Moving to London... which program in One world or VA?
 

I was not sure which forum to post this on, but I will be moving to London from Tokyo in the near future, and wondering which FFP to move my business to.

1. I am currently star alliance Gold with ANA.
2. Have JGC status with JAL, but since most of my business is currently w/ NH, am only one world Ruby...
3. will be making 2 round trips in business class between London and Tokyo per year, but most likely not enough to reach silver status with BA or Gold with VA...
4. my corporate contract does not allow me to take JL, but does allow NH/BA/VA on this route

It seems * alliance has a limited presence in the UK, so I am not sure it is worth accumulating miles in * going forth.
If I accumulate 20k mileage in my JL account via BA, i will reach saphire status with Oneworld, but can not travel in JL between TKY and LHR.

Considering the above conditions, what is the best frequent flyer program to join in the UK? Is it worth having saphire status with Oneworld, even with a non-BA program? Personally, the Upper Class service seems appealing as well, but is silver with VA worth anything?

These questions are running thru my mind along with the other millions of things to do before my relocation, and any ideas/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

BD is the second largest carrier out of Heathrow after BA and is ahead of VS (Virgin Atlantic) and is a Star Alliance member so LHR is hardly devoid of *A members. If I were in your shoes, I would look into both BD's (bmi) and LH's programmes:

www.flybmi.com

There is also a BD forum here on FlyerTalk.

I think you really want status for your long-hauls (for priority during standby or service disruptions); there really aren't enough flights to worry about maximizing other benefits. Best choice would be status with whomever you will be flying to NRT; VS is probably a good choice, their LHR clubhouse is spectacular. In general VS has a great seat and ground product, which makes up for any shortfalls in their in-air soft product. Plus the VS flight attendants are quite notorious in NRT, fwiw.

The advice to consider BD and LH is sound; I prefer OW, but LH has improved tremendously in the past 3 years -- and has just announced that it is re-investing record profits into improving their F/J products. While BA is not.

thanks vm for the replies
 

Having never lived in London, I was not aware that BD has such a strong presence at Heathrow.. I will take a look at their network/services. However, if I remain enrolled in ANA's Superflyers program I will be able to maintain * gold status (even w/ little or no flights on * alliance), so I will be able to enjoy the benefits of * gold without moving to BD or LH.

That being said, I guess my choices come down to:
1) moving my UK-Japan business to VS (sorry, not VA!). Although I will most likely only make silver status, my long-hauls will be in paid J, and the on-ground (car service/lounges) look very attractive.
2) making OW sapphire w/ JL and flying BA. - the new terminal and large domestic network look attractive but I feel VS is a better business product overall.

Is flying BA w/ status on another OW airline a better option than moving business to VS (albeit lower status tier)? I presume it is easier to accumulate non-flight mileages via credit cards, etc domestically with VS/BA...

any additional comments/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

VS is a long haul only carrier whereas BA has an extensive long and short haul network. BD on the other hard is largely domestic and mid haul focussed.

BA status is not too hard to earn if flying up front so you may want to take this into account. Also getting a BA AMEX is a great way to make miles add up fast in your account.

BD also have a very generous credit card scheme which is also worth a look.