MilesBuzz! - Stay with AS/UA or Switch (College Student)?

Hi Everybody!

I've been a long-time lurker, and finally got the courage to post a question.
I'm going to college this fall and am wondering what program I should stick with. I'm planning on flying SEA-BHM (Birmingham, AL) 3-5 times a year, with the chance of a spring break/study abroad trip too. I'm currently a member with AS and UA, and I've enrolled in UA's college program. Everybody except AS serves BHM in some way, and I've flown CO and AA for AS miles, but I'll fly any airline with any amount of connections. I was thinking about moving my flying to WN, but the lack of an international presence worries me. My college allows credit card payments for free (no AMEX), so that is a consideration too.

Thank you in advance,
Tide_from_PAE

Hi Everybody!

I've been a long-time lurker, and finally got the courage to post a question.
I'm going to college this fall and am wondering what program I should stick with. I'm planning on flying SEA-BHM (Birmingham, AL) 3-5 times a year, with the chance of a spring break/study abroad trip too. I'm currently a member with AS and UA, and I've enrolled in UA's college program. Everybody except AS serves BHM in some way, and I've flown CO and AA for AS miles, but I'll fly any airline with any amount of connections. I was thinking about moving my flying to WN, but the lack of an international presence worries me. My college allows credit card payments for free (no AMEX), so that is a consideration too.

Thank you in advance,
Tide_from_PAE

Welcome to registering on FT, Tide_from_PAE!

AS's mileage program is often valuable even for those who don't regularly fly AS (especially if you don't think you'll be flying enough to earn status, although it's not always as hard or expensive as it sounds!). If you can get to BHM on a partner airline of AS (which you can), and you already have mileage accrued in AS, I'd stick with AS at least for the time being, since you have a wide range of very good earning and redemption opportunities with them (both domestic and international), and it'll make sense if you end up back in the PNW after college. If you forecast earning elite status and plan to do a lot of traveling while in college, you might want to move your primary program to an airline that serves BHM (although if you earn status on AS [via AS or most domestic and some international partner airlines--notably excluding CO], you get some benefits on NW and will, hopefully in a year or so, have similar benefits on DL).

My $.02, anyway! :)

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I too am a college student (and the last poster just graduated :p)

That being said, I enjoy keeping my AS status, and have hooked several other college associates to AS F as well who have status with them...

So I'd say try staying with AS ^

Its got a great network of carriers and NOE service ^

I'd stay away from UA

Question: does AS status yield a status in any of the major alliances? I know they have a great SEA presence and have a huge list of partners, but if international travel is going to be a big part of your plans I'm not sure how much value their status holds.

I wouldn't write off UA...they have decent list of 1-stop options to BHM via at least 3 routings (not that you'd want to do IAD too often!). Quite a bit better than AA, where you'd only have a couple shots a day through DFW.

It kind of depends on how much international you plan to do and what your potential destination(s) will be. And whether an AS status will be helpful to you if you encounter IRROPS on someone else's metal abroad.

Thank you for all your replies.

Now that WN ended their college program, they're out of the picture. As for international travel, just a couple times to Europe for study abroad or Asia if the price is right. From SEA, UA seems to have the advantage to Europe, especially if I include YVR in my travel plans. But AA/NW/DL/AF would work too.

BHM wise, the most flights are on NW/DL and they seem to be the price leader. DL also serves a lot more airports in the southeast should the need arise (I might end up flying into HSV (Huntsville) instead this August). I also like the idea of avoiding ORD in the winter (strangely enough, I actually like IAD). The only mainline is on AA/DL, with UA having first class too.

So on one hand I have AS with itself, AA, NW, DL, and CO. On the other, I have UA with US and CO come October. I've had a cancellation with CO due to mechanical reasons and they were really generous, though my 10AM arrival in BHM turned into an 8PM arrival. I've always had good phone reps with AS, and UA leaves much to be desired there.

Overall, I think my best option is to stay with AS as I don't think I'll hit MVP until 2011, maybe 2010. I'll keep UA, but it won't be my primary plan.

Just two other questions that I can't seem to find in the search, is MVP considered a "partner elite" so one has priority boarding/free checked bags on AA/NW/DL/CO? Also, any idea of if/when AS will codeshare to BHM? HSV does (thanks to Boeing, I assume).

Question: does AS status yield a status in any of the major alliances? I know they have a great SEA presence and have a huge list of partners, but if international travel is going to be a big part of your plans I'm not sure how much value their status holds....And whether an AS status will be helpful to you if you encounter IRROPS on someone else's metal abroad.

It doesn't yield status with any of the major alliances (since they are not a member of any alliance), and it doesn't grant you actual status with any other airline. The only airline that really does anything at all to recognize AS status is NW/DL (and, at this point, really only the NW side), which sort of considers you a partner elite and offers priority boarding, premium seating, and a small shot at domestic upgrades. On other airlines (including AA, which AS does a lot of codesharing with), AS status does absolutely nothing (with the SOLE exception of priority boarding ONLY out of SEA). Status on AS may help with irrops on NW/DL, but it most definitely does not on AA. And the international carriers (KL, AF, BA, etc.) will just look at your AS mileage card and go, "What airline?" ;) You're lucky if they enter AS as the frequent flyer code if you tell them AS.

Just two other questions that I can't seem to find in the search, is MVP considered a "partner elite" so one has priority boarding/free checked bags on AA/NW/DL/CO? Also, any idea of if/when AS will codeshare to BHM? HSV does (thanks to Boeing, I assume).

Yes on NW/DL (at least for priority boarding; not sure about the bags); no on AA/CO. (Well, CO *might* be nice to you in some capacity, but AA will just roll their eyes at your shiny MVP/G card.)

You may wish to post some of these more specific questions about AS on the AS forum, since there are many people there who are much more knowledgeable than I about status on partners. While I initially qualified for MVP two years ago by flying DL, once the status actually posted, I have only flown AS, so I don't know first-hand how any partners treat AS elites. I only know what I know from reading the AS forum, and it is possible I've communicated some misinformation that was lost in translation.

Do note that award availability is very bad for CO and DL. Try doing search for weekends you'd like to fly home next year and see. I find AA's award availability is much better. AS allows you colleciton and redemption opportunity through AA, CO, DL, and on AS itself (you can now combine AS with one of its partners now).

Disclaimer: I know very, very little about the Skyteam carriers.

I can vouch for the fact that AA award availability has, in my personal experience, been pretty good. All award availability stories are going to be anecdotal because nobody really releases hard data about awards. But I have successfully redeemed AA to Europe, Hawaii, and throughout the Americas - usually getting my desired dates.

I've generally gotten my desired Star Alliance awards too, but it takes more work and research. I've found that UA agents don't necessarily go digging for you, looking at all routings and all partners. I usually have to call them only after I've done the research. And, of course, there's the whole Starnet blocking issue... (See UA board if interested...it largely surrounds LH premium cabin awards but there are probably other impacts as well.)

In any case, I'd make your final selection one of DL, AA, or UA. The main key is having that major-alliance elite status. Read the DL/NW boards: there will be people there who know the ins and outs of award availability. I suspect that all three alliances have their strengths and weaknesses.

The main key is having that major-alliance elite status.

The OP is describing travel patterns that will maybe get him or her to lowest-tier elite on an airline, unless he or she does a serious mileage run. Figure 12K for the Europe trip every year, 20K for SEA-BHM. That's 32K EQM.

DL mileage bonus for Silver Medallion: 25%
UA bonus for 2P: 25%
CO bonus for Silver: 25%
AA bonus for Gold: 25%
AS bonus for MVP: 50%

Given that the really good alliance benefits don't start showing up until you fly 50-75K (*A Gold/ OW Sapphire/ST Elite+) I'd stick with AS- especially since you can earn and burn on so many airlines. Also, I'm not really sure that irrops priority is all that meaningful to a college student, compared to getting more miles to go to cool places.

AS, and then credit your SEA-BHM flights on AA/CO/DL to AS.

Don't know how often you end up in F on AS as I am not familiar with their FF program so what about free economy plus for UA elites? It's nice to have those few extra inches if you don't get upgraded. I've noticed more award availability on UA lately. You should go to UA to see what the award inventory is like for the places you want to fly. Delta's award travel program is horrible especially with last minute travel. You'll get a seat it will just cost you most of your miles just to sit in economy and to add insult to injury it's only 31" pitch :td:.

I suppose if the OP could wrangle a 3P nomination it might be worth it (otherwise, you have to slog through E- to get to E+), but you might note they want to a) avoid ORD and b) they haven't liked the UA phone agents. IIRC, you don't get the good ones until you get to 1P, or is it 1K?

The nice thing is AS awards draw from AS/QX, DL/NW, AA, CO, KL, AF, KE, BA, QF, and CX (plus some other Alaska and Hawaii regional airlines, and some other ones like Air Pacific). Granted, it's all at saver levels, but having the flexibility to draw from SkyTeam AND OneWorld (and come October, Star Alliance, thanks to CO) really makes for a lot of flexibility. In addition, AS miles sometimes have better redemption rates than the carrier itself (!)- redeeming TATL J on DL/NW is 90K using AS miles at saver level, 100K with DL miles.

Also, to the OP: AS is going to have direct service to IAH and ATL to add to current service to DFW, so another way to maximize your AS benefits would be to connect to the AS flights there and use an AA/CO/DL regional flight to get to/from BHM. Orbitz seems to sell these itineraries, if alaskaair.com doesn't (MVP is easier to hit on AS metal by itself- only 20K on AS/QX metal.)

The OP is describing travel patterns that will maybe get him or her to lowest-tier elite on an airline, unless he or she does a serious mileage run. Figure 12K for the Europe trip every year, 20K for SEA-BHM. That's 32K EQM.

DL mileage bonus for Silver Medallion: 25%
UA bonus for 2P: 25%
CO bonus for Silver: 25%
AA bonus for Gold: 25%
AS bonus for MVP: 50%

Given that the really good alliance benefits don't start showing up until you fly 50-75K (*A Gold/ OW Sapphire/ST Elite+) I'd stick with AS- especially since you can earn and burn on so many airlines. Also, I'm not really sure that irrops priority is all that meaningful to a college student, compared to getting more miles to go to cool places.

It's not merely irrops priority, although internationally that can be huge. It's all of the other basic services that are denied to nonelites: checked baggage, passable phone service, semi-humane treatment at the airports, etc.

Actually, if the OP really flies 32k actual EQM, he's got a reasonable shot at UA 1P (*G) with the UA credit card. Might need a parental cosign for it though...

That said, the ability to redeem awards across alliances is a big plus for AS. If the plan is to redeem premium cabin awards internationally, that somewhat mitigates the lack of a major-alliance status. In an irrops situation, you'd have reasonable access to counter agents or an airline lounge.

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I forgot about the additions of IAH, ATL & AUS... Not that far of a flight from any of those :cool:

OK, OK...the more I think about this the more I think the AS fans are right.

(1) Focus on AS. Fly their metal on the long segments out of SEA, connecting to a partner for a short hop to BHM.

(2) Redeem J cabin award for your annual international trip...unless there are ways to book a reasonably-priced Y ticket on an AS partner and upgrade with AS miles. (No idea if this is possible.)

Figure between your flying, CC spend, and other promo miles you'll have enough each year to handle a Europe trip, plus perhaps a little left over.

Definitely get a branded check card from UA or AA if you can't get a branded CC. Don't know if there is one for AS and use that to pay for your tuition :) Had I cared about miles back in my college days at SC that would have been a ton of points!

I forgot about the additions of IAH, ATL & AUS

While the first two are possibilities, I strongly suspect AUS doesn't have direct BHM flights (you'd likely route through ATL, IAH or DFW). Thus, I'd connect at one of those three airports (DFW is the best bet at this point, since AS has the most service there).

One catch- CO does not give AS EQM, just mileage.

unless there are ways to book a reasonably-priced Y ticket on an AS partner and upgrade with AS miles. (No idea if this is possible.)

Not really possible for international itineraries (airlines save that for their own elites, mostly, except for the oddball LH accepting a UA SWU certificate deal).

Definitely get a branded check card from UA or AA if you can't get a branded CC. Don't know if there is one for AS and use that to pay for your tuition

AS has a Bank of America VISA debit card- $30 annual fee, 3,000 miles per anniversary + 1,000 miles on any AS/QX ticket purchase, + 1 mile per dollar spent, 3 miles per AS/QX dollar spent.

Don't know how often you end up in F on AS as I am not familiar with their FF program so what about free economy plus for UA elites? It's nice to have those few extra inches if you don't get upgraded.

If you work it right, you can fly in F the majority (even a supermajority) of the time on AS. I'd have to double check, but I'm pretty sure I flew at least 75% of my flights in F last year...and I'm an entry-level elite. As an entry-level MVP, you also have access to bulkhead and exit rows. And even on the extremely rare occasion I'm in Y in a normal seat, the 32" pitch is better than most other domestic airlines, and at 6'0", I've never felt uncomfortable even when the person in front of me is reclined.

It's not merely irrops priority, although internationally that can be huge. It's all of the other basic services that are denied to nonelites: checked baggage, passable phone service, semi-humane treatment at the airports, etc.

Fortunately, AS exceeds every other domestic airline's amenities in that department. Their general member phone line is US-based and staffed with friendly, knowledgeable, helpful agents. TAs and GAs are all smiles and happy to do whatever they can to help. The only thing left on your list is baggage (and even the first bag fee doesn't take effect until July--they've been one of the longest holdouts there).

That said, if the OP can qualify for MVP with just 20,000 AS-metal miles, he'll get access to the exceptional MVP desk based in Phoenix staffed with agents as sunny as the Arizona desert. It's always an extreme pleasure talking to them. (I'm often tempted just to call and chat with them when I'm bored and lonely...:D) He'll also get two free bags (starting in July), priority standby on irrops, unlimited space-available first-class upgrades on AS metal at 48 hours out, and all of the other things that you'd expect from elite status on any airline...magnified by the Alaska spirit! ;)

Once again, thank you to everyone for all your replies.

Many of you have discussed taking AS flights and then connecting to partner flights (ie SEA-DFW on AS, DFW-BHM on AA). As much as I would like to do this, it appears that finding an AS codeshare on SEA-BHM is near impossible without combining fares, which in turn costs more. So far, I've paid between $80 and $205 each way (which is part of the reason I chose Alabama in the first place). I'd prefer to fly Alaska, but if other airlines won't allow AS flights on cheap fares, I have to fly somebody else. I could go for DL or AA miles, but it seems that I'd either have limited flights (AA) or be competing with zillions of DL elites.

More and more, UA seems to be taking the lead assuming I fly 25k miles and/or 30 segs. The absence of 500 mile minimums lessens the lead, but knowing that UA allows some really nice routings, especially if I fly US to CLT, is very comforting. It seems odd from a cost-benefit analysis, but I will be traveling alone most of the time and could qualify on segments. Assuming CO codeshares do become available, IAH connections will be possible.

As for call centers, UA does still have some CHI-based agents if I recall correctly, even for domestic travel. AS does win here, but if I'm flying DL...

As for the credit/debit cards, they seem about even (according to the website, the AS debit card is only 1 mile per $2). I've been getting multiple UA Visa offers lately and do have a cosigner. I just happened to pick a state with no Chase/BOA branches, but at least SEA has both.

As for awards, I kind of forgot that one can use miles for "free" trips. While availability may not be that good with wither program, I'm quite flexible with my dates and/or destinations. I usually plan trips based on their price and have a list of places that I would like to visit assuming I had the time/money. Maybe I'll use the miles to get free tickets for family members, I have no idea.

I realize that I could just forget about status and just fly based on price, but more and more it seems that it is obtainable even if I don't fly internationally in 2010. It may not be enjoyable squeezing my 6'1" self into E- (on any airline) for 30 flights, but I can do it.:)