So I was thinking ahead and trying to decide what to do after (hopefully) qualifying for the Super Flyers Card this year... go back to JAL next year, or split my flying between JAL and ANA and aim for the lowest tier on both airlines (Crystal on JAL and Bronze on ANA)?

So I compared the elite benefits of JAL Crystal and ANA Bronze and was quite surprised to find that Bronze offers neither priority boarding nor priority check-in (except for Premium Economy check in at Narita only). JAL Crystal offers both benefits -- pre-boarding and business class check-in. That strikes me as a huge difference. To me, the most important elite benefits are priority check-in and boarding, and ANA's decision to offer neither makes Bronze worthless to me. (And most other airlines that I know offer at least one of those benefits to their lowest tier elites, giving me the impression that ANA has the worst benefits for low tier elites of almost any airline...)

Of course, if I have SFC, then the above discussion is irrelevant, but I'm half expecting the SFC and JGC programs to be scaled back or terminated eventually, so I'm wondering if I should hedge my bets by splitting my flying between JAL and ANA. But considering how useless Bronze is , I guess I'll just stick with JAL.

I also noticed that ANA has no elite tier equivalent to JAL's JGC Premier. So comparing the elite benefits of the two airlines, it seems like a no-brainer to me. JAL clearly offers better benefits.