IF AA and US Air are partners, can AA points be used on and combined with US Air points and vice versa?

I live in an area that is no longer serviced by American (only have a few points) and
I have never flown US, because I would have to go to Charlotte and then connect. However, I am flying to/around/from Australia in July on Qantas, and I understand that both AA and US Air are partners with Qantas. So, should I get my miles on AA or US Air?

This is long winded, but I sure would appreciate some help. Thanks.

AA and US are not partners anymore. This relationship ended during the time the US/UA merger was going on (that ultimately failed of course).

I'm not sure which airport you use, but unless you're flying to a hub, you have to connect no matter where you're going. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Anyway, I'd take the miles on AA since they count towards elite ...

Which airline are you using to get to the Qantas gateway (LAX/JFK)?

BTW, if this ticket is eligible for mileage, you should be able to score at least AA Gold with this one ticket if you sign up for a challenge ... see:

http://members.shaw.ca/fewmiles/AA/recht/challenge.html

Thansks Beckles. I will take Delta to LAX. Delta is primary due to the number of flights in to my local airport.