What is the easiest OW program to achieve OWE on economy flights (looking for something like Aegean in *A)

you forgot S7

Probably Qantas, with instant upgrade fares in the USA - subject to the minimum four Qantas segment rule.

Would appreciate some details.

For economy flying, AA is probably easiest. Although with some Instant Upgrade AA fares (as said above), QF Platinum can be had for $1k-$2k.

What is your normal flying pattern? Regular routes, class, etc.

AA is better for long haul economy fliers, BA/QF may be better if flying in higher classes.

BA and QF use zones with fixed Tier Points/Status Credits. The tables are different and the levels are different. Regular Premium Economy flying is better on BA, mid range flights better on QF.

But then a lot of perks on OneWorld are for the specific carrier. AA has System Wide Upgrades, so flying on AA mostly you would be better off going for AA Emerald.

On high level terms what is needed for achieving that?

(1) What is your home airport?
Brussels (BRU)
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class?
in the past 25K in Y and 20K in C, in the near future probably more
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Discounted Y and discounted C.
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Can mostly choose airline but not class (see explanation below). Travel 90% for work.
(5) Which routes do you fly most often
Intra-Europe, Intercontinental (North and South America, Asia)
(6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it?
Miles&More FTL (*A Silver)
(7) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Lounge access, upgrade, redemptions
(8) Preferred Airlines
Prefer *A, hope to make it SEN this year.

As I cannot always justify choosing a much more expensive flight on *A, I will need to make some intercontinental trips on OneWorld.
Thanks for your suggestions..

It depends on which flights you most likely move from *A to OW. As you are based in Belgium, I guess it's rather long haul, because you probably want to fly directly on European flights and OW is not paricularly good from BRU. This means BA might be a good choice, as they are better than other if you travel in J.

Thanks Swiss_global. Was thinking BA As well but maybe I was missing something. OW will indeed be almost exclusively on longhaul.

advantage vs ba executive
 

Sorry it has been asked many times before but I am having real difficulties deciding which of the two programmes to use. I currently have a household account with BA exec (got bumped down to Bronze :(

I am based in London. My year looks approx. like this:

3 transatlantic flights to the US (economy)
10 flights US domestic (economy)
2 flights to asia (sometimes business, sometimes economy)
1 flight to Australia (business)
20-30 flights within EU (economy)

I like to travel BA.
Rest of family (2 people): 1 flight to Asia each (economy) and under 10 flights each within Europe (economy).

Which programme would be best for me to maximise value? My priorities would be to be able to upgrade to business with miles (or use miles to purchase flights) and access to a lounge.

I find it very difficult to understand the Aadvantage programme and found BA exec always very user-friendly and the website is a pleasure to navigate. However it seems much easier to attain decent status with aadvantage and get transatlantic upgrades. Is this right?
Should I continue to stick with BA in that case?

I would suggest you first read back through your own thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...e-dilemma.html

And this is better off in here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...help-here.html

AA Miles can only upgrade BA flights booked in Y or B economy, or W for premium economy (which are the most expensive fares).
Similarly, BA Avios can only upgrade the highest AA economy fares.
AA has system wide upgrades for AA metal.

You can only upgrade 1 cabin, the best value is booking Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) and upgrade to Business (Club World) subject to availability. This only requires 50% of the economy miles, so TATL it can be as low as 12,500 avios.

To get lounge access, you need to be OneWorld Sapphire or Emerald (AA Platinum or BA Silver). With AA this is easier to achieve flying economy, however you don't get US Domestic lounge access.

Pros for BA are the upgrades from WTP to CW, Reward Flight Saver European flights, and Lounge access for US domestic
Pros for AA are better earn/burn rates, systemwide upgrades (if you would achieve that status)

"I would suggest you first read back through your own thread:"

I did, many times. And I still can't figure it out. I don't really want to leave BA exec but can't find a rational argument not to. As I fly mostly economy it seems it would be better to leave BA.

Looking at your flying, if all of it is on OW carriers then you should make BA Gold or AA EXP.

Each program has its own Pros and Cons, only you can really decide which is more appropriate for you. There is no straightforward answer. If you are able to book Premium Economy fares then BAEC may be better for the ability to upgrade to CW. Else, AA may be better with the System Wide Upgrades (although you'd need to fly AA metal TATL).

Thanks. Think will continue with BA. I can't stand AA's economy (if I'd have to stick with AA TATL).

The other good thing is the household account with BA (I presume there is no equivalent with AA?) which enables sharing avios easily. (Though I guess you can just use AA miles to purchase a ticket for someone else?)

However I am always amazed how much in taxes you have to pay when you purchase BA tickets with miles (something that's supposed to be 'free'). That and the availability for reward flights (non-existant with BA). I presume this is where AA really shines.

No HHA with AA, but yes you could redeem points for a ticket in someone elses name.

BA does not charge higher taxes, but does charge a fuel surcharge (YQ), but taxes/charges are low for CX and AA domestic flights among others. AA charges YQ for TATL now I believe.

For OW partner airlines, AA and BA see the same availability.

AAdvantage members have access to AAnytime awards for AA flights at double the mileage for any flight.
Otherwise BAEC has the same availability on AA (MileSAAver awards).

Definitely BA!
If you fly AA domestic you'll have to pay for lounge access if you're aadvantage member.
You should be able to reach Gold status with BA, I'd suggest you to book your trip to Australia separately if you fly BA (under the same booking but separate flights, use Multy-City on BA.com) as you'll earn more TP.
You will be offered also CE online upgrades, so if you'll be close to gold threshold you may decide to upgrade for like 80£.
I think 1500 TPs are easier to get than 100.000 miles

I am going to move this to the existing sticky thread regarding OW FFPs.

Gardyloo
Oneworld moderator

Thanks! I don't know if I will be able to reach gold; it seems so distant..

CE upgrades: actually I always wanted to know: do the tier points from these count as CE or as economy? (as £80 is quite cheap compared to what one normally would pay).

Multi-city: would the price be different if I did it like that?

Tier Points count as CE and 80£ is usually the offer price to upgrade your economy ticket. If you often fly to Europe with BA it's worth (flying CE to Paris for example gives you 80 TPs, flying WT to NYC 70...)
Multy-city: I did it twice and the price wasn't different or changed very little, flying Club from LHR to AUS return you get 600 TPs.
You said you fly twice to Asia in club so would make again around 600 TPs, plus transatlantic and many short segments you'll easily hit 1500 TPs

Just a reminder that in-depth discussions of individual airline FFPs should take place on that airline's forum.

Gardyloo
Oneworld moderator

"flying Club from LHR to AUS return you get 600 TPs."

Amazing!!

which oneworld FF program to go for??
 

Hi fellow Flyers

First of all, I do want to mention that I have tried searching through this forum for answers to no success.

Situation:
I have just completed several flights on LAN airlines and would want to credit the miles to a oneWorld program. I know that LAN have their own program called the LANPASS but I have reservations in crediting the miles to that program as I would probably not travel much on LAN unless I am in the South America region.

I am considering going for CX's program but I am not sure if that is the best route to go for and would like to seek advise.

Background info
1. Home airport --> SIN/CGK (I spend most of the year in between this two places) In the next few years, I might return to the US
2. How many miles a year? --> between 15-20k, can reach 30K.
3. types of fares? --> economy mostly (sometimes discounted). business class once every 2 years or so (though I would aim to at least do 1 business class annually)
4. Can choose airlines mostly (but recently most of my travel are on SQ or CX), travel for both work and pleasure
5. Region of travel --> mostly Asia. 1 trip each to Australia and the US
annually
6. FPP Status? --> Right now only a regular KF because of the limited mileage credited as result of discounted tickets. Also regular on Emirates
7. Whats important in a FPP? --> redemption, upgrades, award access, lounge access (in order)
8. Preferred airlines? SQ, CX (mostly, but I also like TG, NH, EK) --< have more experience in *A airlines mostly cause of my travel pattern

Thanks in advance. Hoping to hear from the esteemed experts soon.

I am moving this to the existing "which FFP" thread.

Gardyloo
Oneworld moderator

As a general rule upgrades are only available with your FFP airline miles on a flight marketed (your airline flight number) and operated by your airline. In general you cannot upgrade codeshares.
Depending on the airline some low $ fares are not upgradeable.
Is different for the AA/BA/IB arrangement (as post 292 above).
Have read where MPC Asiamiles can upgrade BA flights, but not 100% sure who it works

Some Emirates EK flights from 31 Mar 2013 will earn miles in QF ffp. Same for QF to EK ffp. But QF is not a good ffp: high $ surcharges on reward flights and international upgrade is by lottery favoring those with status

Also worth looking as Alaska: a good ffp with a wide range of OW & other airline partners. Also with you can get AS miles on some partner airlines low cost fares, where often these get no miles on other OW ffp's.

Also worth looking at linked threads in post 2 of this thread

Can the LAN flights miles be credited to Alaska's FF program? I understand on the limitation of the ugprades. Thanks.

In general yes. But check the fare bucket. Some may not be eligible. No idea about the various other LAN brands (Columbia, Ecuador, etc). Believe AS does not have one way awards (check)

You are allowed to find the Alaska airline web site by yourself @:-)
Google is your friend (as always). We like people contributing to the thread

http://www.alaskaair.com/content/mil...ePlan-partners

Edit: from a post on 2 Feb 2013

Glad i found this thread :)

We are in the processing of moving from Melbourne, Aus to LA. Currently have no FF membership, but in the next year will need 7 return flights from LA back to Aus. We will be living in the US indefinitely, but for at least one year. Will also wanting to be doing internal flights within the US for holidaysl weekends away and some work.

I guess the main thing we want out of a program is lounge access if possible

I think the consensus will be we will need a bit more information about your actual travel plans (cabin advance purchase etc)

But in any case you will likely find that tickets bought in the USA will be less expensive than anything in the same fare class bought in Australia.

Also search for the threads in the American Airlines thread about "Platinum challenge". Which will be useful if you are going to being flying in economy.

Happy wandering

Fred

As far as I know status with US ffp's does not give lounge access. QF Gold & Plat status does including some AA lounges. But AA is a far better ffp compared to QF. Buy AA or QF club lounge access if needed. If you are flying business class is a moot point:- you have lounge access in intl flight (at least with QF):

Worth finding out what airline you work uses. They may have a corporate discount including for USA-Aust. Qantas, United, Delta, Virgin Aust & Hawaiian fly USA to Aust. And Air NZ via AKL. As above buy your r/t ticket in the USA [LAX-MEL-LAX]

There is a similar thread on star forum.

If you fly business class consider BA executive club: with two return AUS-LAX you'd become silver (OW sapphire) which gives you lounge access when you fly US domestic.

If you fly economy you have to figure out what among AA and QF fits better for you.

How much are you going to fly around the USA?

With 7 USA-Aust returns it will not be QF (so long as tickets are in the correct-earning fare bucket): trust me ^

Just look at burn rate & the fees needed for a QF reward flight compared to AA. Only QF advantage is you can upgrade eligible QF flights. But a straight out AA J reward is competitive to the QF points needed for a J upgrade.

Who is paying for/choosing the airline the USA-Aust flights ?

Not an AA site: http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Challenge_%28AA%29

AA PLT status will give you lounge access on domestic flights connecting on same day international segments, though not on separate USA domestic flights. Seven AA codeshare round trips LAX-MEL (at just under 8K miles each way) in one (calendar) year will provide EXP status. The same on QF flight codes will be 45 status credits each way - or enough for QF Gold or AA PLT.

Seven in Y+ (QF fares only) would provide QF Gold. Two in Y+ (plus a couple of short flights) would be AA PLT.

In seven business class flights either program will yield OW Emerald. In any case your issue will not be lounge access but who provides you with better irregular ops support and better awards / upgrades. Remember awards / upgrades on USA-Oz flights are difficult (though not impossible) to find even for QF PLTs.

Happy wandering.

Fred

Most depend on travel class IMO, if mainly business I'd go with BA considered it allows to earn full avios and TP on any AA flight. With economy is more difficult:
AA has the unknown factor of the merger that may change aadvantage scheme.
QF doesn't seem a good FFP but if he is going to stay only one year in the US and then come back to Aussie it could make sense to join it

Thanks all.

It will be economy flights as they will be for personal reasons. So we will be paying for and choosing the USA - Aust flights. And will probably be able to do so 4 - 6 months in advance

Internal flights within the US will also be economy as far as i know. And my work does not have any prefferential airline or gain any discounts. We just book the flights ourself (within a budget) and they reimburse us.

Sounding like AA is our best bet?

As prawn86 is new to OneWorld & freq flyer programs here is more on some of the abbreviations mentioned above (from http://www.oneworld.com/ffp/my-oneworld-tier-status/ )

Status
OW Emerald = QF Plat = AA Exec Plat [EXP]
OW Sapphire = QF Gold = AA Plat
OW Ruby = QF silver = AA Gold
OW none = QF Bronze = AA nothing

Post 1 has other links

One other question that may be a deciding factor for us; do you get points when you book/pay or on the dates you actually travel?

Travel after the flight is completed.

You need to check out & understand the fare bucket letters of a ticket. Makes a difference in the earning of miles/points.

You can join QF for free on https://www.everydayrewards.com.au. Otherwise in Oz you need to pay a joining fee. QF ffp year is based on the month you join.
AA ffp as the link in post 1. AA use calendar year for membership
So be selective when you join the ffp

Thanks for this.

Re fare buckets, as it will be personal flights we will just be booking the cheapest available as money, not points is the priority.

We are leaning towards QFF as then if for whatever reason we do want to go home after a year we should have almost enough points to get back to Aus for 'free'

But if you get an eligible AA earning fare bucket on the QF flight you will have the AA miles to get you back to Oz and have AA miles left over. Look at AA miles & QF points needed LAX-MEL. With QF you must pay a lot of $$$ for fese/surcharges for the econ rewards flight (a long way from "free"). With AA only need to pay a few $ for real taxes Some examples here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qanta...-lhr-july.html

Wow, thanks for this. Personally i'm not a big fan of QAN (have no real opinion good or bad) but the mrs likes them. I'll look further into the AA one, but they sure dont make it easy to compare do they

Out of interest, how does one check the fare buckets when booking?