Originally Posted by
EpiFlyer
Hi everyone,
It looks like my company prefers Delta but not enough to make me fly them. And a quick check shows me that flying AA out of EWR isn’t going to meet my needs despite how tempting their challenge is.
I am fairly ambivalent about it still but the number of direct flights on CO and the greater schedule flexibility for many destinations make me think that it might be slightly better for me. But the cost is an issue.
I was going to apply for the Presidents Plus Master Card (with a $150 flight credit) and sit back and enjoy my slow climb to elite status status on CO. But I just tried to book a flight on CO and I realized that the flights that seemed to be competitive price-wise with Delta and other carriers were multi-airline flights and the pure CO flights are hundereds more.
As much as I would like to fly CO I can't feel good about having my clients pay hundreds more per flight to get me to them, so for now I am going to upgrade from Delta Skymiles American Express Platinum to Reserve and focus on getting elite status AND flying at a price that I can feel good about.
I will think about CO again once I am DL elite...
Thanks so much for all the help!
I think you made the right call. I am a Manhattan-based frequent flier (181k elite miles last year on Delta) with travel that is about 20% work (all domestic) and 80% pleasure. My travel last year was to Asia, Africa, Europe, and domestic routes including DC, Atlanta, San Francisco, Texas, and Chicago, among others.
I'm also a Platinum on CO due to a comp so have sampled the other side too. Many of my colleagues (including my boss) are NJ based and tend to fly CO from EWR. I almost always compare the price of their tickets to mine and find that CO prices at a very rich premium to Delta, often 50% to 100% more than my tickets. This makes my expense reports look much better than my boss' for the same trips, which I find amusing. So if you are price sensitive, you will usually win picking Delta in New York. Oh, and it gets even more amusing because I'm in first class nearly 100% of the time while they are virtually 100% in the back of the bus unless they are Platinum.
Meanwhile, I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 to 8 friends that I've gotten hooked on Delta who frequently get upgraded at the silver and gold level, even on transcons -- something that is rare for even Platinums on CO.
There are a lot of other factors to consider, but just wanted to give you my experience on cost and upgrades.
PS You should move to Manhattan. :-) NJ is boring!