bfranzetta

I am a long time San Diego based Delta Diamond Medallion and a newly minted AA Executive Platinum, as well as a Companion Pass holder on Southwest (yes, I fly way too much, mostly in coach internationally). I figured I can give some insight as to the differences between AA and DL Status (WN is a different product that only has mileage accumulation as a data point.)

Mileage Accrual (WN>AA>>>>>DL) Southwest wins for accrual rate for me as my fares tend to be last minute non-stop flights. On their Business select fares, I accrue a lot of miles, and reward redemption is easy and transparent. Big downside is limited redemption options.

As I fly mostly coach, AA mileage accrual is head and tails above DL. I'll often earn 3-4 times as many miles on AA. As a San Diego based traveler, most of my AA/DL flights are long haul and tend to be relatively inexpensive on a cost per mile basis. I realize AA will eventually change this as DL and UA haven't lost many flyers (well, DL did lose me for half my miles as I never would have sampled AA if they hadn't made the change), but I'll enjoy it while I can.

Operations (DL wins) DL hands down over AA. Everything from on-time to IRROPS flow smoothly on DL. On AA, flights seem to be late more often and IRROPS cause major issues which aren't quickly addressed even for Executive Platinum.

Domestic First Class (AA wins) Edge to AA. Significantly better meals and better service in the front cabin. Seats are generally bigger, but fewer planes have in seat video. The video doesn't matter much to me as I've seen it all after the first week of the month anyway, but may be more important to other flyers. Upgrades also seem easier on AA once you are EXP vs. DL Diamond.

Tier Benefits (DL wins) 8 global upgrades one way vs. 4 on DL. Upgrade certificates seem equally usable. But DL gives you 3 swipes and options for tier benefits (platinum choice and diamond choices). Overall, I have to give DL the edge.

Day of Flight Items (AA wins) Same day confirmed still exists at AA and isn't harshly restricted. DL gutted their same day confirmed options and it makes a huge difference for me. I really miss the DL flexibility in the old days. If I have a flight where I may want to use this, I always chose AA.

SkyClub vs. Admirals Club (AA wins) It's amazing how little I use these on domestic itineraries since pre-check started. Unless you drink heavily, the AA clubs I've been to are much nicer and much less crowded. AA First Class lounges on Intl itineraries are great as compared to DL options. However, you do not get free lounge access on AA unless you are flying international, where DL gets a free membership. AA partner lounges are about the same as DL. (VS at LHR still my favorite, but QR at DOH is a close second.)

Intl First Class (DL wins) A toss-up for lie flat bed flights, but on AA you need to be careful to make sure you get one. DL has them pretty much fleet wide.

Oneworld vs SkyTeam (AA wins) No contest here. Qatar, Cathay, Japan vs. AF,VS, Korean, and KLM. The lack of lie-flat seats on KLM and AF is frustrating, and the lack of connecting options on VS are highly frustrating although I love flying VS. Qatar is such a huge plus. Business Class on them is truly heavenly.

My two cents. Ready to have the community fire away at my opinions.

NotHamSarnie

Thanks for the rational side-by-side. Very interesting!
Given all you say, which do you think has the edge overall for domestic and which for international?

SFO777

Intl First Class (DL wins)[/QUOTE]

???
DL doesn't have international First Class and AA's is so bad that they may as well not have it.

vgb2001

???
DL doesn't have international First Class and AA's is so bad that they may as well not have it.[/QUOTE]

I think OP meant business J.

mattp1987

This is an interesting review. Thanks for posting. I was only surprised by two items.
1. I would have thought the extra four glabal upgrades would trump the extra two choices, especially for a frequent international traveler.
2. While I'm not surprised you rate D1 over AA J I'm a little surprised you rate it over AA F.

exwannabe

Well, the DL Sky Team alliance is better than WN's, so it is not the worst :-)

Ysitincoach

Domestic F between the two is a push.

I'm with you, DL's meal service is horrific, yet AA's cabins and service are stuck in the 80s. From the 12v cigarette style power ports, to the mixed nuts bowl served in the open. Then, top it off with a baked cookie. What year is this?

jdrtravel

OP I agree with others, have you flown AA international first class (not business class) and if so, how would you compare this to Delta One?

Also, have you been in a Sky Club with the newly enhanced food options? I'm not talking about the soup and salad, but the really recent additions at certain clubs of hot food, etc.

bfranzetta

I meant international business class, not first. Sorry for the confusion.

And note I only compare earning miles to WN. The rest is not really applicable. But I do really like the simplicity in their earning and redemption scheme. I know what I'm getting and how to value it, unlike DL and to a lesser extent unlike AA.

bfranzetta

Note that I don't pretend WN has an alliance. I only compare earning for them, and I note the limited redemption opportunities.

pnq91

Right now I'm both DM and EXP, finding that Delta is the airline I actually enjoy flying, however AA I still have a soft spot for mostly for the SWU's, and distance based accrual.

What I am not liking about AA post-merger is that most of the cheaper last-minute fares seem to be on legacy US Air routes which I avoid like the plague. Plus with most of the Amex lounges at AA hubs I usually prefer to connect there.

I'm hoping to try out the VS clubhouse at JFK for my flight to LHR towards the end of the year and see how it compares to the AA flagship lounges.

Have never used SDC on AA, but the one time I used it on DL on an X fare PIT-LAX surprisingly it was no issue to change to a later flight on a Friday night, was very surprised.

DL I have had better service overall in-flight, as well as on time-operations in my experience. AA has been a lot less consistent in both respects.

Once AA starts gutting their program I'll probably jump ship to delta for good,

bfranzetta

Depends how you fly and what you value. If you fly a lot of domestic short economy flights, you will earn more on DL, domestic long haul economy you will earn more on AA. Other factors kind of wash out, and weather related IRROPS aren't frequent from SAN, so I tend to chose more AA.

International, if you use partners a lot, AA's are just better. And Qatar is just fantastic for Middle East and India (and reasonably priced as well). If not, DL has a more consistent hard product. For me, earning is important, and given the low cost per mile of international tickets, I just earn a lot more on AA (often double the redeemable miles.). That being said, to LHR I fly more Delta as their flights are almost always have lighter loads for their West Coast to LHR routes. I get three in the middle to myself when I am in economy pretty frequently. AA tends to fill their West Coadt to LHR flights to near full.

bfranzetta

I have not flown AA first international, so I can't help there.

I have had the enhanced food at the SkyClubs. Still very similar to AA's, which usually has soup and some other real free food offerings. The clubs at DFW that I have used all have menus to order "non-free" food as well, similar to the JFK T4 SkyClub.

I hate the over-crowding at the SkyClubs I tend to frequent (DTW, ATL, LAX and SLC.). My experience may not be typical, but I have never been in heavily over-crowded Admirals Club.

On another note, the air conditioning works at AA's terminals at LAX, where DL's terminal seems perpetually hit and humid......

krlcomm

The 8 SWUs on AA best the 4 GUCs plus choice IMO, those SWUs are worth some serious $$$ on international UGs.

If you buy GAP on DL the SDC is the best thing going.

SC blows AC away, it's not even remotely close - much (much!) better food options and comp booze that is actually drinkable.

I agree w/ your other observations.

g50

AA wins on using your miles as well.