Originally Posted by RunRun (Post 28785273)

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

Originally Posted by lizthegrey (Post 28785848)

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.

Originally Posted by pbd456 (Post 28786126)

I would say AA. Since your company pay for J class and if you fly AA in J, you earn 2EQM per miles flown, so you have a good shot of at least a Platinum Pro or maybe even exec platinum.

Originally Posted by pbd456 (Post 28786121)

AA exec plat requires 100k EQM, and 12K USD spending. assuming you dont fly AA, you earn 1.5 EQM per miles flown in J class. so. you need to fly 67K to qualify.

BA requires 1500 tier points. each J class over 2000 miles earn 140 tier points.
it takes 11 flights in business class in J class to earn BA gold (oneworld emerald equivalent.) as little as 22000 miles flown in business class.

For people who fly mostly business class, and not very often, BA is the best program. If you do fly a lot of miles like long haul LHR-SYD/USA often, the calculation is very difficult.

Originally Posted by RunRun (Post 28786844)

Thank you. I could potentially fly more longer haul flights, as New Zealand is home and being in the UK. At what point would choosing another partner come into play and which partner would that be?

Originally Posted by Mwenenzi (Post 28786863)

Not sure what you mean by partner?
Low cost fare on many airlines earn very little ff miles, or even nothing (think of CX & Air NZ)

As for UK to NZ main Oneworld airlines wound be Qantas (via Australia), Cathay Pacific (via Hong Kong), Qatar (via Doha) & Malaysia (via KL). These could/may earn to any OW airline ffp, such as BA
EK, SQ, Air NZ and the 2nd tier Asian airlines will also get you UK to NZ.

If your NZ destination is not Auckland and you wish to fly into another NZ city airline options reduce a lot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Airport

Originally Posted by RunRun (Post 28787018)

Sorry, when I say partner, I mean FFP.

I notice star alliance flights are around £800 cheaper business class, so was wondering if there is a specific reason that BA FFP would be better than a Star Alliance out of London, or if another One World FFP would give better miles for being able to use those miles to buy future business class tickets?

Thank you

Originally Posted by lizthegrey (Post 28786228)

Thanks for the response. Yes, it's an interesting question. The main thing that makes me contemplate BA is that then any EI metal travel under a BA codeshare would count towards tier points (https://www.britishairways.com/en-us...-avios/flights), whereas as I understand AA wouldn't give EQMs for EI metal travel booked under a BA codeshare (according to https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...sh-airways.jsp).

How are BA vs. AA for doing challenges/matches?

Originally Posted by RunRun (Post 28787018)

Sorry, when I say partner, I mean FFP.

I notice star alliance flights are around £800 cheaper business class, so was wondering if there is a specific reason that BA FFP would be better than a Star Alliance out of London, or if another One World FFP would give better miles for being able to use those miles to buy future business class tickets?

Thank you

Originally Posted by pbd456 (Post 28790613)

i dont know. i thought u want to stay in oneworld as you post in oneworld forum..

ticket price change all the time, this time star maybe cheap, next time skyteam could be cheaper, for your next trip oneworld could be cheaply. unless you fly a lot, it would be hard to maintain status in multiple alliances if price is a serious concern.

the best way is to forget about loyalty and just buy the cheapest ticket and then decide where to credit the flight to depending on airlines and booking class.

Originally Posted by RunRun (Post 28792180)

If I can see value in spending an extra £800 on the ticket because this time it happens to be more expensive but other times it might be cheaper, and also in the long run it is going to help with potential future upgrades etc, then I will do it.

Originally Posted by RunRun (Post 28792180)

Flying business class obviously gives lounge access so I am wondering if by sticking to Oneworld for example, their FFP and Avios setup is good for claiming long haul business class tickets?

Originally Posted by Mwenenzi (Post 28793989)

Cannot see how spending the extra money now will help in upgrades in the future. Upgrades are generally only on the airline of your ffp. Cross airlines are not that common/successful. AA/BA/IB have a cross airline upgrade system, but useless for most people as requires a very expensive base economy fare. Upgrades are never guaranteed


Long haul business award tickets are always very hard to get.
Nominally all airlines ffp in an alliance have the same access to wards, but in practice does not always work that way. At peak times, like Christmas/New Year & Easter, extremely hard tending to impossible to get. Even when booking 355/330 days out.

Keep your £800 for another trip

Originally Posted by Mwenenzi (Post 28793989)

Cannot see how spending the extra money now will help in upgrades in the future. Upgrades are generally only on the airline of your ffp. Cross airlines are not that common/successful. AA/BA/IB have a cross airline upgrade system, but useless for most people as requires a very expensive base economy fare. Upgrades are never guaranteed


Long haul business award tickets are always very hard to get.
Nominally all airlines ffp in an alliance have the same access to wards, but in practice does not always work that way. At peak times, like Christmas/New Year & Easter, extremely hard tending to impossible to get. Even when booking 355/330 days out.

Keep your £800 for another trip

Originally Posted by RunRun (Post 28794180)

What would be the advantage be of trying to get as high a status as possible with BA?

I have been gold on United for a few years, up until last year when I didn't travel as often and I managed to have multiple business class flights when using myles. Including Auckland to London on Business and First Class with a partner airline (China Airlines).

Does BA or any One World FPP not work the same way where you can use miles to buy business class flight on other One World partners?

Thank you

Originally Posted by RunRun (Post 28794180)

Does BA or any Oneworld FPP not work the same way where you can use miles to buy business class flight on other Oneworld partners?