Partner airline + tier points with new system

[Blueskies88]

I am looking to book a (rather expensive) company ticket from LHR to DFW for around £6K.There are no BA operated flights. I’m booking through a corporate booking portal, and while I can choose “British Airways operated by American Airlines,” it is slightly more expensive than Finnair or American Airlines itself options.

Since there are no BA-operated flights, am I correct in assuming that under the new tier point system, I will only earn a lower % of tier points if I choose Finnair, even though it’s the same flight? Meaning I have to take the BA option.

I hope my question makes sense.

[Leonidasc]

Welcome to HFP

A few things to consider.

1. If you register with BA, and you take a marketed BA flight, you can get extra nTPs. https://www.britishairways.com/content/executive-club/offers/tier-point-bonus
2. Finnair will offer you the following as per their table per distance flown, not spending.

Economy Lowest (Q, O, A, G, Z): 4%
Economy Low (K, L, M, V, S, N): 7%
Economy Flexible (Y, B, H): 15%
Premium Economy Lowest (E, T, P): 12%
Premium Economy Flexible (W): 25%
Business Low (R, I): 25%
Business Flexible (J, C, D): 50%

[Matt]

Assuming you have free choice of the 3 options, then you need to check the distance from LHR to DFW so you can work out what you’d earn from the Finnair option (assuming it’s a direct flight codeshared by Finnair, not going via HEL), and you need to check what the taxes and fees are in the fares for the BA and AA options, so you can work out how many nTP you’d earn from those.

I would guess, as it’s an expensive flight, that you’d earn significantly more from AA or BA than Finnair. The taxes are likely to be identical between BA and AA, so you’d earn more booking with BA because it’s more expensive. You would also earn a fair bit more with the bonus nTP as Leonidasc mentions.

It then just depends on your ethics/your company’s policies whether you book BA or AA.