I live in SEA and can purchase mostly business class tickets to Asia on CX. I like to spend miles to Europe in J/F.

I'm currently nearing my 4MM anniversary on AA and am EXP with AA.

My biggest problem with AA is that I cannot earn or spend miles on the BA non-stop SEA-LHR. I would always take that flight to Europe if I could. Instead I go through YVR which is a hassle.

My question to this forum is should I switch to the CX or BA programs? When I looked at this in the past I found that AA's program is much more generous than the others and I'd sacrifice a lot to switch.

Note that I do not fly AA domestically very often. The domestic upgrades are not very valuable to me. VIP upgrades are also not very useful since I hate connecting via ORD or DFW. I give them all away to family. Double miles for PLT/EXP is valuable to me.

If I was a BA or CX emerald would I get to use the Admirals club even if flying AA domestic only? Can anyone clarify the BA tier points system? Is FewMiles's page still accurate?

I look forward to your advice. Thanks!

You'll have to compare your own earn/burn rates on the various plans, but in general AA is 50%-150% more generous (i.e. you get roughly half as much free travel when crediting to the other OW programs). It varies a bit by how you earn and burn, also the non-AA programs have some step discontinuities (so it matters which side of the step you are on).

Any non-AA Emerald (or Sapphire for that matter) has access to the AC when flying AA domestically (that is why I have QF Emerald status along with EXP). The primary reasons to pick non-AA are non-mileage benefits.

CX Diamond: can purchase discounted fares even when sold out, as long as you otherwise qualify (e.g. 21 day advance purchase can be bought even if the flight is sold out with only Y inventory). Sporadic (and sometimes frequent) undocumented benefits, but this might vary with how profitable you are to CX (they definitely track profitability by individual pax, at least in some cases; most other airlines do not). CX upgrades can be bought only using Asiamiles (CX plan) and not using AA or BAEC.

BA Gold: "open doors" access to BA lounges even when not flying Oneworld (QF Platinum also has this feature, but far fewer lounges). Earning BA status is based on length of flight, with some magic thresholds. So flight over 2000 miles earns much more for status than one of 1900 miles. Making certain routes lucrative for earning BA status (particularly AA YUP fares which count as F fares in the BAEC plan, though this loophole may be closing soon). Makes it easiest to earn BA Gold status (compared to CX or AA), but BAEC miles are worth the least of the 3 plans.

So the no-brainer is to stick with AA, and you probably will get the most bang for the buck. Or spend a couple of hours and map out what you would earn on CX and BA plans, and see what awards you can use it for. You earn fewer miles on CX but the miles are worth more (in some cases). At first I thought the CX plan was by far the worst, but I now think it is the best plan if you travel a lot on CX, can make Diamond for a few years, and factor in the unofficial (and unexpected) benefits. The "purchase discounted fares when sold out" benefit is a huge benefit (but only on CX flights).

Or, of course, you could move to Vancouver. Makes CX and BA lots more convenient.

I share your pain. With the closure of the AC here and AA's focus on midcons for everything, it's hard not to think about alternatives.

If you fly in international J a lot, what about Asiamiles? You can MFU on other people's metal (incl. AA and BA); get one-way upgrades, upgrade from Y to Y+ on BA... Check the accrual and award tables/calculators on asiamiles.com and see if your travel would be good or bad. You're Life Plat on AA anyway, so if it doesn't work out you won't lose your mileage bonus. But it depends on your overall travel patterns, work and leisure.

BA Tier pts
Silver (Sapphire) = 600, Gold (Emerald) = 1500.

I don't personally see the benefit of the BAEC if you're paying for J as it is, but YMMV.

This is a question, since I don't know the plan at all - but have you checked out Alaska Airlines plan? I see that you can accrue miles from many of the OneWorld partners, and I understand that you can redeem on BA ex-USA.

Alaska miles are convenient on all those airlines but you get no status on them. I like using the F lounges with Oneworld.

I'll look more deeply into Asiamiles... Thanks everyone!

Also, I realize it's not nonstop, but you can take AS to Vancouver and BA to London on AA miles.

SD1K: On Alaska Air, you can earn and redeem on American, British, Qantas, Cathay and Lan, but you only earn status miles on American and Lan.

If it were my decision, I would stick with AA. Getting emerald status with BA and AA shouldn't be appreciably different if youre flying paid J to Asia. Emerald on CX is a lot more difficult in general.

Purely from a mileage perspective, you will get more bang for your buck with AA. I am going to make an assumption that you are flying SEA-LAX-HKG in paid F/J and redeeming to London.

AA: Each trip to HKG would net you about 37500 miles with COS and status bonus. At that rate, you would be able to redeem a J ticket to London every 2.4 trips to Asia and an F ticket every 3.33 trips.

BA: Each trip to HKG would net you about 21000 miles with COS (no status bonus on CX). At that rate, you would be able to redeem a J ticket to London every 4.76 trips and an F ticket every 7.14 trips.

CX: Each trip to HKG would also net you about 21000 miles with COS (no status bonus). At that rate, you would be able to redeem a J ticket to London every 2.85 trips and an F ticket every 4.28 trips.

Although I realize these are crude estimates and don't take into account things like other flying, bonuses, etc., I think AA is the most generous of the three considering the earn/burn rate and the ease of getting status. But considering that Asiamiles allows you to use BA transatlantic and allows you to use a few extra carriers, I would consider Asiamiles before Exec Club if you decide not to go with AAdvantage.

This is what I do today, although AS is very stingy with availability on the SEA-YVR route. Twice I've had to take the 8am flight to YVR to take the 8pm flight out of YVR. Sometimes I don't mind - the Fairmont hotel at YVR has day rates and a very very nice spa.

The accumulation rates you posted are very helpful Darren! Thank you.

12 hours? Seems you could drive the route in less time.

And you're welcome, I am glad they helped.

Absoluletely! Or I could fly myself in less than one hour. But then I'd have to park my car or plane for the duration of the trip. It's a good backup plan.

BA SEA-LHR is the way to get to Europe, all right. But I have a LOT of trouble finding award availability (at least when I am going beyond LHR). BA has the best planes, configurations, and the best route. Now if only I could even remotely stand BA Executive Club anymore. And they didn't gouge on fares... Their new carryon limits are EXCEEDINGLY aggravating if they stick with them. This alone is a big enough reason to never fly BA again, even though I like the planes, seats, and onboard staff. http://www.britishairways.com/travel...n/public/en_us

I have regularly been flying AA via ORD to LHR. Fairly easy to get award seats. Possible to get eVIP upgrades. And you can also go via DFW, JFK, etc to make more magic work. I also don't like the interim step. But given the multiple borders, SEA-ORD-LHR is far better than SEA-YVR-LHR.

I'd like to understand Asia Miles better. Some people really seem to know how to make it work for them. I can't figure it out yet. I hope we get more help here...

why not take the quick shuttle service between sea and yvr airport. only $65C round trip. another option

Have you taken it? I have. I didn't find it it hot the spot.

One learns in travel that terms like direct, quick, rapid, and express usually mean nothing of the sort. The quick shuttle takes 4 hours from Seatac, 3:20 from downtown, and as long as 5 hours if you go from Seatac to downtown YVR. It's still a decent option in some cases. Good idea.

http://www.quickcoach.com/

If you have a morning to kill, and don't mind 7:45 am departures, I think the train to Vancouver is great. Arrives at 11:40, so making the 1:15 pm CX flight to JFK is tight, but ample time for either BA flight.