Comparing *A FFPs not straightforward
 

I'm trying to up my status on BD, bearing in mind I have quite a bit of travel to do this year. I've decided on BD as I do fly with them regularly, albeit short LHR-DUB mostly. However, since I was going to make some flights on United, I decided to look at the E+ upgrade options, which required me to join UA's MP programme. I had a look around and found that the earning tables can be very different to BMI's. For example I have an DUB-FRA booked in W in Sept. This will earn 50% with BMI, but 100% with UA. I've had a quick look through other UA tables, and there are some differences. There are 50% bonuses on transatlantic flights on LH, for example. And most BD flights book in at 100%. This means that qualification thresholds aren't as straightforward to judge as first seems. I know this is probably common knowledge, but has anyone come up with a tool that compares *A FFPs for a given flight class and airline? I might credit some of my shorter flights to UA instead of BMI.

Keep in mind that one BD mile is not the same as one UA mile. BD miles are more like Euros while UA miles are like Dollars, actually more like Pesoes with the Starnet filtering. :p

BlondeBomber has done some terrific work in comparing *A FF plans. You can find pointers to his comparison charts and to recent discussions in the *A Useful Reference Links sticky at the top of this forum.

Had a look at the references, and they are good. Perhaps, though what I'm thinking is a comparison in terms of earning status rather than spending miles. Of course the BD programme looks great for burning!

Yes. A couple of years ago I built a tool with several (not all) *A and other FFPs for comparing earning and burning rates. However, it is a bit out of date now and does require some fairly detailed knowledge of how the programs work.

Unfortunately I came to the conclusion that because there is so much complexity, and the rules are always changing, it is pretty much a full time job to maintain such a tool. So I haven't taken it further.

Also status benefits are not equal across FFPs (other than the minimum published *A benefits) and thus need to be taken into account for any comparison.

Saracenn, what you have experienced is very typical. One of the most common question in this forum is: "Which FFP is right for me?". And the answer we always give is: It depends.

It firstly depends on what you want from a FFP. For some people, it is all about miles earning. For others it is about status, for other about upgrades.

The second question then is: What is your flying pattern? Which routes, which airline and what type of tickets?

Depending the answer people give us we try to come up with a recommendation. BD is great when you fly lots of premium cabins. Their redemption options are fantastic. UA is great for cheaper tickets and their fees for award tickets are much lower. However the block availability on many *A awards so you can not get seats while people using other FFP can book their awards.

This is also why there is not tool to compare. It is not only very complex, but it is also so depended on your personal preferences and circumstances.