Now that oneworld member airline British Airways has acquired bmi, the airline is no longer a member of Star Alliance as of April 20. All Star Alliance benefits, including lounge access, ended June 1, 2012. Diamond Club members will continue to earn miles on airline partners that are not in the Star Alliance, including Transaero, Virgin, bmibaby, Qatar and Jet Airways.

Members flying on British Airways flights can elect to earn miles in Diamond Club and elite members received a status match to an equivalent British Airways tier on May 1 (see “BA Matches BMI Status” article in this magazine). Diamond Club Gold members received Executive Club Gold status and Diamond Club Silver received Executive Club Silver status. Effective July 3, bmi Diamond Club members and British Airways Executive Club members will be able to transfer miles and points online between the two programs at a 1:1 ratio.

Bottom line: For now, no changes have been made to Diamond Club’s award chart. Diamond Club has some attractive redemption options and Gary Leff of View from the Wing says he, “… can’t wait to move British Airways points over to bmi, to redeem flights on British Airways using the bmi award chart. Think one-way business class from the U.S. to South Africa (e.g. Los Angeles — London — Johannesburg) for 37,500 miles and 255 British pounds as a cash and points redemption, plus taxes and fuel surcharges.” Of course, the ability to transfer points into Diamond Club miles won’t be offered until July 3, which gives the program time to make changes.