Best OW program to join?
 

Hi all,
It looks like I have to fly BA quite soon. Therefore, I might as well pick a OW FFP to join, although I already have cards on *A and Skyteam. The question is, which one to pick.

I won't be using OW too much, but will probably use *A,Skyteam and OW in future, in that order. So which OW program is easiest to 'keep alive', and easiest to get a reward from? I'm leaning against Quantas, since they seem to have good collaboration with both *A and Skyteam members, but I would be interested in thoughts from ppl using OW extensively.

You're quite right to lean against Quantas, the stuff they send out has loads of spelling mistakes. Qantas on the other hand...

More seriously, you really need to let us know what flights you will be taking and what fare bucket they are booked into. And when you say you'll use OW a bit in the future, how much and where?

Actually, I don't know that myself.
I realize that the program preferences depends on the travel habits, but my point was, I'm not really into flying OW if I don't have to (not because I think OW is bad or anything, but *A has already its claws on me... :) ). So 9 out of 10 flights I cover with *A and Sky, but there are that occational 10th time I have to take OW flights because of price or time beyond my control. And mostly, I pay for my trips myself so we are talking about economy fares here...
Obviously, I'm not aiming for a tier status here. But rephrasing my question, which OW frequent flyer program is least bad for the in fact not so frequent OW flyer? Again, I know there might not be a clear answer to this, but based on some opinions here, I'm hoping to get a free flight in 5 years instead of 10, if you know what I mean. And I expect to travel quite globally the comming years (ok, mostly in Europe and North America).

And of course, it's also a matter of which program has a good coverage, so that I accidentaly don't let the miles expire or something just because I'm stationed somewhere out of its reach...

If you're going to be an occasional OW flyer on cheapo short haul tickets then you may as well forget about miles. You need to bear in mind that the scheme are Frequent Flyer schemes (and, as far as OW is concerned, you're not one!). If you find yourself with a long haul booked, let us know and maybe we can give you some pointers - but otherwise it's just not going to work for you.

In terms of mileage earning/burning, probably best off with American. Both Qantas and BA are particularly miserly in mileage earning relative to cost of awards for economy flyers in particular (notable exception for Qantas is when flying on Qantas within Australia).

Note there are some issues with flying BA and crediting to American - I'll leave the details to a search, or others far more familiar may jump in.

Difficult to say but my vote would go with AA for keeping miles alive or if you ever find yourself in Asia then I guess Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles would be best as you can redeem awards for Hotels, and products other than flights. Nothing wrong with the other programs but IMO these two seem to be the best.
-UFFA

I'm aware that I'm not a frequent flyer in OW, but that was kind of my point... and I do fly both long and short haul OW occationally. I'm for instance booked in BA TLV-LHR rtn (H/B) next week, a good 6 h flight one way. Few months ago, I flew AA ORD-DTW, a very short haul... it's these small streams I'd like to start collect.

Thanks for your advices, it indeed looks like AA may be a good choise. I'll think about it few days more. ;)

There are a lot of variables, but I agree AA would be good option for you as miles don't expire (so long as you have account activity every 3 years).

I do not recomend Qantas as their awards tend to be less competative.

You may want to consider CX Asia Miles...
disadvantage verses AA: miles expire after three years
advantages over AA: you can upgrade on BA/AA/CX for less miles than a free ticket...may be a good deal for you as you will flying less.
And...if you ever fly BA transatlantic you can't earn miles with AA (anti-trust rules). And Asia Miles also give you the option of one-way awards for less miles than roundtrip.

If you decide to go with AAdvantage and fly BA transatlantic, consider BA to YYZ and then connect on AA to your destination. BA flights to/from Canada and Mexico are eligible to earn AA miles, subject to the normal rules.

Or if you choose AA then you also have BA LHR-YVR connecting to Alaska (AA non-OW Partner) for US West Coast destinations of LAX, SFO, and SEA.

Kind of in the same boat.....
 

I am flying BA for work, have about 6k miles earned on AA over the last few years but am getting booked at full fare biz class from mia to maa, i know this will mean lots of miles...

any suggestions? is it best to just add on to the aa acount or take advantage of ba program?

thanks!

I would like to add That BA miles also do not expire as long as you have account activity, same as AA. ELO