Moving from ORD>DUB - Change from *A to OW?
 

United 1K Million Miler here, potentially moving to DUB in a few months; I'd spend a couple of years there.

Query: Given that most of my travel will be within Europe with 4-6 US trips and 1-2 APAC trips per year mixed in there, does it make sense to status match over to AA? The alternative is to stay in the UA program, but suffer through connections for travel in Europe.

To consider:
- My company has a status match program with AA and I may be able to match over to ExP; failing that, Plat
- EI (Aer Lingus) was recently purchased by BA, so I assume there will be some benefit there
- I'll have 6-8 SWUs on United in 2017, and since we are forced to buy premium economy internationally, I'd hate to have them go to waste.
- Most travel would be (in order) DUB <> LHR, CDG, SFO, ORD, SIN, HKG, SYD

Thanks for your advice!

EI was not bought by BA. It was bought by IAG who own BA, IB and VY.

Several UA vs AA vs XX linked threads in post 3 here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html

For a few years in Eire I would go with the Plat AA status match. Easier than earning status with BA
You will not get upgrades like is common on USA airlines.
The expectation is that some time EI will rejoin Oneworld link
For your USA trips fly UA and use those SWU. As a guess unlikely to be able to use them elsewhere/other airlines.
May be of interest http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...n-what-do.html

Important detail! Thanks.

Thanks for this. I can use SWU on LH for the APAC trips, as I'd have to connect somewhere, but a secondary consideration is re-qualifying for ExP in year 2...if I start mincing around I'm not sure I'll make reasonable status on AA.

I'm pretty sure W flights on BA, CX, JL credit to AA as 1.5 EQM and 0.2 EQD per mile. That's helpful when looking at re-qualification. Plus, you can't beat Emerald F Lounges.

Moved to oneworld forum for broader coverage.

/Moderator

Aer Lingus is indeed expected to join oneworld again. The Aer Lingus | Gold Circle Club forum has a detailed thread.

EI have not announced *when* they plan to rejoin oneworld. The only news so far is their new FFP which should launch sometime in the remainder of the year.

AA status will help with BA, but I would not expect it to be helpful on EI (e.g: DUB-CDG, DUB-SFO, DUB-ORD). You might find AerClub to be a good choice when it launches.