MilesBuzz! - AA Platinum v. UA Premier Executive

I believe this issue hasn't been discussed recently, but please forgive me if it's repetitive.

I just began a new job with fairly regular international travel, and have so far this year gone from several years of no elite status to both AA Gold and (after my next trip) UA Premier. I expect to have enough travel for the rest of the year to make 50K on one of these airlines without too much trouble. Which one would folks recommend that I go for? (I fly out of the Washington area).

I am leaning slightly toward UA for two reasons. First, I figure that UA Economy Plus is a more limited seating area than the "greater legroom" across the board on AA, and I can thus use Premier Executive a little more to my advantage to get into E+. Second, I am thinking that if I get to 50K by fall I could try and do a Platinum Challenge mileage run to even it out for a year.

Does anyone have any advice on these issues or any other good/bad points between the programs? Thanks!

I am an AA Platinum and have no complaints. From what I hear of Premier Exec, there are way more PE's than AA Plats, hence reducing your chances for upgrades. I have also heard (please excuse the hearsay) that the customer service for PE's is terrible. They have too many 1K's and even more PE's. As for AA, I have received domestic upgrades most of the times I have requested, and the service from the Platinum phone line is excellent. I have heard that Exec Plat is even better.

As for routes, IAD is a huge hub for United. American has a very small presence in DC. (Some DCA, some IAD). Good luck with the choice.

[This message has been edited by gwade (edited 05-08-2001).]

Pros and cons-
AA-
Platinum Service Centers are good and upgrades have less competition.
E+ throughout coach, not just 4 rows.

UA-
So many 1Ks in DC area, I don't stand a chance at my lowly Premier level. Still have yet to sit in E+ as company is pushing us to fly UA more.

More importantly, depends on where you fly to. Internationally, more flights on UA out of IAD and Star Alliance is more expansive in Asia. Domestically, AA has a mini-hub out of IAD to SJC, LAX and I believe SFO.

In your situation, I would qualify on UA and also take the challenge after July. You receive UA benefits through 2/03 and after July, receive AA benefits through 2/03 also. Being elite member on the 2 biggest airlines in the US, wow! I guess you can possibly have your cake and eat it too. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif



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"Fly me to the moon and let me earn alot of miles."

Don't know if it's still the case, but American lets you miles for their weekend specials, say $200 for the trip, or $49 with 10,000 miles.

If you plan on doing some weekend jaunts that may be a good reason to have more miles on American.

I'm not sure being an executive will help get you into e+. Somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that is first come first serve to anybody who deserves to be there, be it with status or full fare. It will get you into an exit row though.

I am currently both UA PE and AA Plat. My current bias is that I like AA a lot and don't like UA much these days, so you can take what I say with that in mind. Why don't I like UA? Customer service, period. I won't go into UA-bashing here, but I'll give my observations about the statuses.

PHONE SERVICE: I rarely if ever have a hold time on the Platinum line. I sometimes have a hold time on the 1P line, and sometimes don't.

AIRPORT SERVICE: I feel that I get pretty good treatment at the Plat level. AA has Platinum Service Centers at hub airports, whereas UA only extends this service to 1K's. When I've encountered irregular ops, AA has been quick to find the best way home for me, and confirm the flights - even on other airlines. UA has led to some of my most disastrous experiences ever, and I've had to drive to my destination on more than one occasion.

UPGRADES: I almost always get to upgrade when I want to on AA. On UA, it is about 50-50. I realize this depends largely on your routes and the popularity of your flight (obviously, Friday afternoon flights are tough to upgrade, and I don't *always* get those on AA). Check the UA board to get a feel for how hard it is to upgrade from IAD - I remember a couple threads dedicated to exactly this topic.

E+ vs. MRTC: I think E+ and MRTC are about equal. Perhaps E+ has an inch or two more room on some planes. E+ seats go to any Premier member, or anyone who pays Y/B fare. Being a 1P doesn't give you any additional advantage over a 2P in terms of getting an E+ seat. I tend to prefer MRTC because I sometimes change flights at the last minute or fly standby. On UA, I probably wouldn't get E+ even with 1P status. On AA, I may be in 28B if I switch flights at the last minute, but at least I get the extra legroom...

ROUTE MAP: From DC, UA clearly holds the advantage over AA. It's up to you to determine how important this is...

Actually Premier Exec does give you one benefit over regular Premier in E+: you can be pre-assigned an exit row. On some planes, that may mean 40+" of pitch, plus a seat in front of you that doesn't recline!

AA:

1. Customer Service

2. COnversion of sticker upgrades to miles - 4 500 mile upgrades = 10,000 miles

3. Lifetime Gold/Plt at 1 & 2 million miles for any mileage accrual.

4. FAs and ground people.

Benefits for the two levels are nearly identical, with only a few differences:

AA: You're admitted to the Platinum Service Centers
UA: Sorry, only our 1Ks can have that level of customer service

AA: You get Platinum luggage tags
UA: Sorry, only our 1Ks deserve luggage tags

AA: Free access to Platinum Hotline from inflight telephones
UA: You're kidding, right?

However, from a FlyerTalk perspective:

AA has deeply offended us.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum71/HTML/003070.html

UA supports our community.
http://www.flyertalk.com/transcripts/041201.html

Choose the lesser evil. Go with United.

I'm AA EXP and UA PE

I much prefer the AA experience (even as a Plat) but many times it comes down to schedules and price. AA has limited Asian routes. Yes you can use 1W but upgrading is almost non existant. AA has weak routes to Europe compared with UA (from SFO) and almost every trip, UA comes in significantly cheaper across the water.

Hopefully I'll be able to retain both status levels this year.

Originally posted by EPS:
AA: Free access to Platinum Hotline from inflight telephones


Really? Does a PLT have to enter their PLT number or do they just dial the 800#? I am assuming that this is also the case for EXP?

Thanks.

Thanks for all the great replies to my first post. All good advice -- I had not thought about the number of 1Ks in the DC area vs. EXP members. It's still a tough call -- the scheduling is the big plus for UA, but that's offset by the fact that so many people are flying out of here.

On the question of inflight access to the AA Platinum or EXP lines, I read that that can be done with a star code, although I certainly wouldn't know from experience --

Originally posted by onedog:
Really? Does a PLT have to enter their PLT number or do they just dial the 800#? I am assuming that this is also the case for EXP?

Thanks.



According to my (dated) notes, you can dial *044. I thought I heard a FA say that number goes to Customer Service, regardless of status.

I'm an AA Platinum & UA 1K (pe in the past) and I would say AA is a little better. However with that said, if I lived in D.C. I would stick to United, unless you plan to connect to just about everywhere vs. a non-stop out of IAD. I think that I would have to live near DFW, SJC, LAX, MIA, ORD or STL to go with AA exclusively.

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Ken in Sacramento

Originally posted by onedog:
Really? Does a PLT have to enter their PLT number or do they just dial the 800#? I am assuming that this is also the case for EXP?

PLT line is at *066. See also: http://fewmiles.tripod.com/AA/tiers.html#1 for more details.

FewMiles..

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FlyerTalkers' Resources on the Web: http://fewmiles.tripod.com/ (http://fewmiles.tripod.com/index.html#1)
Unofficial Guide to AAdvantage: http://fewmiles.tripod.com/AA/ (http://fewmiles.tripod.com/AA/index.html#1)
Unofficial oneworld Info Desk: http://fewmiles.tripod.com/oneworld/ (http://fewmiles.tripod.com/oneworld/index.html#1)

Originally posted by TravelManKen:
I'm an AA Platinum & UA 1K (pe in the past) and I would say AA is a little better. However with that said, if I lived in D.C. I would stick to United, unless you plan to connect to just about everywhere vs. a non-stop out of IAD. I think that I would have to live near DFW, SJC, LAX, MIA, ORD or STL to go with AA exclusively.


I used to live in DC and hated IAD. The typical wait to get through security and the mobile lounges have made me avoid IAD at all costs.

That's exactly the thing. By the time you drive all the way out to Dulles and wait for the mobile lounge, you might has well have caught a flight from DCA-ORD. At least you get miles for that that you wouldn't get through Dulles.

I'm an AA Platinum and a UA 1K. I agree with TravelManKen: AA offers better service but out of IAD/DCA, UA has a more comprehensive route selection. If you know your routes and AA services them, I recommend that you (and all of us should) vote with your pocketbook in favor of the better service.

I've been loyal exclusively to UA for the past 20 years. But all my life I lived in Chicago. I just moved down to FLL recently.
Would it make more sense now to switch allegience to AA due to their Miami hub?

I recently flew AA C class MIA-SEA and it was excellent! I forgot how good airplane food can actually be! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Flying AA is better but you should know the downside. AA is strong in JFK but to get there you need to fly American Eagle. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

This has caused me to fly DL or US shuttle to LGA, instead or Newark on CO when connecting to Europe.

DCA-BOS on AA is a good link now and offers another connecting city to Europe. Great promotions running currently on this route and I plan to try this route next weekend.

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"Fly me to the moon and let me earn alot of miles."

Originally posted by worldbanker:
Flying AA is better but you should know the downside. AA is strong in JFK but to get there you need to fly American Eagle. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

DCA-BOS on AA is a good link now and offers another connecting city to Europe. Great promotions running currently on this route and I plan to try this route next weekend.



The key to fly Eagle is to get the first flights out for the day. These usually leave on time and get you to JFK with no problems. I like the options out of JFK a lot better than Logan.

That's another reason why I stay away from BOS as much as possible. Everytime I ever flown into Logan, the planes have had to wait at least 20-40 minutes for the gate to free up. That's another problem JFK doesn't have.

I'm both PE on United and Platinum on AA. AA wins by a nose, and I agree with those who say that it's customer service that does it. AA acts like you're somebody for flying this much. UA couldn't care less at the gate, over the phone, really anywhere other than for standbys.

That said, AA's schedule is just too thin out of the Bay Area, so I try to make PE on United every year, crying every time I sit in the cramped center seat of the back of a 737 when I'm stuck, and cursing this love of miles. This year, I'm sad to say, the push is going to be to get full AA platinum, unless I pay for a trip to Europe later. I've already got UA PE within sight.

I'd love to stick with just one and make the top level, but AA can't get me where I need to go, and the thought of doing it on UA is enough to induce the shakes. Just my thoughts, but if UA would actually live up to AA's service standard, they'd probably get 60K more annually out of this guy (who would be 1k).

Greetings,

I know this is an AA vs UA topic but can I ask the knowledgable readers where they feel DL falls in all of this?

Also the consensus is that AA service and upgrades are superior to that of UA. If DL doesn't meet my needs I was thinking of switching to UA which flies to my favorite destination or at least the partner airline does so...

Will better service be worth the limited routes or if I have one destination I need to go to and UA services it should I go with the sure route and suffer on the occasional other ones? Finally in each opinion which airline and partnership has the best service to Europe from the US? UA, AA or DL?

Thanks.

I'm elite on all three. And as for the special perks given to elite members, DL falls far short of both AA and UA.

Both AA and UA let you upgrade on basically any fare domestically or internationally -- something DL doesn't let you do. Both will also grant "waivers" to their FF's, something DL will not do.

I've been PE(96-99) and Prem(now) on UAL, and Plat(97-00) and EXP on AA.

I would give AA the edge on service, but UA has a much better website. The ability to do award travel online is nice, and AA has fees that are hard to escape from. Upgrading is a bit easier on AA as a Plat than PE, but it all depends on location. UA has a better partner network, and AA flyers do not earn status miles on BA over the Atlantic.

DL does not allow sticker upgrades from L class fares--that puts them down a notch or two. DL's revenue management seems to be alienating its elite customers. The MRTC and E+ products are nice things that DL has not matched. SkyTeam is not quite there as an alliance.

Originally posted by Neal:
I've been loyal exclusively to UA for the past 20 years. But all my life I lived in Chicago. I just moved down to FLL recently.
Would it make more sense now to switch allegience to AA due to their Miami hub?

I, too, spent almost 20 fun filled years in the Windy City and flying on UA. Since moving to south Florida, I've been mostly using Delta except for some Asia trips. However, DL's FF program and general attitude towards their high mileage customers has deteriorated in the past few years. As a result, I made the decision a couple of months ago to avoid DL where possible and try others.

Flying from FLL, DL is still the number 1 carrier. However, AA does have pretty good service and excellent flights if you want to drive to MIA. UA doesn't seem to do very much down here. A lot depends on where you are flying. US has pretty good east coast service (if you don't mind connecting at CLT). My current leaning is to AA whenever I can.

Ok so bear with the rookie here for a minute...

If I'm understanding two months worth of reading posts here the FF programs would look like this on a scale of 1-10 overall to include milage, upgrades service and so on:

AA: 9
UA: 8
DL: 5
(I've read good things about CO too)

This is the basic understanding I'm getting. I've read some things that I don't fully understand but seems to me they could be important for me.

For one I fly out of SLC thus Delta is a logical choice. However there are two things that have been mentioned in many posts which are not fully clear to me.

First is that once a 'status' level has been achieved you can use that level to be 'comped' into the corresponding level at another airline if I understand this correctly.

Second I think there is some kind of UA and DL agreement on domestic flights that allow you to earn miles in the programs??

The last one is important since I'd love to use UA but SLC to LAS is cumbersome on anything but DL and I'm a gambling man http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Am wondering if I can make status on DL this year, switch to UA next year and then take DL domestics on occasion and earn miles in UA or am I missing something?

Still feeling my way around the room with the lights off...

KGB,

1. Comps to match status is possible (not generally for highest tier) although it's thought to only be available one time.

2. Delta and United do have reciprocal agreements. Couple of caveats. You can accumulate miles on the other airline but they don't count for status. E.g., a Delta flight will get you United miles but they won't be status miles and you won't get status bonus miles. Also, redemptions on the other airline are permitted but only for domestic (or N. American or something like that but not for most int'l) flights; first class ticket awards available but no upgrade awards. (This is not really a problem if your goal is to fly UA primarily, so you'd accumulate Delta flights as UA miles, and you'd redeem them as UA awards. Only a problem if you want to redeem on your less-favored airline.)

KGB,

1. Comps to match status is possible (not generally for highest tier) although it's thought to only be available one time.

2. Delta and United do have reciprocal agreements. Couple of caveats. You can accumulate miles on the other airline but they don't count for status. E.g., a Delta flight will get you United miles but they won't be status miles and you won't get status bonus miles. Also, redemptions on the other airline are permitted but only for domestic (or N. American or something like that but not for most int'l) flights; first class ticket awards available but no upgrade awards. (This is not really a problem if your goal is to fly UA primarily, so you'd accumulate Delta flights as UA miles, and you'd redeem them as UA awards. Only a problem if you want to redeem on your less-favored airline.)

E+ is given out in the following order according to ual's website
Economy Plus seating
Economy Plus is available on all two cabin North America flights, including US domestic, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Central America (excluding United Shuttle® flights). Advance seating assignment in Economy Plus is available on a first-come, first-served basis to the following customers:
Mileage Plus members who have Mileage Plus Premier status or above.
Star Alliance Gold and Silver members.
Any customers who purchase full-fare Economy Class tickets (Y and B booking class).

I never fly ua but wear there free stuff ive goten from mom's friend who works for united.Going for siver this year on co.Also fly us and aa and like all 3 equally
-howie

Thanks for the info to date. Each time I get a question answered it seems to raise two more new questions.

Of course after reading many posts on these boards I can't help but feel a bit depressed at being 'stuck' in a DL market when AA and UA seem to offer superior products.