Please help my elderly auntie figure out which frequent flyer programs to use on this trip she's booked! I'm so confused now even after diligently scoping out all the master threads for the AA/BA program forums. Hope that with some details, you well-traveled will have some advice.

She is a rare traveler but at least travels once yearly from SNN/DUB via LHR to SYD with return via Palm Springs, CA, to visit family. She currently has basic membership with little, if any mileage, in FF programs of EI, AA and UA.

She's booked the above trip EI174 DUB-LHR / BA15 LHR-SYD / QF107 SYD-LAX / UA6108 LAX-PSP / UA6128 PSP-LAX / BA282 LAX-LHR / EI167 LHR-DUB.

We've already listed her MileagePlus number for UA flights since different alliance, but do not know which to use for the EI, BA and QF flights.

Note: Regrettably, her BA/QF flights are in M class, so I cannot enroll her in BA Exec Club. (Have tried the advice in the BA thread re trying to enroll with ...starwoodec link without success; have not tried Travelocity hint yet; await advice).

Should I use EI only for EI flights and use another for others?
Should I simply use EI for all oneworld alliance flights since booked before 03/2007 and travel will be completed by 08May07 (not sure if fits their departure from oneworld rules)?
Should I use AA for all oneworld alliance flights?
Should I enroll her in Qantas FF program and use that for oneworld alliance flights?
Should I book a 24-hour-hold bus class flight on BA via Travelocity in order to enroll in BA Exec Club and use that number for all flights?
Should I simply use individual airline's FF program for their particular flights?

See! Told you I was confused. Really, any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated!

Crediting OW flights to AA would be a poor idea since M class will only give 25% mileage to BA and QF respectively. Especially bad since here two longest flights by far are on these two airlines.

I would try to credit the BA miles to BA and the QF miles to QF since you'll get a terrible % crediting to a partner program.

25% on AAdvantage might be worth more than 100% on BAEC -- check the miles needed to redeem the award you want. The earn/burn rates vary a lot by type of fare (as you found) and by type of award, so impossible to generalize what is best. But for low-fare travel AAdvantage is almost always the best plan. And splitting between multiple plans is generally the worst possible strategy for you (great for the airlines, you never redeem any miles). Also keep in mind that when you redeem an award, BAEC and QFF charge several hundred dollars more in "taxes" and fees than the equivalent Aadvantage award (e.g. an award economy SNN-BOS-SNN award on AA might have fees of USD 100 while BAEC and QFF would have fees of USD 300, typically). So it isn't just points that you need to consider these days.

Finally, the LONEx fare might have been cheaper than what she booked (and books into L class, also allows more flexibility as well as more travel).

Thanks, vxmike and number_6.

I agree that with her low-mileage yearly travels one airline program would be the best way to accumulate enough miles for any upgrade or free flight awards over time. Regret the potential loss of 75% of miles if choosing AA, but spending miles appears most flexible.

With BA EC out of the picture (just can't find a way to enroll), QF or AA appear only options. Am I correct that EI leaving oneworld recently puts it completely out of picture for earning EI miles on BA/QF flights from March 27-May 8?

Also, thanks for reminding me of the extra fees associated with the intl airlines. Didn't even consider that.

She previously gained a very short-term premier status on United and earned a well appreciated award. Regrettably, I didn't help her book this ticket.

If anyone has any other advice on this, it will be much appreciated.

For someone who's only a yearly flyer, keep on top of expirations. Right now both AA, BA, and QF only require activity (any mile/point earning/spending, including from all partners) once every 36 months. However, the trend is going down, and who knows if these programs might reduce to 24 or 18 months to match the "competition".

And keep in mind that partner activity is a little tougher when you live outside the airline's home country. (For example, she doesn't have iDine/Rewards Network in Ireland, even though both AA and BA participate in that and only one coffee a year is all you need to keep each account alive, in case you're not crediting fligh miles to each regularly.) So make sure each program she earns in is one that she can keep alive until she can use the miles/points in that program!

And since IE is no longer in OW, only has individual relationships with some OW airlines (such as AA), and since her IE flights are only shorthauls, I would not suggest accumulating those. Whatever you do with the small number of miles between DUB-LHR is not going to be very signficant in the long run if it's only once a year. If it adds a "500 mile minumum" (or even if less) to AA that's probably more useful than accumulating in IE if she'll never get to an award level at that rate.

Another to consider is Alaska

They have a good range on partners:- Alaska Airlines, Air France, American Airlines, Big Sky Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Era Aviation, Hawaiian Airlines, Horizon Air, KLM, LAN Chile, Northwest Airlines, PenAir and Qantas.

As she won't get status, and the benefits that go with status, earn to burn ratio plus any $ needed for rewards & keeping the ff account alive will determine the best ffp. When purchasing for such a trip we FT'ers will consider the flight cost & the ff program potenial. A RTW trip as your post is best in one alliance (either Star RTW or a Oneworld *ONE4) to maximise miles-points

Hi!

Maybe it could be useful for you to know that BA flights in M normally credit at a rate of 25% to QFF, but the LHR-SYD route credits at 100% (all BA flights from LHR to SIN/BKK and on to Australia do so).

Therefore if you credit the whole trip to QFF you'd get sthg like that (just an estimate):

LHR-SYD BA 10600 miles at 100% = 10600 pts
SYD-LAX QF 7500 miles at 100% = 7500 pts
LAX-LHR BA 5500 miles at 25% = 1375 pts

Total credit to QFF 19475 points. AA would give you much less (although burning rates are better).

And if she has at least one activity every three years, her QF account will stay alive and her points will never expire.

Almost forgot: you can credit EI flights to QFF too, although at a rate of 0.7 only. This would give you an additional 390 points for DUB-LHR-DUB.

Oh, my goodness. Thanks so much for pointing that out about the BA LHR-SYD trip. In my mind, that is the largest accumulation of points she can acquire and would really help in earning at least an award with her limited travel. She will keep visiting her daughter and family in Australia and I know enjoys traveling around that region.

I've enrolled her in QF FF plan and will credit to there this trip.

Appreciate all the advice so much.

Had to laugh...when calling and adding in the QF ff number to the flights, agent died laughing at my trying to get miles for, what I didn't know, was a 1 Euro fare on Aer Lingus for the LHR-DUB portion!! Well, a girl's gotta try!

Crediting to QFF will earn enough for a trip on BA to Paris or London (or a dozen other cities in that distance band); however the QFF fees might be more than the EI fare+tax would be for a similar flight, so it might not be as valuable as it looks. You could also redeem for flights elsewhere in the world, but sadly Oneworld doesn't fly to PSP. Still it should come in useful. If she takes 2 more trips like this, there would be enough QFF points for a trip DUB-USA east coast (but again, the QFF fees might be higher than the EI fare).

Grrr! That's why this is so confusing...especially making a decision for someone else. And I'll probably second-guess myself till doomsday with "should I have chosen for her to earn AA miles even with mileage reductions?", "QF miles with high award ticket fees," or whatever other options might arise.

Only good thing is I know she hadn't thought of earning any miles at all before I jumped in, so if she doesn't use the miles I guess I shouldn't worry. Will be craving those miles myself to top up my oneworld accounts though!

Well, she's traveling now so . . .

Got so overwhelmed that didn't really look carefully at earning Alaska miles either. While would have been only 25% for BA flights, would have earned 100% miles for QF flight. Also, would have got her to PSP from LAX or SFO on future trips. Sigh! Will have to make a study of that earn/burn issue for future reference, too. Will do a search to see if I can learn more from past posts.

Well, this is why I just better stick with handling my own earning potential in future and leave Auntie in her happy state of ignorance about frequent flyer miles. Thanks anyway to everyone for helping.

P.S. Can you change mileage credit midtravel or even after the fact?

It can be changed before any flight segment (though often the agents do not do the change properly). It can be added retroactively if no plan was designated for a segment, but changing from one plan to another retroactively is difficult (not impossible, but very difficult). AS actually is a good idea. But QFF points can be redeemed for AS flights. I didn't know AS flies LAX-PSP (SEA-PSP is more likely). http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/...Points/flights

Just checked the AS route network, it is only SEA-PSP per http://www.alaskaair.com/as/alaska/i...qxroutemap.pdf

Oh I should know better. Of course it is SFO-PSP, originating in SEA! I travel that flight all the time to visit the folks. It's United Express and Delta affiliates that do the puddle-jumper flights over the mountains from LA.

AS also provides some optimal partner award arrangements since it does include DE as well (handy from-Ireland trips). Well, learning all the time. Thanks again.