Originally Posted by
tom911
Unlike UA, though, AA doesn't have any nonstops to the DC area (UA has SFO-IAD), so you'd need to connect somewhere to get there. I flew via ORD to get there and came back via DFW.
I'd suggest you look at some other items besides comfort.
1. Lifetime status---AA counts every miles you accrue, not just flight miles
2. Award travel---AA has off peak Europe and South America awards for 40K, and One World awards, which are different than partner awards, can be very versatile
3. Lounge access--all the airports you list have Admirals Clubs, with DCA having some of the best staff in the AA network
4. Routes--you'll find AA weak into IAD, where UA is the major player there---AA has a lot of flights into DCA, though---also look at what type of aircraft you would fly with either carrier (mainline vs regional jets)
Unless your business travel makes DL a hard sell I would look harder at them.
SFO-SLC-DCA is a great flight (and SLC doesnt have the weather issues that ORD and DFW have). If I have to choose an airport to connect in I would always choose SLC because of the ontime stats.
DL cant beat 1 and 2 (yet on 2 as until the NW merger is fully figured out no one knows for sure whats happening to awards) but 3 and 4 are as good for DL as they are for any other airline.