best oneworld program?
 

Looking for some friendly advice....

I fly from the UK to South America every one to two years with my wife and two kids.
We also fly about twice a year within europe.
Since the demise of Varig our long haul flights seem to often be with american airlines. I feel its a waste that I have never collected airmiles for /from all these long flights... but which oneworld program would be best for me. I thought AA at first but worried that the miles expire after 18mths so if I only take a long haul return flight(with 4 people) every 2 yrs the miles might go to waste...

Any advice gratefully appreciated.

Joey.

Joey,

Welcome to FT!

Yes, AA miles do expire after 18 months, but you can extend their validity by even the tiniest of activity on your AA account. This could be by a short BA flight or even some kind of non-flight transaction (e.g. online shopping, restaurant meals etc).

The 'best' program really depends on your personal criteria, but do check which carriers charge ticketing fees (and how much) or fuel surcharges for award tickets. Of course they keep moving the goal post all the time, but that is another story altogeter!

Assuming you fly in cheap economy and you want those miles for award flights later, then AA is your best choice.

Regarding the validity: As FedUp2 said, any sort of activity stops the miles from expiring.
So just an online promotion, transferring points from a Starwood or anything will put more life into your accounts. So you just need to make a note in your calendar to keep track of time and you can keep those precious miles alive.

thanks
 

thanks... thats exactly what I needed 2 know