Where to credit BA Flights – alternatives to BAEC

[TJ]

Having just achieved gold status, I don’t need to worry about BA status next year given the soft landing to silver (which is the sweet spot for me). I will still earn Avios via Amex and Nectar, but I am considering if this is the time to try for status with another OW member and start crediting my BA flights elsewhere. The question is, which is best alternative…Qatar, American Airlines, Alaska…? It’s a complex area and dependent on many factors, but it would be good get some views on the pros & cons of the alternatives.

[yonasl]

I don’t see much value to do this as benefits as a OW emerald are fairly well shared (only thing would be if you were an elite at some other airline that could provide you “maybe” more chances of an upgrade etc. when flying with them … but you will first need to have status with them!)

The only advantage I see is that if you don’t care about Tier Points and there was some double avios or similar offer with Qatar or Iberia you could switch to their program to get the mikes there and then transfer back to BA.

[Niall]

Hi TJ,

I respectfully disagree with yonasl’s comment. Once you have attained Gold, it can absolutely be beneficial to start building miles/points in another program. Not just for diversifying but also just that American Airlines and Alaska miles for example are super useful!

It is the status based bonuses which especially make doing this complicated (i.e. if I get a 100% bonus on base miles as BA Gold, why start fresh in AA where I’ll get no status bonus and earn far fewer points?) Fortunately, the announcement that BA will move to Avios earnings based on net ticket cost in 2023 means there are likely many trips for people which would be more beneficial to credit to another program even with BA status bonuses. So silver linings! Getting ahead of it and being ready for that now, especially if you intend to switch programs could be very sensible indeed.

The additional pain will be that of getting your BA Gold status benefits while crediting to this other FFP (e.g. benefits of priority check-in, priority boarding, free seat selection, lounge access, priority on wait lists and for upgrades etc). I know people do it, but I can imagine it being painful at times.

A comparison across programs now is especially difficult given that BA’s avios earnings is going to change in 2023 but we don’t know when and exactly how. I think it is reasonable to assume it will be roughly the same as Iberia’s implementation. However, the ‘when’ is fairly vital especially as there have been comments suggesting BA would honour the old earnings rates for bookings made prior to the date this change comes in. If the timing was right and you know your travel plans well in advance, it could mean that this change in earnings wouldn’t be noticed by you for some time (perhaps into 2024). Additionally, there is risk in other programs too. For example, Alaska Mileage Plan is widely expected to have a big devaluation coming based on the phenomenal value you can get from some of their original/older partner redemptions now vs the charts for new partners, as well as their entry to Oneworld. They have pre-announced redemption changes will come in this year, so we should know soon enough.

My question for you is why do you want to do this? If it’s just to build up some miles of a different ‘currency’ but not to chase status in another program it is probably simpler. However, even still, you need to consider whether or not you are likely to attain status in that other program because of the status bonuses which are offered (e.g. even just considering flights with BA, you get status bonuses credit from those with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines but not with Qatar Airways).

When someone asked Rob which SkyTeam program to join, his answer was that it is never an easy answer because you need to factor:

*how it rewards in the specific ticket class you fly, on the routes you fly
*whether you value the ability to top-up via credit card spend etc
*how long status lasts when you earn it
*what the cost of redemptions are (and which carriers have surcharges added)
*whether you value the ability to book redemptions online
*cancellation policy on redemptions
*whether a scheme has better reward availability for its own elites, and whether you value that

etc etc

Flyertalk too has a ‘Which Frequent Flyer Program to Join?’ thread which similarly asks you a list of standard questions to be able to answer.

If you can answer some of these questions and provide more background, I’m sure you can get a good answer here. Based on the length of my answer which isn’t touching the sides of how complex this is, I don’t think a few posts of peoples comments on this will give a great answer without further detail on your travel pattern.

In the meantime, it is American Airlines and Alaska Airlines which are most interesting to me/for my circumstances. Alaska Airlines, even with the uncertainly over where the program is heading (devaluation) is great and it’s a great time to be thinking about it because their membership year is the calendar year. If you hold out for their announcement/new redemption charts you can know if it will be worthwhile to switch crediting in January. The issue for status chasing is that they require that you fly a number of segments marketed and operated by Alaska (6 for MVP Gold which is Sapphire/BA Silver and 12 for MVP Gold 75K which is Emerald/BA Gold). American Airlines less generous cabin bonus for the cheaper BA business fares sucks as it’s the same as for premium economy, but the ability to get status from spend on hotels is interesting.

[Niall]

I respectfully disagree with yonasl’s comment. Once you have attained Gold, it can absolutely be beneficial to start building miles/points in another program. Not just for diversifying but also just that American Airlines and Alaska miles for example are super useful!

It is the status based bonuses which especially make doing this complicated (i.e. if I get a 100% bonus on base miles as BA Gold, why start fresh in AA where I’ll get no status bonus and earn far fewer points?) Fortunately, the announcement that BA will move to Avios earnings based on net ticket cost in 2023 means there are likely many trips for people which would be more beneficial to credit to another program even with BA status bonuses. So silver linings! Getting ahead of it and being ready for that now, especially if you intend to switch programs could be very sensible indeed.

The additional pain will be that of getting your BA Gold status benefits while crediting to this other FFP (e.g. benefits of priority check-in, priority boarding, free seat selection, lounge access, priority on wait lists and for upgrades etc). I know people do it, but I can imagine it being painful at times.

A comparison across programs now is especially difficult given that BA’s avios earnings is going to change in 2023 but we don’t know when and exactly how. I think it is reasonable to assume it will be roughly the same as Iberia’s implementation. However, the ‘when’ is fairly vital especially as there have been comments suggesting BA would honour the old earnings rates for bookings made prior to the date this change comes in. If the timing was right and you know your travel plans well in advance, it could mean that this change in earnings wouldn’t be noticed by you for some time (perhaps into 2024). Additionally, there is risk in other programs too. For example, Alaska Mileage Plan is widely expected to have a big devaluation coming based on the phenomenal value you can get from some of their original/older partner redemptions now vs the charts for new partners, as well as their entry to Oneworld. They have pre-announced redemption chart changes will come in this year, so we should know soon enough.

My question for you is why do you want to do this? If it’s just to build up some miles of a different ‘currency’ but not to chase status in another program it is probably simpler. However, even still, you need to consider whether or not you are likely to attain status in that other program because of the status bonuses which are offered (e.g. even just considering flights with BA, you get status bonuses credit from those with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines but not with Qatar Airways).

When someone asked Rob which SkyTeam program to join, his answer was that it is never an easy answer because you need to factor:

*how it rewards in the specific ticket class you fly, on the routes you fly
*whether you value the ability to top-up via credit card spend etc
*how long status lasts when you earn it
*what the cost of redemptions are (and which carriers have surcharges added)
*whether you value the ability to book redemptions online
*cancellation policy on redemptions
*whether a scheme has better reward availability for its own elites, and whether you value that

etc etc

Flyertalk too has a ‘Which Frequent Flyer Program to Join?’ thread which similarly asks you a list of standard questions to be able to answer.

If you can answer some of these questions and provide more background, I’m sure you can get a good answer here. Based on the length of my answer which isn’t touching the sides of how complex this is, I don’t think a few posts of peoples comments on this will give a great answer without further detail on your travel pattern.

In the meantime, it is American Airlines and Alaska Airlines which are most interesting to me (and for my circumstances). Alaska Airlines, even with the uncertainly over where the program is heading (devaluation) is great and it’s a great time to be thinking about it because their membership year is the calendar year. If you hold out for their announcement/new redemption charts you can know if it will be worthwhile to switch crediting in January. The issue for status chasing is that they require that you fly a number of segments marketed and operated by Alaska (6 for MVP Gold which is Sapphire/BA Silver and 12 for MVP Gold 75K which is Emerald/BA Gold). American Airlines less generous cabin bonus for the cheaper BA business fares sucks as it’s the same as for premium economy, but the ability to get status from spend on hotels is interesting.

[TJ]

@Niall – I appreciate the thought-provoking input. For me personally, the thinking is primarily around building a different reward ‘currency’ which can be leveraged against sweet spots in that scheme (including any partners outside of the OW family). I’m less concerned about chasing status in another scheme as I will have OW Emerald for the year, but if I cannot easily utilise my BA status (on BA flights) whilst booking miles/points to another scheme then this would be a concern. So understanding the mechanics behind this will be the first thing that I need to explore.

[memesweeper]

@TJ you can switch your frequent flyer scheme after making a booking; so utilisation of status for free seat selection is fine, so book with BAEC in place, then switch to send the points credit elsewhere.

I’ve only done this switch after booking once, and having done so, I still managed to get lounge access (this was on a BA flight and I had BA status).

I suspect the real pro tip is buy your flight and check in against BAEC, and then switch FFP once in the lounge! Should send the mileage elsewhere. Untested by me however.

[Niall]

For utilising your BA status, while crediting points to another program, I know other people do it, so I’m sure it’s fine. I’m sure e.g. seat selection will remain if you add Exec club number then change it later. Also you’ll probably get through the first wing and into the lounge at Heathrow with no issue with showing your card and asking them not to add it to the booking. I think I even read there are two spaces for frequent flyer numbers in the background, one for status benefits and the other for earnings. I just don’t have practical experience of this myself, and imagine it is something which is messed up / overwritten by desk agents a lot and which could cause issues in airports with non BA staff and lounges especially. Hopefully someone will come along and give their experience with it.

For your purposes, it’s still necessary to understand what type of flying you do to see how quickly or well you’d build up a useable quantity of miles/points. Alaska miles definitely have the better sweet spots, but perhaps not for long. You would also be likely to earn more for long haul discount BA business class flights. Topping up would likely be more expensive to get to a useable level with Alaska vs American. Plus with accumulating American points on hotel bookings, when you buy points in that process they count for status.

One example for you… If you fly one return trip to New York in a discounted (R) fare then each way you would earn for the 3,458 mile trip 150% x 3,458 = 5,187 avios plus 3,458 status/tier bonus (100% of base miles as BA Gold). Which is 8,645 each way or 17,290 avios return.

Alaska give 250% of the miles without status/tier bonus. So you’ll earn the same number of miles with them for this trip even without Alaska status. Get up to 20,000 elite qualifying miles with Alaska (that trip would give you a little over 10,000) and you’ll start to get status/tier bonuses too. But you would need to find time to do a couple of Alaska operate flights.

With American Airlines you’d get 150% of miles flown = 10,374 miles. Earn elite status and you’ll start to get those bonuses, but it will be hard to get to Alaska level and Alaska miles are probably worth more. Elite status will be easier to achieve though.

Will be different with different fare types of course, but Alaska wins fairly consistently. First class especially credited to Alaska is great! A UK – US flight in first will get you enough miles to do something great with (or at least very close) as well as enough miles to start earning tier/status bonuses.

[Rob]

AA has some value:

* opens up Etihad for redemption
* opens up tax free transatlantic redemptions, assuming you can find anything on AA metal