Low redemption rates mean nothing in the earning rate is low. Earn to burn is what matters.

Airlines with F are decreasing. Getting F awards is hard

Freq Flyer Award assistance tools
Use at your own risk. (These are not recommendations)
These links give a guide of ff miles needed. These may not be up to date.
-AwardAce: Compare Award Redemptions Across Airlines In Seconds --> http://www.awardace.com/ Has surcharge indication
-Economical Excursionist's Tools to compare Frequent Flyer Mile Redemptions --> http://www.flyermiler.com/
-http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ast-miles.html --> http://www.awardhacker.com/

Just to note: with TopBonus no longer crediting miles, many TB customers will be seeking a new OW carrier for Central Europe and hoping for a Status Match. I will probably switch most of my Central Europe travel to Lufthansa but for those other pesky destinations - BA or Iberia?

thx,
William

Hey,

I'm trying to help out a friend who is Canary Island based, and I don't have sufficient knowledge of BA Avios v Iberia (or third option) to make a recommendation for her so hoping someone here can help:

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Award rates (for Y) followed by non-upgrade benefits such as excess baggage and lounge

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
>50000 miles, 25-50, all in Y

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

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Yes on carrier, no on class of service. She's an independent contractor and even her pleasure travel is often work related (all paid by her).

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
Grand Canaries<->MAD on Iberia
Grand Canaries-xxx-SLC on LAN.

(6) What is your home airport?
Tenerife

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
No status, no miles banked. This pained me sufficiently to get involved.

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common airlines flown?
Iberia, LAN

And although wrong forum, if someone can recommend a Star/SkyTeam as a back up, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

I would like to transfer from British Airways Executive Silver in my One World program as I'm moving out of the UK and I don't use BA that often anyways. What would your recommendations be, is it possible to transfer the points over and what's the best airline to join?

There are two separate issues here: which is the best airline, and which is the best programme.

Where are you moving to?

Where do you tend to fly?

Alaska Airlines is not part of OneWorld but it has lots of OneWorld partners, as well as Emirates, KLM, Singapore Airlines, etc. Earnings are generous, as are mid tier benefits (top tier less great), and fees are sensible.

You can't transfer points but you can spend the avios on a different airline.

Best airline is Qatar. Best FFP I don't know.

Stick with BA! IT has a nice FFP and a very nice Forum on flyertalk = )

You can't transfer points between programs, although you can of course spend Avios on reward flights with other oneworld airlines (and other BA partners that aren't oneworld airlines).

You need to look at the qualification criteria for status (things like the 4 BA flight requirement with BA, or the revenue based nature of AA), the earning opportunities where you live (plenty more Avios options in the UK than in other countries for example), and the non OW benefits of the program (AA/AY upgrade vouchers), and the downsides (lounge access for AA Sapphire/Emeralds).

You need to either do a bit more research yourself (which I would recommend), or give us more detail on where you will be, what your spending habits are, if you will still meet criteria for BA status (the 4 flights a year) etc. before others can really give you sensible recommendations.

Your questions belong here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...help-here.html

As this isn't a BA question (in fact just the opposite as the OP wishes to leave!), we'll move the discussion into the oneworld forum.

Please continue to assist our new member there.

(And welcome to FT, Anutka!)

/mod

Moving this to the appropriate thread.

Gardyloo
Oneworld moderator

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?
(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:
Lounge Access and reward flights. Like to fly business class so either Business Class reward flights or guaranteed upgrades

(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:
25000-50000. Less than 25 flights

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

Reply:
Business Class

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

Reply:
Yes can choose, travel for pleasure

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

Reply:
From New Zealand, basing myself in London for the next 3 years

(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)

Reply:
London

(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:
35000 on United Airlines

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
Reply:
Do not have one

BA for sure.

Thank you! What would be the big advantages over AA?

Upgrades when flying economy in US, priority security/boarding lanes, and lounge access. Don't care for baggage or flight awards so much.

(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
4-5 roundtrips in business JFK<->DUB/LHR per year [plus a few additional segments within Europe], plus ~4 JFK<->SFO/OAK/SJC in economy, and ~2 random e.g. JFK<->ORD per year.
In total that's... ~25 segments a year? and ~50k great circle distance miles.

Business transatlantic, economy intra-US

Work only, and work will pay for business transatlantic but not domestic. I'm away from home too damn much to travel for fun but at least it's not *my* money.

See above: JFK-DUB, JFK-SFO, (newly: JFK-PDX), JFK-(DUB)-LHR, LHR-ZRH, JFK-ORD. Within the US, have been flying B6, have previously been flying ~exclusively EI or BA for European travel.

JFK. Will not consider LGA or EWR (I live in Brooklyn close to JFK).

Concierge (top tier) with Aer Lingus, but sick and tired of lack of reciprocal status for any US airline (and no, United doesn't count, as it doesn't provide tier points and doesn't recognize status, and doesn't serve JFK). Way more Avios than I know what to do with.

Membership but no status with JetBlue. C'est la vie. (Aer Lingus's weird interlining but no miles integration is ????)

I would like to consolidate onto *an* airline network, given EI is still aeons out from joining OneWorld. Don't care which one, as long as they'll status match and offer a seamless experience.