USA to Bangkok
 

I have 2 options (really many more so feel free to make a recommendation). I plan to fly to JFK but could get from CMH to any other gateway city. Would you take Finnair through Helsinki (an 8 hour flight followed by an 11.5 hour flight) or Cathay Pacific through HKG (16 hours followed by 3 hours and 10 minutes)? Qatar and JAL are also options from JFK.

Thanks.

What class of service? Cash ticket, or mileage redemption?

reasonable question. paid ticket. likely economy. maybe economy plus. I do not think I can use American miles to upgrade on Finnair or Cathy but I would if I could.

Economy plus is USA airline jargon for an economy seat with extra leg room. Not the same as Premium Economy which is a separate class between Economy and Business. PE seats are wider and more leg room. Example BA B777 PE is 2-4-2 (8 seats) vs economy 3-4-3 (10 seats).

Oneworld does not have alliance upgrade scheme. AA has an out of alliance upgrade scheme with BA & AS, but with t&c's.

A map from the Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper

Edit
OP's other thread on this trip.. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...avel-asia.html

If Economy, JAL's inter-continental Economy Class gets high marks for seat comfort. And JAL flies out of both JFK and ORD. ;)

Regardless of which oneworld carrier you choose for the trip, have you thought about which oneworld FFP you will credit the flights to?

Which carrier you fly and which carrier you credit to are very different decisions.

Yes, I meant to say Premium Economy. Thanks.

Thanks guv1976. I have been flying AA so probably best to stick there.

Maybe, maybe not. It depends on various factors like:

1. Are you able to achieve elite status with your travel patterns?

2. Is Admirals Club access important to you when flying domestically?

3. Is being upgraded on AA flights important to you?

4. What are your likely award redemptions? (Route? Class of service?)

I think that AAdvantage miles are usually more valuable than the miles offered by other programs in most -- but not all -- situations. But if you'd like Admirals Club access when flying Coach domestically, you won't get that with AAdvantage status, but will get it with mid-tier elite status in foreign oneworld programs.