Relocating to Singapore - what to do with FFPs?

[finn55]

I will be moving from London, UK to SIN soon.
In parallel with nice perspectives about living there, there are some unclear thoughts like "what to do with my UK-based British Airways Exec Club programme (I am Gold with 400,000 miles), BA Amex credit card, British Midlands programme (I am Gold with 120,000 miles)? Shall I switch to SIN-based SQ programme? Any other FFP-related things?"

In my new SIN role, I will be flying a lot:
- 1-2 times/month to South Asian countries on SQ in Y (shorthaul flights) or J
- monthly to China on SQ or CX (in Y or J).
- occasional/quarterly long-haul to Europe or Americas in J (any carriers).
Hope above info might help you to give more detailed advise on what FFP programme/strategy I should choose and follow.

I am still negotiating my package - global assignment (while I will continue to be "UK employment based"/paid/taxed) or full relocation into local SIN-based employment. I guess this choice might affect possible scenarios about BAEC, Amex etc (please advise accordingly)...

Therefore the questions are:

1A) Will BAEC force me to move my BAEC account into new Sin address (or BAEC account will be "transfered" into SIN-based QF or CX programme)?
1B) I guess I might "hide" my relocation and re-direct all BAEC post to a friend address in the UK.... Does it worth doing?
1C) If I do move BAEC to SIN address - what is the process, prons and cons?

2) Would I be better off to move my BAEC account to Europe (I have second home address there) rather then SIN?

3) What to do with BA Amex?
I understand teh official rule is BA Amex is only for the UK residents...
I can "hide" the move, cancel Amex post statements (or re-direct the post as above)... but will they notice that my expenditure will move to Asia?
Can I keep BA Amex (legally) if I will be on global assignment abroad while still staying in the UK-based employment and salary paid to the UK bank and direct debit setup for payment to Amex?

4) What to do with BMI DC?
Shall I better switch future *A travel to SQ KrisFlyier FFP or continue accumulating miles into BMI FFP?

5) When I will fly on BA or QF or CX (mostly to Europe, US or China), shall I better to put the mileage/TPs into BAEC or QF FFP (need to open it) or CX AirMiles?

I am sure there are many UK-based frequest flyers who moved to SIN recently. Would be very thankful for your advise and thoughts on the best options.

Many thanks in advance for all your thoughts, hints and tips!
What an exciting time!

[Sydney]

Dude you think too much. Don't be such a tightwad.

[finn55]

Dude you think too much. Don't be such a tightwad.

It is not about I think too much but I can do it... The fact of all your posts are limited to 1-2 lines tells me that you think too little. Try to generate something more productive (at least sometimes)

[Sydney]

Quality not quantity, bee-atch

[Sydney]

Oh and here's the "productive" part for you...try not to over-verbalise things. I bet 99% of people clicking on this topic wouldn't have actually finished reading your post and hence the only reply is from me.

Like I said, quality not quantity. That's gold baby!

...you're welcome.

[finn55]

pal, do you have anything to add ON topic? Or you just have so much time to post 3 messages not adding any quality...

About quantity and quality.... I appreciate that my original post was not a 2-liner but I guess I needed to explain the situation and then I asked some specific questions (which I did in 1-2 lines)?

ok, I will stop at this point, if no response, I just take it FFs do not read this forum...

[IanRats]

Oh well, I'll try and add some value...

I would have needed some amazing reason to keep paying UK taxes. You will pay much less here and you can complete a form with the IR in the UK to declare you're not a tax resident there for now (form number escapes me!) - Also, completing tax returns here is an absolute doddle, there is no PAYE and you can even pay in installments without any interest being added a year in arrears as long as you agree to use direct debit!

You can keep your BAEC details without having to transfer anything. Just make sure you use them for something once every three years and you account will remain active (a CX or QF flight will do).

Do you need to keep BA Amex? You can easily get Amex here (getting credit cards if you are on an EP is a doddle) and theirpoints can be converted to Krisflyer miles (Star Alliance), which would be easier to use to "fund" local holidays from here in any case! - Also, you won't get hit with currency conversion charges for absolutely everything like you will keeping the card in Sterling.

As for the BMI card, you can still use the points. You'll just need to work a bit to get your status back when you return to the UK but hopefully you'll have Krisflyer Gold then so you'll still have lounge access while you build up your BMI status again.

With all of this attention to FF programs, I can only imagine that you have enough miles to fly more than the average albatross manages in a year and will continue to accumulate them at a rapid rate.

Good luck!