Hello everybody,

sorry if that question had been discussed previously, but all i could find was some of the vage things in the Comparison thread that I didn't quite get enough out of. So: Please be nice

I will begin to fly more on BA than Star Alliance in the future and I am looking for the best program to put my travel in. It is mostly inner-european flights with BA, and it will be Economy (company rule )

What programm would be best?

Thanks for your help

There are a couple of questions for you that will help provide quality responses from people here:

Are there any OW carriers (other than BA) with which you will fly at least four paid flights per year? FF plans from OW carriers normally require that you fly a minimum of 4 (qualifying) flights per year on their own aircraft. This is likely to reduce your choices to BA plus those. (BA is not inherently a bad choice, especially with an EU base, but it may also be your only practical choice.)

Does your company rule restricting you to Economy flights mean that you get flexible economy (Booking classes Y, B, or H) or the cheapest that they can get? (BA's Executive Club is notoriously mean if you fly primarily in low-cost economy.)

Maybe it would be worthwhile to take a closer look at Malev? I'm not sure about their offerings but they would be physically closest to Germany apart from BA. Also because of the generic four flights on own metal rule of OW.

Finnair is not bad for upgrade with points but you need 36 European one way flights a year to qualify for lowest status on shorthauls. And if you don't have Asian or Russian/CIS travel planned their prices and routes are not that attractive.

Of the programs that I know better, Cathay and JAL are equally stingy to BA on restricted economy. Zero tier points...

CX is not that bad. MPC/AM members can get 100% miles on economy booking class YBHKMLV.

Well, I guess it will be BA then, since I have allready 4 flights booked on their metal.

BTW, all is economy restricted, not sure about the class-code, but some flights are about twice what f.x. LH wanted on that day at those times, so I guess it is none of the cheap-o classes.

Thanks for all input ^

Doesn't have to be BA. It is not correct that all OW airlines require 4 paid flights on their metal. This might be the rule, but not everyone is enforcing them.

Plus, this is only relevant for status anyway. If you wouldn't get status this problem doesn't exists for you.

So the main question is: What would you like to get from your program? Lounge access? Award flights? Lifetime status?

If award flights is what you want, then have a look at AA. They have a good earn/burn ratio and low fuel surcharges. There are a few traps with them as well but the detail depends on your flying pattern and the booking classes because a lot of discounted economy only gets 25% and then AsiaMiles is more attractive.

I haven't checked BA's rules recently, but last time I checked the rules provided that you can't even join BAEC unless you've had 2 qualifying (i.e. tier point-earning) flights, subject to certain exceptions (e.g. if you get a BA mile-earning credit card). So check the rules of the OW programs to make sure that you can accumulate miles right away on flights, even if the accumulation is only a fraction of the miles flown.

You can see that this issue is not at all straightforward. What might be quite a good idea is to initially hold back from signing up with any of the OW carriers, but keep your boarding pass stubs. When you start with the BA flights, find out the booking classes you are getting. This is shown on paper tickets (see here
but you have to ask your travel agency or department if, as is likely, you have only e-tickets. (You can also phone BA reservations & quote your booking reference, or ask if you check-in manually.)

Once you know the type of booking (fare) classes you are travelling in, please post that information and as much additional info as possible about your expected travel:

# Expected number of european flights per year. (Count these as single sectors, so a return flight DUS <> LHR = 2 flights.) Are these likely to be 90% or more with BA?

# Expected number of intercontinental sectors per year. Which airlines/destinations?

# Which FF benefits are your priorities? As FTL on LH, you would probably like lounge access. You will get this on BA after 20 sectors in Europe, but only if you are flying Y, B, or H. If you're almost never going to be in those classes, it's probably better to accept the fact & sign up with someone who will at least give you 100% of the miles rather than merely 25%.

At this point, those here who know the benefits & drawbacks of the different systems can help you get the details you need.

Once you have enough information to decide, you then just go ahead. BA will credit you for flights taken in the 3 months before joining, so long as you keep your stubs. Not sure about the others.

AFAIK that requirement was removed by BAEC last year.

These days apparently you can:

• Joining the Executive Club