NewGirl

If you had to choose just one mileage program to stick with for life which would it be? And why?

Some reasons could be that the hub is in your hometown, or you've already accumulated xxx number of miles. What if you had to start over?

particlemn

one problem i see here is that milage programs change, therefore i will not get married to a mileage program.

jcmitchell21

Echoing the previous poster, what is good now may not be in 6 months.

As it stands now, I would pick AA as their cc's are still churnable. Possibly United as they are UR transfer partners and there are several different ways of earning UR points.

roknroll

United for me, even though I primarily fly DL. It's a large airline with a good network, has the best international partners, and good award redemptions. I also live near the SFO hub which is an added bonus. The Chase Sapph Preff is a great card as well and allows transfers to UA to help build points. Being a transfer partner of Chase UR is probably what puts them over the top. Without that, I'd probably stick with DL even though award redemptions are much worse than with UA.

NewGirl

That's a good point. For argument sake, let's say all mileage programs stay the same as what it is today.

particlemn

well on the other hand "i might change",
i used to fly coach to vegas alot then WN worked great for me especailly with the free flight after 4 flights when booked on line, or heck even with the old stamp card( some might remeber WN with the busnes card they stamped each flight and then you mailed it in)
now however we like to goto europe and fly up front. also now i have a 4 yo so i need to find 3 tickets on the same flight in premium, therefore i think BA is best for me right now, i know it has high fuel surcharges but at this point in my life getting 3 premium class seats on the same flights is worth some extra cash layout.
I might change my mind in a few years when the boy is old enough to fly by himself in coach and i only need ot find 2 seats in premium class

moseslin

I agree (for now). Even though they've had their SHARES of struggles, imo, of the domestic carriers, their award redemption is the best.

Gamecock

I marry a person for life.
I participate in a loyalty program based on my personal whims.

I accumulated 600k miles on AA to travel on CX, pointy end, with the family.

I am accumulating US miles to take the DW on a nice trip to Europe on LH.

If I were still flying 100k miles a year I would fly AA because of the 8 SWUs.

caGALINDO

AAdvantage mos. def. The award avalibility and easy-to-use award search tool wins it for me.

AlohaDaveKennedy

Gotta be Baltic Air. They are the Apple Computer of airlines. What other airline sells their own sneakers? And people actually buy them! They are one mean green marketing machine!

redtop43

I'm reminded of the way Charlie Luciano answers questions in the movie Mobsters, where he says "I don't accept the premise of the question." (I think he's being asked if he wants to join one Mafia family, or die then and there.)

The entire point of loyalty programs is to re-earn your loyalty every day.

Right now, if you asked me if I could pick just one steakhouse to go to for the rest of my life, it would be Morton's of Chicago, because of the secret "Steak and Seafood For Two" menu they've had for the past few years. But if they ever stopped that, I'd quickly go to Del Frisco's or Ruth's Chris or whomever offered something similar. Why should I pledged my loyalty.

Now if I were offered a promise "for life" that the airline program would never change their rules or availability or mileage earning opportunities, I might be able to answer the question. Which is about as likely as Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Bob Hamman saying to me "Hank, we need a 4th for bridge, can you be at the airport in an hour to fly you on a private jet to Switzerland for the weekend?"

UA Fan

Used to be US but now back with UA.

MSYnola

can you explain how AA cc's are churnable? I was under the impression only the barclay's US card was really churnable. 18-24 months is a long time to wait between churns.

Thunderroad

You'll find that the best program hinges for any given person can hinge on where you are based, where to fly for work and where you'd like to fly for vacations, how much you fly, whether you value upgrades or awards more, etc., etc., etc.

But, having said all that, the answer for me is definitely AA for too many reasons to list here, but basically featuring award and upgrade availability. Of the major USA competitors, DL is completely out of the picture because it's devalued its miles to the point where you typically have to spend many more of them on a given trip in a given class of service than you do on its competitors. And with all due respect to those favoring UA, its frequent flier program is on a downward spiral that includes limited upgrade availability, a very non-transparent upgrade system, lots of trouble dealing with all aspects of its reservations system (including upgrades) online or within 24 hours of flight, the sale of upgrades that otherwise would go to members for free, often very limited award availability, other poor treatment of its program members, etc., etc. Check out the UA forum for many threads on these issues.

Now, some fear that AA's system will also deteriorate as it emerges from bankruptcy and in order to compete with UA and DL. While that's a possibility, I suspect any deterioration will not be too bad. And besides, it's a certainty that UA's system will continue to go downhill.

saacman5033

You explained it yourself. I don't know of any card that is completely unchurnable if given the appropriate wait time. Some, like US, are just available at a faster churn rate.

As for the topic at hand, I'd probably pick AA if I could only choose one, but like many here, my opinion tends to vary from season to season.