Hello everyone, Currently AA platinum. Considering joining BA's program because of the changes to AA next month. Based in Belgium, but hate the M&M program for what they charge for award tickets. I use BA and IB for European flights so I'm hesitating.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Lounge access, seat selection, upgrades

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
About 50k miles, mostly in economy class, mostly transatlantic. Some European trips, mostly on BA and IB.

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

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Both. For work, business tickets are allowed only once or twice a year, depending on price.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
British Airways + American, Lufthansa + United on Transatlantic routes. BA and IB on European routes.

(6) What is your home airport?
BRU (DUS, AMS)

(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

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
BA, IB, LH, SN

Thanks!

KipKe Welcome to FT

In post 3 there several AA vs BA and AA vs xx threads started by potential AA refugees
When BA recently announced change there were BA vs xx threads by potential BA refugees.

Like majority of ffp's are doing, benefits are reducing and costs are going up.
The halcyon days of frequent flyer programs a decade ago are gone: just accept reality.

The grass in not always greener on the other side

USA based airline ffp's tend to be more generous (status benefits/earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry) compared to non USA based airline ffp’s (even after the recently announced changes to some USA ffp’s)

Thanks for your answer. I will read the posts you referred to and stick with AA for the time being ;-)

Hi! I am very inexperienced in miles collection (especially with OW) and the forum has given me already a lot of insights! I still have a few questions, so please have a look below if you have time :-)

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

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
25 to 40 flights a year

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

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Mostly for pleasure, and I can always choose the airline (when traveling for work with capped budget)

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
I live in AMS and me and my gf have family in ITA and FRA, so those are the places I fly mostly to

(6) What is your home airport?
AMS

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
I recently flew Finnair and banked the miles in my BA FFP.
My company's preferred partners for APAC is Cathay, and I could earn Silver tier in their FFP without the need of actual flights with them. However I do not plan on flying with Cathay anytime soon (I specifically don't have the need to travel to APAC for work).

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
KLM-AF, which is why I almost never use OW.

In March I will fly Qatar AMS-DOH-SGN-DOH-AMS, and I'm wondering where should I collect the miles I will earn? BA? Cathay? Another OW airway?

Additionally, when in VTN I will take between 3 and 5 internal flights. These will probably all be with JetStar, part of Qantas. Will I be able to earn miles with them?

Last question I promise: when I was in Finland I stayed at the Scandic Hotel, which could earn me miles with Finnair. However I don't have a Finnair FFP; is it possible to request these miles with BA (or any other OW)?


Thanks a lot!

I would stay with BA ffp for all your OW flights.
CX ffp is good if you fly premium cabins. There is a recent BA vs CX ffp thread. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...switch-cx.html. 90% sure your need 4 flights with CX for status. BA, QF & AA have the same own airline flights rule for status.

Having multiple ffp’s with low balances is never a good idea. You never get enough miles to be of use before they expires. FFP’s are for the long term.

In Australia you only earn QF points on JQ flights if you buy the add on bundle. JQ Vietnam seem the same. QF ffp is a poor ffp for non Au residents: BA & AA are better

Do you have a SkyTeam ffp? (KLM/AF)
AS has many OW partners including KLM/AF, CX, BA & QF. https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...ePlan-partners

Thank you for your reply!

With the bold line above you mean that to earn status on BA, I need to fly BA right?

I am Silver on KLM/AF and indeed I did not consider I could consolidate miles from OW and ST.

Should I then stick to 2 FFPs, one ST (KLM/AF) and one OW (BA), or should I look for something like AS (btw I saw that Qatar is not included in its partners, so I wouldn't know where to redeem the miles of my next flight)? If I decided to change to, let's say, AS, would I be able to transfer my miles balance from BA and KLM?

Yes. 2 flights of the first status level & 4 for the next 2 levels (2 more)

Effectively you cannot move ff miles from one ffp to anther ffp.
To get ff miles for the QF flight you need to be a member of a OW airline ffp or a QF partner.
I would stay with BA ffp for all your OW flights and KLM/AF for Skyteam flights

Within oneworld upgrades can generally only be done on the programs own metal - exception being some AA-BA/IB awards (but only from near full-fare classes eg. Y,B, W, J,C,D,R)
so its probably a tossup between those two.

Hi everyone! Newcomer to the forum here and would appreciate your kind advice! I'm currently a student but will be graduating and starting work this coming summer.

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

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
For now I'm still a student so I've been getting the cheapest tickets thus probably the lowest class. When I start working, I think I'll fly around 25000-50000 in a year (VERY rough estimate)

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
business for business trips, cheapest for personal (still a student! but will have to reconsider if getting 25-50% of miles is worth the savings)

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
On business trips it'll most likely be Cathay. On personal trips, I choose the best value for money (i.e. I'd pay 100-200 more for a better airline) and also seek out deals with budget airlines around Asia.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Uncertain as of now, though I see myself flying HKG-YYZ, HKG-SIN, HKG-PEK more frequently. Other ad-hoc personal travels can be anywhere in the world

(6) What is your home airport?
It will be HKG when I start work, but other important airports are SIN and YYZ (Toronto)

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
I have around 20k miles in BA as my parents signed me up on that a long time ago. I have 105 points in Marco Polo/Airmiles as I got it through my office. I also have around 22k miles on Aeroplan. I'm all over the place, I know, that's why I need help... :(

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Prefer Cathay, JAL, Singapore Airlines, ANA. Hate Air Canada and United but had to take these more frequently because I'm still a student for now!

Thanks in advance!!

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
- Upgrades to Business Class or higher
- Award and redemption rates
- Priority services
- (if possible lounge access)

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
I am still a student, so I am mostly flying economy class on European flight throughout the year. In the summer I often spend my time in East Asia (e.g. TYO, HKG)

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
The second lowest economy fare, which often gives me 50% of the normal miles. I wouldn't mind to pay a little bit more to gain more miles.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
In the past, I often choose the cheapest, comfortable and reliable airline. It had been Emirates or CX for the past few years, but they are getting more expensive. So, I am going to travel with Qatar Airways this year to Asia. On the other hand, I also fly British Airways often to London LGW/LHR. Just for pleasure!

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
AMS-LON, AMS-TYO, AMS-HKG

(6) What is your home airport?
AMS or BRU

(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?
At the moment, not really a significant amount of miles on QR Privilege Club and BA Executive Club (Blue).

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Preffered: CX, QR, BA, AY Common: BA

Thanks in advance :D

kevvnn Welcome to FT

With cheap ecomony fares and no status the chances of getting upgrade are nil to extremely low. Low to mid ranage fares are often not eligible for upgrades.
With non USA based airlines always expect to fly in the cabin you buy: upgrades are not given out like with USA based airlines.
Upgrades are usually only available with ffp miles/points on the airline flights of your ffp. Upgrades, with ff miles, upgrade instruments or free due to status on non USA based airlines are not common.

With a few flights it makes no sense yo have multiple ffps' More so if all are Oneworld airlines. Having multiple ffp’s with low balances is never a good idea. You never get enough miles to be of use before they expires. FFP’s are for the long term.

For most people BA would be a better ffp compared to QR for flying with low cost economy fares.

(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.)
--Upgrades, good award redemption, good award access, lounge access
Reply:
(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?)

80 flights, 200k miles, 179k points

Reply:
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Econ
Reply:
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes
Reply:
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
tokyo to SFO, SYD, SIN, TPE, Lax, ATL, ICN (within OZ, US domestic)
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply:
Asia
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
HND or NRT
Reply:
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Exp American (moved to Tokyo last yr)
Reply:
(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Qantas to SYD and AUS travel, JAL to Sin, TPE, ICN, AA or JAL to the US

Also looking at move to Star (but understand there is no star partner in Australia)

How long will you be living in Japan for?

Upgrades on non USA airlines operate very differently to upgrades on USA airlines. For upgrades with airlines based out of the USA always expect to fly in the class you buy.

I would stay with AA, but you need 4 AA marketed flights to keep status.

USA based airline ffp's tend to be more generous (status benefits/earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry/affiliated credit cards/promotions) compared to non USA based airline ffp’s (even after the recently announced changes to some USA ffp’s)

The grass in not always greener on the other side

There is no domestic airline in Australia in the Star alliance (RIP Ansett 2001)

Greetings, o combined wisdom of these great Flyertalk boards!

For a few years I sang praises of the Executive Club program with BA, till it begun to dawn with much sadness that it is not quite where I want to bank my miles earned via travels on One World carriers. Some reasons, the airlines are responsible for, others, based on my own changing needs. Hopefully, the following survey will help you help me find a new program. My instinct is that AA is best suited for me, but I am keen to hear what you all astute minds have to say.

Thanks!

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?
Primarily Award Redemption in Premium cabins (Business mostly). On occasions when not flying Business, access to Priority Lines would be good too.

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

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Business or Premium Economy for International. Economy domestic. Most of my travel is international.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
I have freedom to choose. Work and pleasure both.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
US-INDIA twice a year. US-Europe once or maybe twice. Domestic US occasionally

(6) What is your home airport?
NYC (all airports)

(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?
BA Exec Club (Bronze/ OW Ruby)

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
A few years ago, I stopped chasing elite status, and buy based on price. But most often I find myself flying BA and LH. Contemplating Finnair and Malaysia for an upcoming trip. I prefer AA for domestic.

Another variable I wanted to point out was that I use SPG, Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards to top accounts that I need to redeem from.

-Based in Frankfurt.
-currently Gold with FlyingBlue/Skyteam.
-Expect increased business travel to various destinations in Asia on fully flexible business fare (5-10 round trips per year)
-secretary booked 3 of my upcoming trips to Asia with Finnair/JAL (coincidence?) in business class. wanting to join a OW ffp to not "waste" the sweet miles

Questions
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply: good award redemption rates - better award access

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: At least 50k miles, 5-10 round trips Europe to Asia/USA

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Reply: Business (for intercontinental flights) fully flexible D fares, for personal travel I buy business class sale fare with KLM and Air France

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: no. Travel for work

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Reply: Europe-Asia/USA, 5-10 round trips/year, which airline? i havent figured out the pattern yet. mostly will depend on what the corporate travel agency books for me

(6) What is your home airport?
Reply: FRA Frankfurt

(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: Flyingblue Skyteam Gold, nothing with OW so far...

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply: for personal travel I fly with KLM mostly, for business trips airlines are decided randomly (perhaps the cheapest fare for fully flexible business class)

Thank you in advance for your advice!!