Originally Posted by
newlos
Hello, I've lurked for some time and will be starting to fly quite a bit for work and pleasure. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the best program for me.
Background:
- Will be flying around 75-100k miles a year
- BOS is my home airport
- most segments will be east coast/canada (business)
- most miles will come from MRs/Leisure trip/s to Asia and Europe (play)
- point wise, I have a couple hundred K miles at both AA and UAL, but no current status (expired a couple years ago when not traveling)
- new to BOS, so not sure what the best MR here are
- favorite cities to fly to (Asia): SIN, BKK; (North Amer): LAS, LAX, SFO; (Europe): UK, Italy, France;
What I'm looking for:
- primarily use points/status for a decent shot at upgrades, including intl. flights
- leg room when in economy
- stability/health of program
- Availability of mileage runs/deals
- quality of lounges and service
- little to no BS charges to book alliance flights, upgrades, etc
- less important, but important is the ease of booking alliance rewards
obviously AA and UAL are the front runners due to size, but I'm open to a foreign programs in either OW or SA alliance.
What I would like to hear is what you would recommend and why (based on the above).
Thanks and I look forward to your response!
My hometown (not current unfortunately) is Boston and I have to say I'm envious! With that being said, my recommendation would be AA. You said you already have miles booked with them, and they do fly to the majority of your popular destinations. Since you fly 75k-100k I would recommend taking the Plat challenge (If you can get the 10k points within the time allotted) to give yourself back some status instead of slowly climbing through Gold and then Plat after 50k miles. Once you get status picking exit rows in coach is enough leg room for most folks. I'm 6'1" and have plenty of legroom in an exit row in coach. If you can hit EXP (100k miles in a year) you should have a great shot of hitting domestic upgrades (assuming you don't have too many last minute bookings) which will be free for yourself. As Plat and higher using OW clubs is FANTASTIC when traveling internationally. Additionally, getting those SWU's once you hit EXP are great to have to use on yourself or friends/family for international flights. Lastly, being in BOS sets you up for the potential of great MR's to SFO. Again, AA is just my personal recommendation.