class.

Oneworld airlines AA & QF are trialing a OW upgrade scheme. Cost of an upgrade is *very* high. Have yet to read of anyone being successful.
Star Alliance have a cross airline upgrade scheme. Requires a high base fare class and onerous t&c's. Useless for most people. Example with UA --> https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...-carriers.html

Be very careful with pooling/house hold accounts. Maybe a disadvantage.
With 2 accounts with about the same balance use 1 account for 2 pax one way awards out and the other account for 2 pax one way awards home.

QR & BA have an arrangement where no need to move avios, They can look through and used avios from the other airlines ffp account for awards. BA forum has more details.

Broad earning guide. Check the airlines ffp rules-->
https://wheretocredit.com/en
https://wheretocredit.com/en/QR/T

15-18 flight sectors per year.. so, 4+ roundtrips ?
I would suggest Malaysia's program, where even discount Qatar economy flights earn 6 tier points per flight. 4 flights per rt = 24 elite points.. and you would easily qualify for OW sapphire this way..
https://enrich.malaysiaairlines.com/...w-updates.html

miss post

3 r/t EU-DOH-SEAsia fares in economy to reach OWS sounds too good to be true tbh, considering that this amount of flying plus some intra-EU one ways barely got me to 40% of BA’s Silver… But if that’s the case, I know where to credit starting next year, thanks!

It depends on what you are trying to get out of a program. 4 long haul trips is a lot of flying, despite the cost. A long time ago, 2 long haul trips in economy like that would have gotten you to mid tier status anywhere.

Discount economy earns a small amount, and redemption using Malaysia miles is not great on top of that.

Which one world airline works best for me
 

Hello everyone,

I need some help on deciding on if I should go with JAL or Cathay Pacific program for this year. I am based in HCMC have Platinum status with Vietnam Airlines United Gold, and Atmos Gold. I will do four paid long haul paid business class flights this year, mostly economy flights within Asia for short haul. Strictly looking on which would be the best program for my spend. By the end of the year:

At minimum I will have JGC Premier status (10,000 short of Diamond)
I will have Cathay Pacific Gold but not really close to Platinum

It seems like JAL would give me more for how much I am spending for flights (OW emerald vs sapphire). Is there any reason for me to go with Cathay Pacific? The biggest benefit with Cathay is the fact that it's only a 2.5 flight from HCMC and positioning fares would more affordable.

How long will you be in Ho Chi Minh City (or Asia in general)? Just 1 year, a few years or forever?
A ffp for just "this year" is not really sensible. FFP's are for the mid term, but not not long term. Long term they devalue and change rules too much.

What is you objective with ffp's? Awards, the benefits of status or what ??
What is your definition - criteria for " best program for my spend"? Will not be same as mine.
Can you earn ff miles/points/avios on the ground (non flying) from credit card, household spending, hotels etc?

With
--Vietnam Airlines Platinum (Skyteam)
--United Gold (Star) [miles do not expire]
--Alaska Atmos Gold (Oneworld)
do you really need another ffp? Keep with what you have?
With economy short hauls in Asia and 4 business long haul getting status is not guaranteed.

What has positioning fares to HKG got to do with anything? With alliances, subject to the t&c's, you can earn and burn on partners. Status earnings on partners can be more difficult.

Be mindful of ffp miles/points/avios expiry.
--> https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mile...-t-expire.html

I'm a little puzzled there too about positioning flights since all OW airlines in the region fly to SGN. But perhaps the OP means required segments on that airline to acquire status? JL requires 50% of status points earned to be on JL. CX isn't as rigid but they do have a 2 CX segment requirement to upgrade status in the new program.

No need to repeat what Mwenenzi has already said, but agree it doesn't sound like you need a new FFP. What is your objective of using JL or CX's programs vs. AS that you already have? Perhaps focus instead of getting OW Emerald with AS?

When doing your calculations, be aware that JL requires 50% of your status points (FOP) be earned on JL flights and their award chart is not competitive. You also mentioned JL Premier status, but there is a disclaimer on the site . JGC is primarily for residents of Japan since you have to hold an eligible JAL credit card to enroll. I know there used to be a way for non-residents to join but I no longer see it on the site as an option. (someone else can chime in if it's somewhere else and I'm just missing it).

CX just changed their program, so make sure you're aware that for Gold you have to earn 900 points, not 600 if you're starting from no status since status points reset after upgrading to Silver. This is the same way A3 works in *A. With CX and AS having fairly similar distance based award charts, I don't see the advantage there of switching unless for enhanced award availability on CX.

For non-Japanese resident members you don't need a JAL credit card to enrol https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/jmb/lsp/...qualification/ (compared to https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/jmb/lsp/jgc/qualification/ )
But you need to join JGC at the 1,500 Life Status Point 3-star level - I don't think you can join or be grandfathered at below 3-star level outside Japan <-- I'm happy to be corrected on this

Once you reach 1,500 LSPs, you get a link to a web form https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japa...l#post35629678.
My missus was enrolled at the end of the 50,000 FOPs era in Dec 2023. Already web form then. She never had the Aeon Card JAL (couldn't be persuaded to sign up for it, I ended up transferring her renewal JMB thru Bonvoy and thinking about Accor in the future) nor JAL Card (we can't get that, as overseas members). We were given 1,500 LSPs on 2024 transition.

---

OP claims he can obtain JGC Premier
Obtaining JGC Premier in 2026 will not only require 80,000 FOPs, but JGC membership.
It's not obvious from here he is a current JGC member - as said above, non-resident members are generally at least 3-stars
If 3-star, OP is a oneworld Sapphire ("JGC Green") without annual renewal requirement other than to pay 2,000 JMB annually until next rule change, but he does not mention he has that. He mentions he has Atmos Gold, which is equivalent but has annual renewal criteria.
I'm not sure he understands the JGC bar to becoming JGC Premier. There is no direct conversion of FOPs to LSPs, but 1,000 sector miles (which is the base variable for FOPs before bonuses and multipliers) is 5 LSPs (so 80,000 FOPs is less than 400 LSPs...)

In contrast JMB Diamond is a superior tier to JGC Premier and can be obtained without any JGC membership, for 100,000 FOPs https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/jalmile/...ond_miles.html

Umm, having to earn 900 status points when starting from scratch to earn CX GO was the old way, but with the new programme, as long as one earns 600 status points in calendar year 2026, he will have GO for calendar year 2027.

JL Premier is only accessible with JGC membership, which is only accessible to people with 1500+ Life Status Points (regardless of residence).
For everyone else without JGC membership, JL status is just Crystal, Sapphire, and Diamond.
If Travelingjack04 will have 90k FLYON points with at least 50k on JL flight numbers, then I would suggest doing a run for the last 10k to get to Diamond.

Here are some more details and responses to some of the replies

• HCMC is now a permanent move for me. What I meant by this year was me earning with a new FF program for this year so that I may enjoy the benefits in 2027 and beyond
• I will not earn enough to keep status with VN and United for 2027. Atmos wouldn't work as I may not even fly with them this year and beyond, more benefits when joining FLY ON program (free wifi and using miles for upgrades), and JGC Diamond is OW emerald which I should be able to make by the end of the year.
• JAL USA card doesn't seem like a viable option at all so I guess I will push for Diamond. All of my long haul flights are on JAL metal so I have that covered.

Thanks for the replies and clearing up the whole LSP program.

"Atmos wouldn't work as I may not even fly with them this year " So what !!. The concept of alliance's is you can earn and burn on partners, subject to the rules. Just crunch the numbers. Some ffp's have "own flights" rules for status and others do not.

How many ff miles with AS (HA) Atmos? The HA Hawaiian brand of AS fly's to Asia.
Have you considered the expiry of the AS & VN ff miles?
Status does not do much for you when you fly long haul business class. Usually higher ff miles earnings.

In the case of JAL, it does matter a bit to go with JAL Mileage Bank. First, Life Status Points are JAL's version of "lifetime benefits" but broken into different milestones.. instead of making everyone wait until they hit 1 million of something (like AA, UA, etc). You earn 5 LSP for every 1000 BIS miles essentially, regardless of whether it's economy or business (as long as it's paid travel that accrues). with 4 long haul biz trips on JL, plus intra-Asia economy, 1500 LSP is not too far away. Second, JL Diamond get an annual gift each year -- IMHO the best choice for non-Japan residents is gifting JL Diamond to your partner or family member. JL treats Diamonds very well, in my experience - they will receive more attention than OW Emeralds on a flight.

Hi all,
I'm currently on a Star Alliance FFP, and is in the market for an OW plan. The answers to the sticky questions are as follows:

(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: Good redemption rates.
(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: I would say 25k-50k--however I was talking about the 2010s, and may not return to that level until 2028 at least--we are going to have a baby, and we don't think bringing a baby to a Transpacific flight is a good idea.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: Economy to Premium Economy.
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Pleasure, so I have much freedom in choosing airlines. My consideration here has more to do with avoiding entering the US through LAX.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: Transpacific. I was born in HK and still have significant associations there (as well as the Pearl River Delta region), while my wife is a Japanophile. So I expect us to visit East Asia more than within the US.
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: SAN (San Diego).
(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: I currently have about 130k on UA's plan and plan to redeem it for our final honeymoon this year, as well as downgrading the branded card to free-tier in the next anniversary. I also have 11k on Alaska/Hawaiian Atmos.
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: I'm impartial to Alaska, Cathay Pacific, and Japan Airlines. Miles-wise, it's probably JA, since we prefer their SAN-NRT flight.

Also note that we may consider moving back to East Asia in the future (I mean closer to 2030 than now), so that might be a consideration.

25-50k per year on economy fares isn't whole lot, so where to bank them really will come down to how you want to redeem. It is worth note that most CX economy fares do not credit anything to AA.

Your note about moving back to East Asia in several years probably would not affect my decision on where to bank miles because it sounds like you are unlikely to earn status in any of the programs (at least not enough for OW Sapphire level). Many OW programs especially in Asia have hard expiration dates on miles that can't be extended with activity. So you're best going with a program where miles don't expire as long as you have activity in xx amount of time (AA, BA, QR, etc.), AS miles don't expire (currently, this was a merger negotiation but that could change in the future).

AA has a fixed award chart for most partners, and has some decent sweet spots, though none of those are to/from North America. AS, BA, QR, IB, AY all use a distance based award chart and are excellent for shorter flights that may otherwise be costly. I keep miles in both AA and BA for different purposes. With AA, AS, and BA you can earn a good amount of non-flying miles from online shopping and travel reservations. With BA the earning rate per £ / $ is often much higher on the British site than the American one, but it's always good to compare because it's not always the case. AA's and AS's shopping portals are usually dismal in comparison, though AA has short bonus earning windows quite a bit.

So which program is right for you really comes down to how you'll use the miles as it sounds like you'd likely earn at similar rates in any of AA, AS, or BA programs.

I would recommend JL's program - JMB.
Their awards on JL metal are the best all-around option between US-Japan, with economy starting at 27k one-way. Given how JL econ is one of the best products around, it's a pretty good deal.
Their miles expire 3 yrs after earning, but perhaps you will have accrued enough for a family trip by then. Consider getting the JAL credit card for US residents as well.

Good morning. I need help determining where to post mileage for upcoming trips on Oneworld.

A bit of context: My partner and I relocated from San Francisco to Auckland, and our draw on United and *A isn't what it used to be. Before moving at the start of the year, we would travel a couple of times a year, once to either South Africa or Kenya for safaris, once to Europe, and typically once to Boston to visit family. I flew on either Swiss or Turkish for the international segments and on United to Boston. We purchase business class tickets for all of our flights and first on United's domestic flights. We don't like having to rely on the whimsy of non-existent upgrades. We made one exception when we moved to Auckland because the one-way business class fare from SFO-AKL was $45,000 USD. I simply couldn't justify the delta when economy seats on Hawaiian were $450 per person.

We have about $300,000 Mileage Plus miles which I'll try to use to get a business class award ticket for last-minute travel should the need ever arise.

For more context, going forward, we plan to do one flight to the US, visiting SF, NYC and Boston, and one trip to Europe, and one trip to either South Africa or Kenya. Travel will be in business class.

These are the upcoming flights on Oneworld airlines:

1) AA Flt 7285, AKL-Sydney, Business, R Class 1,345 miles, codeshare operated by Qantas;
2) AA Flt 7375, Sydney-LAX, Business R Class 7,488, codeshare operated by Qantas;
3) AA Flt 3138, LAX-SFO, First R Class 337 miles;
4) AA Flt 276, SFO-JFK, Business R Class 2,586 miles;
5) AA Flt 4605, LGA-BOS, First R Class, 185 miles;
6) AA Flt 6926, BOS-LHR, Business R Class, 3.265 miles, codeshare operated by British Airways;
7) BA Flt 460, LHR-MAD, Business R Class, 773 miles;
8) IB Flt 717, MAD-LHR, Business I Class, 773 miles;
9) AA Flt 105, LHR-JFK, Business I Class, 3,451 miles; and
10) AA Flt 7264, JFK-AKL, Business I Class, 8,828 miles, codeshare operated by Qantas.

The total distance to be flown calculates 29,031 miles.

My partner has roughly 100,000 miles in his AA Advantage account. Somehow, my account was canceled for nonuse or at least I can no longer log in.

We each have roughly 6,900 Alaska ATMOS miles for our economy seats from SFO-AKL, equal to one mile for every mile flow, back in January 2026.

Would we stand to earn more money on Alaska, AA or Qantas?

For travel to Europe, we could fly QF, CX, QR, QF/BA or maybe JL. To Africa, I suppose it'd be QF, QR or CX. To US, AS, AA, QF.

Any insight would be helpful. Thank you. Jim

Without knowing what month(s) you'd be traveling to which places, it's hard to say anything definitive, but it certainly sounds like you'd be good candidates for Oneworld round-the-world tickets. These are good for a year, can include up to 16 segments, are relatively easy to modify, and could well save you a lot of money.

The Oneworld tickets are priced according to how many continents you touch in the course of the ticket (3 to 6) as well as the class of service. However it's important to note that the base prices vary hugely depending on where the travel begins and ends. For example, at present Japan and Norway offer the cheapest origination points for business class RTWs, with base prices almost half what the ticket would cost in the USA or most other countries.

So you could use some of your miles/points to get to, say, Tokyo or Oslo, fly for the next year (or whatever) using the ticket, end up back in Japan or Norway, and if this travel pattern is recurrent, just start a new one.

By starting in some country other than NZ, you can fly home part way through the ticket as a long stopover then finish back at the origin point before the 12 months is up.

This board is loaded with examples, Q & As, best practices, etc. I'd definitely browse through it.

How much did you pay for your tickets?
That will determine AA earnings as you have AA BA IB flight numbers.

Alaska is only practical for people who book directly with Alaska.

Call AA and see if they'll reinstate your account for a fee

Welcome to NZ
How long will you be in NZ for?
A few months/years or for ever?

As an aside Air NZ (Star Alliance) is incredibly stingy about release premium awards to other ffp's. And 2 pax even less
.
Guessing the HA-AS flight could not credit to AAdvantage. Did you check? Small amounts of ff miles are basically orphaned. Little to nil value.

For travel to South Africa or Kenya the middle east carriers are likely to be best. QF fly SYD to Jo-berg. You probably will end up on QR Qatar.

Do not fly OW just for ff miles/avios/points. Other airlines may have better price - schedules.

Hi Gardyloo,

I thought that a round-the-world ticket required having to travel in one direction around the Earth. My partner decided that with the conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine being unresolved, it was best to return westbound. We had considered such a ticket, as we figured we could travel with Qatar or Cathay Pacific.

Tokyo's a solid 10-hour flight so we feel like this could be a long positioning flight, and the cost of a business class flight between Auckland and Tokyo in business class would likely mitigate the savings on the other end. I understand that it could be recurring, but nothing is certain.

I'll browse through the forum as you suggest.

At this stage, however, with the ticket that we have already purchased, I'm more keen on determining to which frequent flyer program we should deposit miles/points.

We are traveling in September 2026.

Hi Mwenenzi. Thank you for the welcome. We absolutely love it here. We found a great place to settle down, and we enjoy the laid back lifestyle here.

The move is permanent. We only plan to visit family and friends in the US.

I understand that Air New Zealand has a hub here, and Qantas has a small operations here.

1) For travel to Africa, which we do once a year, travel on OW seems to be either through HKG or SYD. With A*, it seems to require three flights on some combination of Thai and Ethiopian, unless traveling to JNB with SQ via SIN.

2) To the US with OW, we could either do Qantas to JFK to elsewhere via Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne, or HA via HNL.
To the US with *A, we could go to LAX, SFO, IAH & JFK.

3) To Europe, it's either via the west coast or JFK or via Asia or Middle East.

Based on this premise and that the cost of the tickets we purchased were a good deal cheaper than travel on *A, we decided to book the trip with OW.

For what it's worth, HA wouldn't credit to AA because the AS-HA merger hadn't gone through by the time we flew in January. And I contacted AA. They will not reinstate the miles. Too much time had passed. I was under the assumption that the miles did not expire. They did.