MilesBuzz! - Would you choose 50K United or 50K American?

I am going to go for the Fidelity bonus and have a choice between earning the 50K on UAL or AA. I have been pretty loyal to Delta and only had a little experience with the other programs but with the devaluation of Skymiles I would like to branch out. UAL has 9 flights/day from my hometown and AA has 5 flights/day. I am interested in other opinions. Thank you.

I like the UA miles as they're actually pretty easy to redeem. 50K is 2 rt domestic tickets as saver level.

Recognize the number of flights from your city. But that is only part of the decision.

The real question is WHERE you want to go. Then you can look at the redemption schedules and make a more informed decision.

As for availability, I think AA is better than UA. But that all depends on where you are looking to go.

United allows a stopover and an open-jaw. Which is great if you can use it.

They are both good programs but I would say it would depend on if you have the Citi AA card. If you do, it gives 10% back and therefore 50k is slightly more valuable. Also, maybe it would depend on if you are planning to be in any of AA Off-Peak places durring off-peak season. It's a good savings.

Otherwise, I lean UA.

I am going to go for the Fidelity bonus and have a choice between earning the 50K on UAL or AA. I have been pretty loyal to Delta and only had a little experience with the other programs but with the devaluation of Skymiles I would like to branch out. UAL has 9 flights/day from my hometown and AA has 5 flights/day. I am interested in other opinions. Thank you. You are in the Dakotas so you can connect to either in Chicago but I am sure you want warm weather trips from there so AA would offer more thru Miami (one of their hubs) but both will work. I prefer AA

It could probably be worth doing some sample searches of awards that you might expect to use the 50k miles for. Depending on your location ("The Dakotas"), it'd probably be worth seeing which airline has better availability. Both AA and UA have hubs in ORD, so I'd imagine you'll probably connect there on either UA or AA, but I'm not sure what other routes each airline operates. Also keep in mind that UA miles can be redeemed on US, which can be helpful for domestic awards to have additional domestic options, even though many people (myself included) don't really like US.

Both are good programs, but UA offers more options and much better online award booking process. If I had to choose one for mileage accumulation and award tickets, I'd go with UA.

I don't think one is definitely better than the other -- it depends on what you want to use the miles for. United has the larger network with Star Alliance carriers, but from what I hear, Oneworld has better availability and maybe moreso in premium cabins now with SQ/LH/LX/NH releasing very few award seats in business and first to/from the United States. But you can certainly use United miles via *A partners to more places. AA also has some sweet spots with off-peak awards in economy e.g. 50k roundtrip to Japan or 6k one-way intra-Peru.

Also if you have status in either airline that'll factor into your decision.

The 'value' of UA and AA for domestic redemptions is fairly equal, with availability where you live being the tiebreaker. I would go to AA.com and United.com and pop in some award tickets you would like to fly, and see what is the availability in, say, November. Both sites have month-long flexible date calendars, so you can get a good picture. November is also a decent test because it has a low season for the first two weeks and a high season around Thanksgiving. If you mostly want to fly domestic, then UA, with twice as many flights, will probably be better for you. Also, you may have a personal preference for connecting in ORD versus DEN.

If you have specific international destinations in mind, there are a whole different set of factors, depending on the destination and region, so we would need more info.

I'd go with UA. After they post you'll see an offer on your UA homepage for the 60K Chase UA Explorer card. Now you've got 110K. Hello Europe/SA/Asia.

Then you can apply for a couple CITI AA cards and add 100K AA miles? See thread on MB Forum.

United

UA/AA are both major airlines in my hub and both offers good redemption option, so I'm not really in strong favor of one over the other. I'd go with AA for a few reasons:

1) I don't have a lot of AA miles, so I'd like to build it up a bit.
2) I tend to have better and more consistent experience with AA customer service (i.e. when changing flights or other requests).
3) I like AA's one world alliance, in particular CX.

But mostly, I'd go with AA for now due to #1. It's a personal preference.

Good luck. You can't go wrong with either choice.

For me it's a no-brainer since more than much of my flying involves flights out of SFO to the east coast - and UA far more nonstops.

I'd pick AA because UA are so much easier to earn (via UR)... keep things diversified.

Set up an account with both American and United and search for free flights on the routes that interest you.

From Seattle, United almost always works best for the destinations I search. I would much prefer 50k United, but I collect both.

Foe me, I like UA miles mainly because of partner airlines and can book award tickets on partner airlines online. no need call.

I have been pretty loyal to Delta and only had a little experience with the other programs but with the devaluation of Skymiles I would like to branch out.

How much would you fly on either AA or UA in a given year? I've walked away from UA due to the devaluation of the middle tier (50K) there where you now only get 50% bonus miles. At AA, midtier still gets you 100% bonus miles. One of AA's best values is their 40K off peak award to Europe and South America. The season to Europe runs from Oct 15-May 15.

Although AA does not have economy plus type seating, at midtier you don't have to wait for check-in to select emergency exit rows or window or aisle seats towards the front of the plane. You can do that at booking.

You might want to weigh those items into your decision if you actually intend to fly either of those carriers with paid tickets.

I'd pick AA because UA are so much easier to earn (via UR)... keep things diversified.same here... !

And AA has their relationships with credit cards too with quite large bonuses.

I'd pick AA because UA are so much easier to earn (via UR)... keep things diversified.

And AA has their relationships with credit cards too with quite large bonuses.

For sure, but beside bonuses single not that large ($500-700) purchases can earn upwards of 8-10k UR points with your Ink Bold card at times. (when OD is 10x). OD also stocks things like household cleaners, bottled water, paper plates, napkins, etc that anyone can use and we always stock up on during 10x promos.

If you have the Cit AA cards, I saw Fargo, ND & Falls, SD on the reduced Citi awards (17.5K RT or 20K RT depending on what type of CC you have). Also, you would get 10% of that back as a rebate.

I haven't checked availability to/from those cities and we do not know how close/far you are to Fargo & Sioux Falls.

If you can't find T inventory (coach saver), you would have to spend 50K miles for one ticket in anytime inventory. Not sure what United offers in saver inventory.

One nice thing about AA is during the offseason (don't recall exact dates but may be Oct 15 to May 15--I would check) it only takes 40K miles to go from the USA to Europe/South America in coach. Done right, you could even add Hawaii to the mix. ;)

Bottom line: YMMV (your mileage may vary) depending on various situations.

I would go with AA because of their alliance with One World (especially CX).

I have been using the AAdvantage program for years and could not be any happier. The ability to see availability on line, many awards in first or business at discounted levels, to places I want to go internationally.

Last year we used AA miles to travel to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, all in first or business using AA miles on their partner airlines. The value for our AA miles was great.

I say AA because there are many more ways to gather UA miles.

unless you are working towards a specific trip, it's always nice to have numerous options

Recognize the number of flights from your city. But that is only part of the decision.

The real question is WHERE you want to go. Then you can look at the redemption schedules and make a more informed decision.

As for availability, I think AA is better than UA. But that all depends on where you are looking to go.

It doesn't just depend on where you need to go but what timeframe. I know when I've needed to travel suddenly domestically and the prices have been $500+ each way, I have found UA close in is easier to find a saver award than AA.. For someone having the needs of flying last minute (such as family illness), I'd say seriously consider UA. I needed to make a last minute trip Friday of last week. With the holiday and aftermath of Isaac, fares were crazy. Nothing was less than five hundred dollars one way. UA gave me a saver award option where AA gave me a standard award. The UA routing option wasn't stellar, but at least I could do a low ticket. I will also add that I had the flexibility of being able to fly from BUR, LAX, LGB, SNA, SAN, or PSP to my destination and still could only find availability on UA and I lucked out and got it out of SNA which is closest.

I guess it really comes down to preference on the OP's part. Do you appreciate in flight experience more than ability to use miles (and to a point he must since he's chosen Delta for so long). If so, AA staff tend to be more pleasant at the moment, but the Economy Plus coach product is very much better than the AA coach product. Upgrades can't be counted on with either airline since the merger and AA matching UA 1k's (thus increasing the number of EXP's). So you should decide what matters to you. Is it a nicer economy and ability to use miles easier or pleasant people and good on time performance?

I say AA because there are many more ways to gather UA miles.

I don't see this. In the USA, AA miles can be earned through banking (BankDirect), and through cards issued by Citi and American Express (SPG). I'm not aware of any comparable UA banking program, nor any way to earn UA miles ($1=1 or better) with cards from any issuer other than Chase.

personally for being based out of MIA and with the citi AA, i would pick American.

I don't see this. In the USA, AA miles can be earned through banking (BankDirect), and through cards issued by Citi and American Express (SPG). I'm not aware of any comparable UA banking program, nor any way to earn UA miles ($1=1 or better) with cards from any issuer other than Chase.

Mainly through exploiting the UR mall with the Freedom and Ink cards.

Also consider that many OW partners tack on fuel charges when redeeming your AA miles on those carriers. I have yet to pay a fuel charge when redeeming my UA miles on other SA carriers. Although I do like AA's Off-Peak awards which can also be used with their OW partners.

I have ALWAYS had trouble finding anything but 2 stop flights for saver miles on AA and only had the same issue with UA 20% of the time. Just my personal experience.

I am surprised to see the responses. UA availability is better than AA and it really isn't even close. I have looked at hundreds of tickets and its almost always the same.

I once compared a week long period using fortress routes. ORD-DFW on AA has about a million flights a day, but UA still had about twice as many availabilities. ORD-IAH has about 5 times as many availabilities on UA.

On international the difference is even greater. over 50% of oneworld transatlantic flights now have a fuel surcharge. Star alliance has so many more transatlantic flights that there is always more options. Currently looking for ATH-IAD. In a 2 week period AA has 4 days available and zero flight that do not have an overnight connection or a $200 fuel surcharge. UA has availability on all 14 days.

Aside from hib cities there is really only one good reason to choose AA miles over UA. And that is stopovers. AA has free stopovers at your north american gateway which can be valuable but really only when you live in a north Ameican gateway.

On international the difference is even greater. over 50% of oneworld transatlantic flights now have a fuel surcharge. Star alliance has so many more transatlantic flights that there is always more options. Currently looking for ATH-IAD. In a 2 week period AA has 4 days available and zero flight that do not have an overnight connection or a $200 fuel surcharge. UA has availability on all 14 days.

Aside from hib cities there is really only one good reason to choose AA miles over UA. And that is stopovers. AA has free stopovers at your north american gateway which can be valuable but really only when you live in a north Ameican gateway.

Hindukid is right, at least about this part. If the OP wants to go to Europe in a premium cabin, forget AA. They'll make you fly BA and pay $. However, AA got smart and at least has sAAver seats on their own metal (no $.)

Asia is a different story. Yes, there is CX, but UA also has TG and NH.

And AA has their relationships with credit cards too with quite large bonuses.

Not only that, but you're still allowed to churn Citi AA cards every couple of years. It might not seem like that big of a deal, but 100k every other year adds up. If there is a spouse involved, then one can alternate years.

I'd pick AA because UA are so much easier to earn (via UR)... keep things diversified.

I don't know if UA is so much easier to earn (although I am a card carying member of the OD GC club) but they are easier.

That aside, I do agree with keeping things diversified. Every program has their strengths, and I've found that when I need miles/points in a certain program, I need those points.

Depends on how many miles you have in each. We're swimming in United miles (450K in 3 accounts), but have much less AA miles (175K in 2 accounts).

UA miles are easier to get through Chase spending. Personally, I'd go with AA.

Depends on variables. Where you want to go? How many miles u have in each. Do you have easier access to getting miles on one vs other?

All those not being an issue, I would get United as they are easier to redeem with more partners and especially for international tickets no YQ unlike many American partners

I value UA and AA miles almost equally. Certainly each have advantages depending on where exactly you are trying to go. But if you don't have specific award redemption in mind, i would go with UA, because I strongly prefer to be able to find awards and book them online, and UA is much better for that.

I'd say it's difficult for anyone to answer this unless we know what you're looking to eventually do with the miles.

This could go either way. Personally, I've had better luck overall with AA miles and with 50K I could go to Central/South America or the Caribbean where AA has a big presence. Neither airline has a particularly good Y product so that would be about the same. Luckily, I don't think you can make a bad choice here