Question on switching OW primary carrier
 

I'm thinking about changing from AA to BA as my OW primary carrier.

The reason is that AA does not have competative fares or flight seating/service on trans Atlantic routes and the restriction between AA and BA on mile sharing.

I fly primarily between SFO and Asia on 3x per year and SFO to somewhere in France 1-2x per year. Also 2x per year to from SJC to ROC (trans continental). The result is I reach AA platinum every year and AA EXP once in a while.

My primary items of interest are:
1. Using OW lounges on international travel.
2. Getting away from AA trans-Atlantic flights to Europe - they stink in coach or business class when compared to BA.

I am not interested in AA Domestic upgrades as these flights are with my wife and two infants so I don't upgrade. Just try for bulkhead to make everyones life easier.

Is a transition to BA as my primary OW carrier for miles and status possible?
Can you provide feedback on pro's or con's I didn't consider?

Thanks.


My thought is if I used BA as my primary carrier for accumulating miles and status

BA status earning is not mileage based, it is fare based. If you fly on discounted economy you won't earn much or even any status on BA, so unless you are flying in paid J it probably isn't the right plan for you. To reach BA Silver (equiv. to AA Platinum) you would need about 5 trans-Atlantic round trips in J or equivalent travel, and it sounds like you won't have that much.

I believe 2 returns in J SFO-France on BA would be enough for BA Silver
1 return = 2*120(SFO-LHR) + 2*40(LHR-France) = 320 Tier points with 600 needed for Silver.
Alternatively 4 returns in coach (Y,B or H) would also get you there.

3 times a year to Asia on Oneworld carriers and twice to Europe on BA would easily get BA Silver assuming the flights are in either J, WT+ or WT (Y,B,H only). As mentioned, in discounted economy only there is no way to get status on BA.

-jani

I joined EC in October, after years as EXP with AA and lifetime PLT.

The primary reason was that I was unable to fly until October (little problem with cancer) and could not qualify for EXP during 2004. Then AA came out with a lit of little irritations, like a $250 fee to upgrade with miles - and that's a one way fee.

With EC I made Silver with one RTW and, to honest, prefer GA J seats to AA's coffins in F. I also appreciate the free lounge membership, compared to paying for the Admiral's Club.

The final benefit is that BA allows me to plug in my autopap (for sleep apnea) when I want to sleep. AA is still in the prop era with paps - probably nervous lawyers. That means BA for all crossings of the Atlantic.

I'll still use AA domestically (almost 100 upgrade stickers on file), but the EC is looking pretty good for me.

BA Fare Base
 

Very useful information. Thank you.

Does this also apply to other OW carriers. For example if I fly CX and use BA as my OW FF account are the FF status also based on $'s?

If so your right that BA would probably not fit well based on the lower price fares I usually travel on. But who knows. With all the changes AA is doing them might implement the same thing soon. Then I'll say the heck with traveling and people who work for me fly instead of me....