Questions and Answers

Which one is the best to join? I not in any and I find it all so confusing. Live in UK so all of them sort of fly here Thank you

Hi Davina, you cannot really join an alliance per se, but you can join an airline that belongs to an alliance. There is also no “best to join”, because it really depends what your flying patterns are.

The best way to determine it is to see which airline you fly most often. For instance, if you are based in the UK, there’s a good chance that you fly British Airways a lot. BA belongs to the OneWorld alliance, so by enrolling in British Airways Executive Club, you would automatically belong to the OneWorld alliance. You could also enroll with another airline that belongs to OneWorld, such as American Airlines, and credit your British Airways flights there (but that is definitely a little more advanced).

If you tell us more about which destinations and airlines you usually fly, we could help you better.

If earning status is important to you, let us know that as well. Sometimes it might make sense to credit miles to a program that doesn’t seem obvious depending on your goals and the redemptions you have in mind.

Hi Davina,

As MidSouth and Clem have said, there really isnt a “best option”. Much of it depends on you and what travel habits you have. To help you help us to help you (say that 5 times fast!), here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1) Where are you located? We know this one, as you have said the UK
2) Where do you travel? This is important because while all of the alliances fly to the UK, some may have better routing to certain destinations than others
3) Do you travel to the same destination often? If you do, it may make sense to stick with one carrier/alliance over another.
4) How often do you travel? Will you travel once a month or more for work, or do you travel just a few times a year for holiday? This is important because if you travel infrequently, you may be best served being a “free agent”

More advanced questions:

4) Is status important to you? As MidSouth points out, it may make sense to credit an airline that isnt obvious at first, even though you dont “fly” their metal. The more you fly, the more status make sense (for better mileage earning and the odd perks status may bring)
5) How “travel tolerant” are you? What I mean by this is – are you willing to add an extra leg to a trip to fly a certain alliance or airline? Are you the type of traveler who is willing to make a positioning trip (train or plane) to get flights you want, or do you just want the most direct route possible?