Which FFP make you faster to 1world status?
 

I'm not sure if this is asked in any thread but seems not appeared in the title of any. Do anybody know which FFP lead to fastest oneworld status, ie Ruby, Sapphire or Emerald?

I mean.. if we can choose to enroll in any oneworld member airlines' FFP program, which will be the fastest path to oneworld Emerald?

For CX, I know it takes..
30K to Silver - Ruby
60K to Gold - Sapphire
120K to Diamond - Emeraid

Thanks All.

As always, the answer is "it depends".

What is your flying pattern like? Which airlines do you usually fly, on which routes? Do you fly mostly Y or mostly C and/or F? Do you have lots of transatlantic flights?

All those questions must be taken into consideration before anyone can say which FFP is best for you.

ok.. I understand if you are based in Australia and you fly domestice more than internationaly, QF would be the one.

However, say me, I based in HK and flew more intercontinental (to both Europe and America and all in J) than regional, would i be benefit more from CX/AA/BA/QF or AY's FFP? They all offer oneworld status now even flying on partners, so I dont see much difference as long as I get high in onewold status.

Any recommendation?

Btw, some more research:

For AA, it takes..
25K to Gold - Ruby
50K to Plat - Sapphire
100K to Exec Plat - Emeraid

For BA, it takes..
600 Tier point to Silver - Sapphire
1500 Tier point to Gold - Emeraid

For QF, it takes..
300 Tier point to Silver - Ruby
700 Tier point to Gold - Sapphire
1400 Tier point to Plat - Emeraid

If you fly mostly J out of HKG, then I would suggest going with CX or AA. In the case of AA, I would check in the AA forum for information on status challenges. With one of these challenges, you can be fast-tracked to Gold (Ruby) and Platinum (Sapphire) status, with Sapphire requiring only 10K miles IIRC. Note that these challenges cannot be used for requalification, but if you earn at least 50K miles a year, which it sounds like you will, you will be able to retain Platinum anyway. And Emerald status is easier to obtain with AA Executive Platinum (100K) than with CX Diamond (120K).

Another nice feature of the AAdvantage program is that it offers the possibility to earn lifetime status. At 1 million miles (any miles, not just EQMs), you will be Gold/Ruby for life, after 2 million miles you will become Platinum/Sapphire for life.

In general, the two main issues are:

1. Do you fly mostly economy or mostly premium cabins?
2. Do you often fly transatlantic? If so, do you have a mix of AA and BA flights?

1. is important because on many programs, certain economy fares do not qualify for earning miles, or earn only very few miles. BA Executive Club is notorious for giving only 25% miles and no status credit for all but the three most expensive Economy fare classes, regardless of airline flown. AAdvantage does not allow credit on a number of CX economy fares, and it's earning levels on some Qantas and BA economy fares are a sad attempt at a joke. In this case, Qantas FFP would be a good program to join because they will usually give status credits for the lowest economy fares as well (very few of them, but at least some).

2. is important because there is an antitrust ruling that AA and BA cannot offer miles on each other's flights between the US and Britain. In the AAdvantage program, this means that all BA flights from the US to Britain are not eligible for mileage accrual (Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean are eligible). With BA Executive Club, all AA transatlantic flights (even flights to other countries in Europe) are not eligible for mileage accrual.

Generally, the QF program is relatively generous in terms of giving status. But it has the major drawback of having very high mileage levels for award tickets. AA, CX and BA are better on the using miles side, but can be a little weak on the earning side. In your case AA should offer the best balance between the two. Coupled with the status challenges, it should be just what you're looking for.

I know a lot of this doesn't apply to you sor_bbear, but I thought it might be nice to have a little background on the matter.

Cheers,

Alex

Just a minor mistake....

Qantas Silver (OW Ruby) status:

Correct, 10K, but points, not miles, so watch for that, as it has ruined many challenge runs.

I believe Qantas FF program will generally be the "fastest path" to Emerald Status; however as pointed out it's reward redemption cost are hideous when compared with other oneWORLD programs.

More than that cannot really be offered without more information; it really depends on where you will be based and what carriers/class/routes/etc you will be flying the most.

As mentioned, the precise answer really does depend on what routes and fare class -- as the status accrual is a step function on BA/QF, leading to some arbitrage possibilities for routes that are just over a threshold length.

In general, QF and BA accrue status the fastest in J and F. Roughly twice as fast as the mileage-based status plans (AA, CX) and about the same as AY. But the best plans for status are also the worst plans for mileage accrual in terms of awards, so it really is a tradeoff. In general the best use of status is for irregular ops, and having status on the airline that you fly the most often is by far the most valuable.

Out of HKG I'd go with QF for fastest status and either AA or CX otherwise.

It really depends. You could even get status fastest by not even flying (if have enough non-flying activity you can credit to AA to get lifetime status).

For most people, though it depends on travel - class, routes, airlines.

Thanks all for advices.. In fact, I do more Europe than regional and would be interest in CX or BA or AY.

Do any of you have tier target for (or experience with) Finnair or Iberia FFP? I couldn't locate them on their webs...

I think the AY plan is in km instead of miles and is 100km for Emerald, with double km for J and triple km for F...but not sure, there must be plenty of AY members on FT who can correct me. The IB plan had some funky point scheme when I looked at it circa 5 years ago, 14K points for Emerald sticks in my mind (I forget what the points equated to). Both of the AY and IB plans did not seem competitive for me, but might be good for people in HEL and MAD due to some special local perks.

While this question is asked often, the people doing the asking never post the results back on FT on past threads, thus the lack of any definitive comparison of the current OW plans on FT. Too bad that most people are good at asking for info but not so good at sharing the results.

number_6, Thanks for the AY info.. In fact, I'm targetting AY as I want to divert from LON for my continental travel.

I believe it's really a hard job to compare all programs in real sence as most member stick to one (or two) program only instead of all. Moreover, different FFP programs come with different measurement, eg tier points, miles, km..

Anyway, thanks All for contribution.. I will try to get more info about AY and Iberia.

I only have the basic (free) Iberia Plus card, so I am not familiar with their FFP, but I believe the points needed for earning status are as follows:

Silver - 1,250 points
Gold - 2,500 points
Platinum - 6,500 points

The benefits are published in the website and are, IMO, lousy, especially when compared with AAdvantage.

Get this with help from other FTers in other thread..

Finnair Plus
Silver - 60,000 km (12 months)
Gold - 120,000 km (12 months)
Platinum - 300,000 km (24 months)