MilesBuzz! - Except UA, is any major offering 100% EQM on all fares?

I'm an LGA/JFK based UA PremExec looking for a good #2 carrier, but it seems all the other majors give 50% eqm on the lowest fare classes. My travel is nearly 100% business and I have no control over fares paid, and often end up with deeply discount economy fares. I'm not sure it's worth having a #2 if I'll have a hard time racking up 50k due to the .5 thing. I'm not willing to use EWR, so Continental is out. Any recommendations? All travel is domestic economy.

Why are you "not willing to use EWR"?
NW and AA do not do the 50% shuffle...unless you book some low "CO operated" fares...then NW indeed will give you only 50%...but stay on their metal..and you're good.

[This message has been edited by IMStill4Travel (edited Mar 14, 2004).]

AA has given me 100% EQM on every ticket I've ever bought, including the cheapest ones possible through their website both int'l and domestic.

Only reason I hesitate to say "everything is 100% certain to earn full EQM" is that I know some folks have not gotten miles on certain bucket-shop-type fares internationally. Pretty rare cases though. If you buy a $300 R/T from the US to Europe or a $200 R/T transcon from AA.com, it'll earn full EQM plus booking bonuses.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pinniped:
AA has given me 100% EQM on every ticket I've ever bought, including the cheapest ones possible through their website both int'l and domestic.

Only reason I hesitate to say "everything is 100% certain to earn full EQM" is that I know some folks have not gotten miles on certain bucket-shop-type fares internationally. Pretty rare cases though. If you buy a $300 R/T from the US to Europe or a $200 R/T transcon from AA.com, it'll earn full EQM plus booking bonuses.</font>


That has been my experience with AA as well. I get 100 EQM on every flight, regardless of fare class. Separately, I get Elite Qualifying Points that work like this as shown here:

http://www.aa.com/content/AAdvantage/programDetails/eliteStatus/qualificationRequirements.jhtml

That way I can qualify on either point or miles.

US gives 500 miles minimium per segment or actual miles in all fare classes except G. If you fly Envoy class to Europe, domestic First or have a GoFirst fare, you will get a 50% class of service bonus that counts towards status.

I have no idea what a G class Y fare is, I've never seen it. Their "roach" fares are usually S or W.

Also, since they are partners with UA, you can credit any flight on US or UA to either a MP or DM account. May make it easier to get secondary account, and you don't have to stop flying your preferred airline.

However, if it were me and I had a choice of getting mid level status in two programs vs top level status in one I'd go for the top level status in whatever one I fly the most.

[This message has been edited by wr_schwab (edited Mar 14, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pushback:

That has been my experience with AA as well. I get 100 EQM on every flight, regardless of fare class. Separately, I get Elite Qualifying Points that work like this as shown here:

http://www.aa.com/content/AAdvantage/programDetails/eliteStatus/qualificationRe quirements.jhtml (http://www.aa.com/content/AAdvantage/programDetails/eliteStatus/qualificationRequirements.jhtml)

That way I can qualify on either point or miles.</font>

It looks like this is a better URL for the AA 2004 EQM requirements - http://www.aa.com/content/urls/elitepoints.jhtml - I am a UA flyer considering trying for status on AA as well.

Hmmmm, that's odd. My AA Y ticket this month posted at 1x, not 1.5x, toward elite miles. ORD-STL-COU-STL-ORD ended up with 2,000 elite qualifying points, not 3,000. I suppose that's still OK with 716 actual miles, but it is curious.

AA, US, UA, and NW (except for their sucky partners' flights) all offer 100% EQM on nearly every fare.

I cannot imagine why anyone would accept anything less than 100% EQM.

AA gives 100% Q-miles and varying amounts of Q-points depending on fare class paid. Only people who fly a lot of full Y or higher fares usually qualify for status via q-points; most qualify via q-miles.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by wr_schwab:
US gives 500 miles minimium per segment or actual miles in all fare classes except G... I have no idea what a G class Y fare is, I've never seen it. Their "roach" fares are usually S or W.</font>

G is priceline fares. Despite what the website says, miles seem to post the same for them as well.

I'm not willing to use EWR because I travel to/from the airport from north of the city.

Interesting feedback on AA and NW. I tried pulling up a few JFK/LAX fares on both, and on each without trying very hard I got fares listed as those that yield 50% EQM. So even if I fly those fares on AA I'll get 100% EQM? I guess I'm confused by the miles/points thing on AA. Bottom line is I would fly 50k BIS miles, so that would get me AA plat?

I'm considering mid-tier on two carriers because 1) I don't consider 1k benefits on UA all that exciting 2) UA may crap out 3) It'd be nice to have the flexibility of booking either of two carriers given that UA now flies all of about 5 routes out of NYC these days.


[This message has been edited by Pismocrab (edited Mar 15, 2004).]

You have to be careful with AA in that EQM and EQP are counted differently and both apply towards different things. Also, if you do any international travel, you have to be VERY careful with AAdvantage. On OW flights many discounted economy fares will not apply for mileage accrual at any level. Last week I did a SFO-LAX-DUB RT on AA/EI using a published economy fare, was able to get upgraded (thank God for travel agents!), but since the ticketed COS was not Y, B, H or K, I got zilch for miles.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Pismocrab:
So even if I fly those fares on AA I'll get 100% EQM?
</font>

Yes.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Pismocrab:
Bottom line is I would fly 50k BIS miles, so that would get me AA plat?</font>

At a minimum, yes. If that 50k BIS miles were all done in F/J then that would get you 75k Q-Points(50k x 1.5 points = 75k Q-points) which is 25k short of EXP.



------------------
"Rows 50 and above are business seats for those with infants" - gfowler-ord-1k
SkyTeam - "The whatever's leftover Alliance"

Pismocrab, I am a LGA/JFK based UA 1K and US CP. I wanted a third carrier and picked AA. I wouldnt fly on an airline that didnt give 100% EQM unless I had no real choice, but fortunately that isnt the case. Bottom line is I flew 50K + miles on AA last year, all on discount fares, some very discounted, and made Platinum. The thing to remember about AA is that you always get the miles you fly on their planes. You also get points, that might help you get to elite faster if you buy a lot of tickets. Basically, AA has taken the view that they should reward people who buy expensive tickets by giving them more than the miles they fly, not punish those on cheap tickets by giving them less. A good call by AA in my opinion.

Also I should add, I have thusfar really been pleased with AA out of LGA and JFK.

The 50% you pulled up on NW was because it was operated by CO. Those are the only ones that are 50% as far as I know. Stay on their metal,DL or AS as partners... and your OK.

I really appreciate all of the feedback. It's cleared a few things up for me. I've just flown United so much that the outside world is now foreign and intimidating! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif I think I'll be giving AA a shot. Guess it's time to start lurking in the AA forum... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I guess the one advantage that UA has over AA is when you are qualifying by miles. The class of service bonus now counts towards elite status. So far, AA hasn't matched UA.

This makes it easier to qualify if you fly a mix of F/J, and Y.

[This message has been edited by ByrdluvsAWACO (edited Mar 16, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Spiff:
I cannot imagine why anyone would accept anything less than 100% EQM.
</font>

Try anyone forced to fly BA with their "Nil Points" policy on anything other than F, J or full fare Y.

Dotcha just love Rip Off Britain http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LHR Tim:
Try anyone forced to fly BA with their "Nil Points" policy on anything other than F, J or full fare Y.

Dotcha just love Rip Off Britain http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

That would really suck. I would fly anyone else and use any LON airport instead of flying BA.

"No points? No thanks!"

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dwheat67:
Also, if you do any international travel, you have to be VERY careful with AAdvantage. On OW flights many discounted economy fares will not apply for mileage accrual at any level. </font>

Does one get full AA mileage on AA code shares on OW flights?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Nevsky:
Does one get full AA mileage on AA code shares on OW flights?</font>


Yes and any elite bonuses as well.

Spiff:

I DOES suck (not would).

Sadly, the lowest form of pond life, that even the amoebas avoid (aka the Travel Manager) dictates who we fly with in the company, and sadly that is BA.

But hey, the do give you a whooping 25% of miles flown http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif And IIRC that does include BA flights credited to AA.

More info on AA -

1. Due to some governmental regulation on both sides of the pond AAdvantage members CAN'T earn or spend AA miles on BA between USA and London airports. BA Exec Club members CAN'T earn or spend BA miles on AA between USA and London airports. Just recently they were allowed to codeshare MAN-USA flights, so finally we will be able to earn miles on the 'other' airline. BA did get stingy with their miles with low economy tickets, only 25% of the actual miles flown regardless where the miles are applied. BA is useless to the cheap economy flyer.

2. AA allows you to earn EQM and EQP on ANY published fare. There is a difference.
EQM - 100% miles on any published economy fare, 125% on business class and 150% on first class.
EQP - Deep discount economy class (G,L,N,S) =0.5 points per mile flown, Discount economy class(H, K, M, Q (except American Airlines transatlantic fares booked in Q), W, and V) = 1 point per mile, full fare(Y,B), business and first = 1.5 points per mile.
the following will qualify you for elite status:
25K miles OR points = Gold
50K miles OR points = Platinum
100K miles OR points = Exec Platinum

So, if you fly economy, miles are important to you, not points.
BUT, if you fly full fare Y or J or F, you will reach elite status quicker with points but still collecting miles of course.

AA also gives 500 miles/points minimum.

For a first timer there is a quick way of reaching status. This is only possible for Gold or Platinum. If you agree to fly 10K points in a 3 month period AA will give you Platinum, 5K points will get you Gold. Remember the challnges are based on points not miles, so flying cheap economy it will take 20K miles to reach Plat or 10K miles to reach Gold. Obviously it could be reached quicker at higher fares. The challenge is not available for Executive Platinum. Also try to do the challenge in the second half of the year as that will give you membership till 2/28 of the year after the following year. If you do it in the first half, you are only good till 2/28 of the following year, unless you reach the required status miles/points before the end of the same year you completed the challenge. Miles/points earned during challenge will count towards regular elite qualification as well.

There is a great site that has more info:

http://members.shaw.ca/fewmiles/AA/index2.html

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Pismocrab:
I really appreciate all of the feedback. It's cleared a few things up for me. I've just flown United so much that the outside world is now foreign and intimidating! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif I think I'll be giving AA a shot. Guess it's time to start lurking in the AA forum... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Pismocrab:

I have AC Elite *A Gold status. I did it the hard way and qualified for status with butt in seat miles.

After having some bad service with them, I shopped around for a 2nd airline and fly NW and earned Silver Elite the hard way and started getting upgraded to 1st. I found out about status matching soon after that and they matched Gold (mid tier) based on my AC 50K miles flown last year. Partners Delta, CO (may only 50% Elite), KLM, and soon Air France.

WorldPerks Customer Service Center, 601 Oak St., Chisholm, MN 55719-1995. Or you can fax at 218-254-7567 with photocopy of card and last two statements. After they match, you would get 100% bonus miles and frequent autmoatic 1st Class upgrades. Had only 2 problems with them, both due to their airlinks and was offered a comp ticket on the spot for the involuntary denied boarding and points for delay baggage within 3 days of complaints.

AA offers a Platinum challenge and you have to fly 10,000 q-points and I started on it but abandoned it since I had several delayed flights (3 out of 4) and I found their customer service fine for regular issues - promo registration, etc. but really bad on issues and complaints! Filed something online a week and half ago and did not get a response yet.

just my 2cents.

Promos for both NW and AA that are good.

1. NW refer a friend - if you have not flown NW since Jan 1 2003, if you let me refer you, I get 3,500 miles and you can get 3,500 bonus miles (500 nwa.com ticket purchase, 500 online check in, 2500 for round trip on NW, NW airlink, KLM, and NW code AS flights) for each round trip you take before June 30.
http://www.nwa.com/offers/referafriend/

2. Mileage Maximizer - need to register but 2nd hotel stay 50% bonus, 3rd hotel stay 100% bonus and 4+ (unlimited) hotel stay 200% bonus.

3. AA - AANYC
Fly 2 nonstop round trip from NYC to CA (LAX, SFO, SJC, LGB, SNA, SAN) or FL (MIA, FLL, ???) and you get a free ticket anywhere AA flys.

Both have fly 3 fly free but you need to book in certain classes.

Mary

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by andrzej:

Yes and any elite bonuses as well.

</font>

Is that true if it is not AA metal, such as a low fare on Cathay?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Nevsky:
Is that true if it is not AA metal, such as a low fare on Cathay?</font>

If you book with a CX flight number it depends on the fare class - see aa.com - but if you book an AA codeshare you get full miles and elite bonuses. I am at the Pier (First lounge) in HKG flying CX on an AA codeshare right now.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LHR Tim:
Spiff:

I DOES suck (not would).

Sadly, the lowest form of pond life, that even the amoebas avoid (aka the Travel Manager) dictates who we fly with in the company, and sadly that is BA.

But hey, the do give you a whooping 25% of miles flown http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif And IIRC that does include BA flights credited to AA.</font>

That is why I hate having travel managers who force employees to fly undesirable carriers/routes.

Can you at least credit those cheapies to Qantas and get some OW status?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Pismocrab:
I've just flown United so much that the outside world is now foreign and intimidating! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif I think I'll be giving AA a shot. Guess it's time to start lurking in the AA forum... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Welcome in advance http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

If CO is out, as you say, and AA will get you where you need to go, than AA and UA/US complement each other well, IMHO. One Star, one oneworld- the combination gives you pretty good global coverage!

If you're flying on mostly cheap fares, there's a pretty easy way to deal with the miles vs. points issue- forget about points! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

If your flights have AA flight numbers, you get 100% EQM. It's only partner-coded flights where things get potentially confusing (all IIRC- BA gives 25% on discount coach fares, QF 70%, CX 0% unless H or above, etc.)

Plus, to me, AA's and UA's programs really are more similar than different. While it's probably a little out of date, this was a great thread comparing top tier on AA vs. US.

Topic:.. JSD's comprehensive guide to AA for UA 1Ks
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/017263.html

If I had to pick a back-up for AA, it'd probably be CO for the non-stops out of EWR. If they're not an option for you, please do check out AA.

AA is better than UA, because government fares qualify for all bonuses and promotions.

Spiff:
BA screw you on Qantas, but it looks like you get something:

http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/program/earningPoints/index

On British Airways you will earn:

100% points (1 point=1 mile) on full Economy fares, and
25% points (0.25 points=1 mile) for discounted Economy fares
For American Airlines® flights, you will also earn a reduced number of points on certain discounted Economy fares, depending on the fare type booked. Refer to clauses 9.2.8 and 9.3.1 of the terms and conditions for an outline of how this may affect you.

Landspeed - THANKS for the link to JSD's comprehensive guide to AA for UA 1Ks . That is really, really helpful. Sadly I fear, much like JSD, as much as I want to stay UA it may be that AA is a better choice for me. We'll see.