British Airways is offering up to 125,000 Avios for transatlantic travel on oneworld carriers through January 31.. and this time all fares are eligible to earn something. Registration required. (HT: Frequent Flyer Bonuses)

American AAdvantage is offering a substantially similar promotion as well.

The BA promotion is only valid for new bookings made between September 22 and January 31. Pre-existing reservations are eligible for the bonus with American. Thank you, American. British Airways excluding tickets already purchased by your customers may save you money but is a kick in the teeth for your loyal members.

If I were going to credit flights to British Airways anyway I’d the BA promotion was great.

Thankfully, American has the same offer, and crediting to AAdvantage is a no brainer (For inexpensive tickets, even if American hadn’t had this promotion, I’d argue that AAdvantage is still the better choice.)

In fact I even argue that earning British Airways status itself makes no sense, it is better even for a London resident flying British Airways to earn American Airlines status under American’s current rules, provided:

• The British Airways passenger isn’t going to earn a status level higher than Gold

• The British Airways passenger can fly a minimum of 4 segments on American flights during a year in order to be eligible for AAdvantage status.

British Airways Concorde Room, London Heathrow

As I detail in this post British Airways elite benefits are weak and not unique, American Airlines elites for the most part get all of the benefits of the equivalent British Airways tier up to Gold. Plus American is far more generous than BA is on inexpensive fares, and American miles are worth far more at the moment, especially since the April 28 devaluation.

British Airways First Class

Plus of course it’s plenty easy for US residents and those in many other countries as well to get as many BA Avios as desired given British Airways is a transfer partner of so many points currencies.

British Airways on the elite side doesn’t offer more to their own members for the most part than to their partner elites. On the redemption side their points are great for short haul coach. And their flight earn-burn is perfect for that rare passenger who buys expensive premium cabin tickets all year for work and then wants to holiday in economy.