I wonder if people would mind posting their thoughts on a decision I am trying to make. I currently use AAdvantage for all my miles and in the past have travelled a lot and enjoyed many great long distance, premium class trips thanks to that. My normal useage of AA miles has been to book BA NCW/First trips.

I am at the stage where I haven't done a lot of paid travel for a while and have used up virtually all my miles. If ever there was a time switch FF programmes, then it is now.

So, usually I believe that when people are travelling a lot of premium paid flights ex LON, BAEC is the best bet; for more leisure focused travel (and miles on discounted Y, at least on AA, then Aadvantage is usually more attractive).

However, I am thinking quite seriously about moving to BAEC. These are the reasons:
1. For my LH leisure, I am at the stage in life where I think WT+ will become the norm for 3-4 leisure trips a year. With this, plus occasional work trips, I think I will comfortably manage to get silver and retain it.
2. There is also the possibility of a DONE4 towards the end of next year, in which case I might scrape Gold (and maybe even retain it, with an EC addressed account).
3. MFU is obviously a big attraction if I am regularly paying for WT+.
4. Another consideration is that the two places I most frequently fly in the US on leisure are SFO & BWI, neither of which are non-stop on AA (for the sake of discussion, lets assume the WT+ roills out to BWI by the time it matters).
5. I can still fly AA on internal US flights and get miles and (sometimes cheap) tier points.

So, although I know that the redemption level for awards is a lot higher on BA for complete award flights, I'm thinking that most of my miles will be used for MFU (WT+-NCW). So in fact at 50k per round trip, its the same as upgrading on AA (albeit from a cheaper, AA Coach ticket, to an inferior Bus. Class product).

Cheekily, although I would NEVER expect it and its bad form to discuss it here, I can't help thinking that as Silver (possibly Gold) sitting in paid WT+, you have better odds of the occasional Op-Up than from AA Coach - Bus.

Any thoughts or ideas would be happily received.
Thanks.

If you manage to get Silver prior to the DONE4 or at least close to it, then I am sure we can work out a bit of a fiddle to get Gold quite easily with a Europe address. The 2000+ mile 120 points for D make 800 continental points not

As for BWI and WTP well I have no idea when it will happen. To avoid the overnight from BWI, I am now taking the day flight from IAD so I can do the economy rather than Club or WTP thing and still arrive in shape.

Have you thought about the ex-LIS/Faro/Oporto fares for SFO and WAS? This should see you in Club for little more than your WTP from LON.

If you go to BAEC then it should work for the reasons you gave. I cannot comment on the decision to leave AA, that is best done by someone who knows the relative merits of both programmes.

Remember to give me a shout to maximise your DONE4 benefits

Spotwelder

You seem to have everything pretty much understood -- and, indeed, Golds are pretty much top of the chain for upgrades W->J. Just a few comments/corrections...

- A longhaul return in W will earn you 150 tier points, while 3 or 4 will net 450/600 respectively. Flying to the US and taking advantage of ex-LIS fares (hardly more than W), and it's 280 in J (LIS-LHR-SFO-LHR). Add in some work flying (full fare Y only though) and silver should be easily attainable.

- Add a DONE4 and a European address- BA Gold is well worth having.

- If you're flying AA internally you obviously won't earn tier points on many fares, but BA silver/gold will allow you AC/FL access, unlike AAdvantage equivalents. Definite benefit.

- It's actually 25,000 miles to upgrade a return ticket, not just one way, so it's W fare + 25000 miles = J return. The news gets better