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Not sure if this is the best section of the forum but it must be something that other UK based BAEC members think about.
I am about to fly LHR-AKL and back in J for cash, with CX. That’s about 23k miles to credit to a oneworld scheme, before any uplift. I’m keen to hit OW sapphire, as I will also fly quite a few shorthaul OW flights as Avios redemptions, some out of T3, and would happily redeem for economy rather than business if I still get lounge access, extra luggage allowance, business class checkin etc.
BA’s website says I get 160 tier points for e.g. LHR-HKG and 140 for HKG-AKL. Do the legs count separately in this way, even on a single ticket ? If so, great, that’s 600 points and oneworld sapphire status.
But… I only get a 25% Avios earning uplift for flying J. And once I hit OW sapphire, I don’t get any tier-based uplift.
Leftfield idea – credit these flights to Alaska’s Mileage Plan. It seems to have the best value of any non-UK OW scheme:
– re status, MVP Gold= OW sapphire and needs 40k qualifying miles. Flights in J with CX count at 225% of actual miles, so easily achieved;
– re miles earnt, not only do I earn 225% of actual miles in J, but once I gain MVP Gold status, I get a further 100% mileage bonus. And the miles needed for redemptions seems similar to Aadvantage, which I’ve used in the past and which tends to need less miles than Avios on the redemptions I’m in interested in (long haul J from Europe to SE Asia / Australasia).Now Alaska is a full OW member, is there any downside to crediting to them ?
BA’s website says I get 160 tier points for e.g. LHR-HKG and 140 for HKG-AKL. Do the legs count separately in this way, even on a single ticket ? If so, great, that’s 600 points and oneworld sapphire status.
Yes each flight number is a separate flight. But you won’t get BA silver until you also have 4 BA or IB paid flights.
Don’t know enough about Alaska to answer
Don’t you need to fly a certain amount of Alaska Airlines segments to be able to qualify?
John – yes, damn, can’t believe I missed that.
Yonasi – per your link, Alaska’s rules have just changed: “Earning status becomes simpler. In 2024, status will be based on elite-qualifying miles (EQMs) earned through Alaska and our global partners. The number of EQMs you need to reach status stays the same and you’ll no longer need to fly a minimum number of Alaska flights.”
Seems pretty clear I should credit to Alaska at this point. Maybe lots of other UK-based flyers will start doing the same thing with the above requirement gone.
Bother – flights in J only count at 125% of actual miles for purposes of calculating Alaska elite status, even though they count at 225% for miles awarded.
Moral of story – get some sleep before getting head around a new set of loyalty program(me) rules.
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