Originally Posted by
martin33
It's also, sadly, now hypothetical since they raised the MileSaaver F award to 50K.
Only AA and UA currently offer the "real thing" last seat-for-sale redemption at similar (ie double) mileage levels. CO only allows it for elites. DL reintroduced it at a yet-higher third pricing level. US does not offer it at all.
yeah, IMO AA and UA are the best two mileage programs in the US with AA being the better of the two. UA has a bit too much of the one segment is in first so we'll charge you first class for the whole trip mentality. Delta in theory has a 25K tier 1 award level though it's existence is highly suspect. I had to cancel a 25k mile award booking with Delta and had a year to either rebook or reclaim the miles for a $100 fee. Guess what, those were the only 25k miles I still had with delta and I found that it was virtually impossible to use those 25K miles so I just called Delta and said, "to the heck with it, i don't want those miles back, they're totally worthless to me now" Since I live in austin, the only two airlines worth it to me are American and United. One day i'd like to be both EXP and 1K, that would be awesome, top tier status with the best two alliances, OneWorld and Star. What if American and United merged into a superairline called AmericanUnited Airways?
yeah, i was one of the last ones to take advantage of that saver award at 45K miles though for the same 50K miles today, the first saver award would still be slightly more valuable than the 50K coach anytime award if you're pretty much set on your dates. basically the pros and cons of each are this:
50K First sAAver
Pros: First Class Seat
Cons: capacity controlled, hard to change dates
50K Economy AAnytime
Pros: Flexible dates, same flexibility as a full fare ticket
Cons: it's a coach seat (though it does get you access to exit row seats i think)
so what is it going to be? flexibility or a better seat?