Hello everyone. My parents are both US DM CP's and are looking at the options available to them on other airlines. They live in the Philly Area and I am not sure a switch from US to UA would be possible. Does anyone know if any of the the following airlines would allow them to switch flying alliances. Based on their travel habits they would like to stay on *A but would be open to any airline that offered decent flights from Philly and gave them similar status for the current year. I have read about this on various threads and would just like to know besides US who might be the best option flying out of Philly? What would they need to do to accomplish this. All opinions would be welcome.
Thanks,
-UFFA

Flying domestically or internationally? To Europe, US has by far the best options from PHL. To the East coast of the US and larger west coast cities, US is still dominant. If you're going to Asia, maybe NW or some other carrier? IMHO, nothing wrong with sticking with US...as they are the largest carrier at PHL

Being a CP in Philly is better than being a nothing on any other airline in Philly, so if it was me I'd stick with US.

But it also really depends where they fly out of Philly. Is it just a few destinations, or is it random? As they surely know, US is dominant in PHL. I guess AA and DL are close seconds with SW building up a little at a time. But most of the other airlines at PHL serve their respective hubs only.

AA won't status match, but they will allow them to do a challenge, requiring a certain number of miles within 90 days. That will give them Gold status, the lowest tier in the AAdvantage program (Plat and Exec. Plat are the higher ones).

DL and UA have been known to status match, but probably to their low or mid-tier. I've not heard of anyone matching top tier for top tier, but I'm sure it's happened somewhere.

DL and UA have been known to status match, but probably to their low or mid-tier. I've not heard of anyone matching top tier for top tier, but I'm sure it's happened somewhere.

Most people have reported difficulty getting UA to match US status due to the *A partnership... the UK site for the *A currently is offering a level-for-level match (but only at the bottom two levels) from any program to any *A program except SQ's... but of course it's limited to UK residents :rolleyes:

DL might comp them to Gold Medallion... they basically handed out silver to a ton of people last year; I got it for a single one-way flight that cost $60-ish.

Hello everyone. My parents are both US DM CP's and are looking at the options available to them on other airlines. They live in the Philly Area and I am not sure a switch from US to UA would be possible. Does anyone know if any of the the following airlines would allow them to switch flying alliances. Based on their travel habits they would like to stay on *A but would be open to any airline that offered decent flights from Philly and gave them similar status for the current year. I have read about this on various threads and would just like to know besides US who might be the best option flying out of Philly? What would they need to do to accomplish this. All opinions would be welcome.
Thanks,
-UFFA


AA gave me a easy challenge to platinum. i'm in philly. problem is that CP on usair really is still better than anything else out of phl

I would wait to see how things shake out with US and any mergers, etc. that may occur over the next several months. I think by the end of the calendar year, they will better be able to assess their long term mileage options.

DL might comp them to Gold Medallion... they basically handed out silver to a ton of people last year; I got it for a single one-way flight that cost $60-ish.

DL doesn't comp status at all anymore unless you've got a connection with some corporate travel agents. They give a challenge instead, and to complete the challenge you need to fly a certain number of miles on higher-fare tickets only. :td:

NW and CO gladly seem to comp, however, and CO will comp a US Chairman's to their top-tier Platinum level. But CO and its frequent flyer program have many flaws (50% credit on cheap fares if booked elsewhere than continental.com, tough upgrades on many routes, too many RJs, Amtrak codeshare "flights" from PHL to EWR, etc, etc).