devrc

Context

• I'll be flying likely 3X a month for next 3-6 months between SFO and NYC. So 9 to 18 return flights between these two cities. After 6 months I may be flying often between these two cities again in the second half of year, but this is still TBD.
  
• I have silver status on SAA. 50K miles on SAA voyager. 3K miles on united. So really not a lot of points. I currently use my voyager # even on united flights to build my voyager miles.
  
• I was planning on using united's Premium service and their SFO-JFK route exclusively because a) I like the product, b) flying to JFK would save money on cab as I can get subway c) I also fly to South Africa 1-2X a year and gaining points on star alliance/united I could maybe use miles to gain a free ticket/upgrade.
  
• However I see that getting to a premium tier on united does not provide complimentary upgrades to business on their premium service route between SFO-JFK

Questions

• I'm looking for a service where I can start getting upgrades to business as soon as possible, or at least the possibility given how often I'll be doing this flight. Is this realistic on any carrier? (I see delta may offer upgrades on their NYC -SF routes if you hit elevated status)
• Does any one have any recommendations on carries between these two cities in general, esp. with view to their loyalty programs?
• Is there anyway to get carriers to give my "welcome" miles, if I call/email them and tell them I will be undertaking this amount of flights? I know the SFO-NYC route is competitive. I know united will not status match my silver status on SAA or let me transfer miles from voyager, but other carriers might?

CDKing

Its not realistic to expect upgrades on this route without being top tier or supporting the upgrades with some sort of instrument (mainly $$). AA has a platinum challenge where you don't need status to apply. But AA doesn't give comp upgrades until you hit 100K a year. Expect to be in coach unless you pay for business.

SFO777

Since you are going to be stuck in Y most of the time, fly Virgin or JetBlue. Better than the other 3 legacy slugs.

gooseman13

Are the tickets out of pocket or being paid for by company?

devrc

I'd guess it will be 60% out of pocket, 40% by company.

devrc

I've never flow Virgin. But I have JetBlue (but not SFO-NYC).

I thought United's premium service in Y JFk-SFO was comparable to the JetBlue experience I had, although my JetBlue flight was not SFO-NYC. I also really liked the "listen to cockpit" feature on their aircraft, for United. Silly, but I always look forward to that.

Assume you mean Virgin and JetBlue flight/customer service is better, or do you the seats, audio visual and aircraft are better as well?

devrc

With Silver status on United I should be able to get economy plus upgrades some of the time thought? Assume this makes a bit of a difference?

CDKing

If you are in Economy Plus on United the legroom will be good but any seat on JetBlue is roomier than a standard seat on UA. If silver you can get it at online check in for free is available. Its only really "Premium Services" is when you are in Business which has international business styled seats and upgraded menu. No comp upgrades until you get to platinum and have 6 regional upgrades to use. That's if space is available for upgrades. Unless you are paying top dollar you wont earn a lot of miles since United is spend based vs AA which is still miles based (at least for another year)

devrc

I believe united's earning policy changes March 1 2015, I think i'll prob be doing 5 flights before than under the current $ + miles policy so might be able to sneak into silver status before March 1.

devrc

Having just spoken to American, seems like they may offer the best bet. Can do a "challenge' for me where:

• $120 fee, and 5,000 points within 90 days I get Gold status straight away.
• $200 fee, and 10,000 points within 90 days I get Platinum status straight away.

As I was told SFO-JFK is 2,586 points earned for a round trip. 5 trips in 90 days would get me Platinum straight away, I will be doing 5 trips for sure.

Looking at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ss-rate-5.html it looks like SFO-JFK upgrades are hard to get but not impossible?

Gardyloo

Too much time on my hands, so I crunched a few numbers.

If you signed up for the AA Platinum Challenge and did the first two trips using a so-called "Y-UP" fare (discounted first class, around $900 for SFO-ORD-LGA-DFW-SFO, vs. $2000 SFO-JFK-SFO or around $350 in discount economy) you'd finish the second trip with Platinum (Oneworld Sapphire) status.

That would get you a 100% bonus in redeemable miles going forward, fast track security, extra baggage, automatic seating in "main cabin extra" and 4 500-mile "sticker" upgrades per 10K flown miles.

However, if you indeed did 18 round trips, and if all the others were in discount economy fare buckets on the nonstop flights, you'd still end up with close to 100,000 elite qualifying miles, enough for promotion to Executive Platinum (Oneworld Emerald, top tier) with 8 annual system-wide upgrades, automatic upgrades to first class on domestic flights (if space available) and many more excellent perks, not the least of which is access to the EXP desk on the phone - miracle workers, best in the biz.

Your redeemable mileage balance, in the meantime, would be closing in on 200K miles, enough for two round trips to Europe or Asia in business class, or one to South Africa with change left over.

The Challenge requires you to earn 10,000 elite qualifying points in 3 months. Discount economy earns 0.5 point/mile, higher economy buckets earn 1/1, and business/first class earns 1.5/mi, hence doing the first two trips in first class gets the challenge out of the way pronto. Your 100% bonus miles would start with the flight on which you pass 10K points, in your case partway through the second trip.

LondonElite

You deserve a big thank you! ^

devrc

This is great, thank you.

I really think a challenge match is way to go.

However it looks like with united I can get to silver status with two flights and no fee with their match. Also I can used my 50K voyager miles, with 15K of miles plus $75 getting me an upgrade to business first. So leaning towards united given their prices, extra flights per day including red eye and ability to get 3 biz upgrades out of my voyager miles + $225.

jbalmuth

The AA alternative is extremely attractive indeed.

There are a few caveats, however, that newbies to AAdvantage need to know about ---- i.e. AA has a very small footprint in SFO in case of irreg ops, with 5 daily nonstops to NYC (equal to JetBlue, but only around a third of the number of UA flights, including their non-"premium" services to EWR). Another biggie is in regard to partner airlines that can be booked with AAdvantage miles --- namely that some are best-in-class at good redemption rates (i.e. CX to Asia, LA to South America, EY to the Middle East etc.) and some are outrageous rip-offs due to absurdly high cash surcharges (i.e. BA to Europe or Africa). ime, OneWorld is really nothing more than a marketing campaign, and actually has precious little substance or consistency to it. That said, I strongly second Gardyloo's comment about AA's telephone customer service for its elites being second to none.

devrc

Thanks for all your help, esp. Gardyloo with all your info.

A miles challenges seem for sure the way to go give my scenario, and AA is an interesting offer.

But having talked to both United and AA, I'm leaning toward United.

Rationale

• With United I can get to silver status with two flights between SFO and JFK through a challenge. There is no fee like there is with AA to do the challenge. And only two flights.
  
• Yes with silver status all I get is Econ Plus upgrades and no biz class upgrades given the restrictions on the SFO-JFK product, but it seems like that is a challenge to get on AA anyway.
  
• I can also use my 50K miles on voyager towards biz upgrades - 15K miles and $75 get me an upgrade on United flights. So that's 3 biz upgrades for $225 out of my pocket and my miles.
  
• Also like mentioned in another post, United have a lot more flights between SFO and NYC, including red eyes.