Zantaine-- yes, I'm going to be starting the plat challenge once the date rolls over to 6/15 given where we are in the year. No worries about that, I'll easily have 25K+ EQPs over the next 2-3 months. Also good point on the exit rows, I'm happy with exit row seating on on both UAL/AA. More to my concern is I've seen very tightly booked flights transcon/overseas, and dont want anything less than an exit row. I was a plat on AA several years ago and I didn't recall many upgrades and even when i put in for upgrades with my 500 miles coupons, it was very much a long shot as a plat. Do the odds swing in my favor substantial or if I hit the Exec Plat?

Milesmark- thanks for the idea. Once thing that I have a concern over with AA is coverage in APAC. Perhaps that is because I normally fly across the pacific and not via the atlantic (not a fan of Cathay for economy).

Armattheus - yes, from a routing perspective UAL and *A flights fit great. On the downside, the influx of continental FF does concern me as upgrades, reward seats, etc were a challenge before let alone after the merger. Also, from Boston, AA seems to have a few more MR options.

One idea I'm toying with is maintain both AA Plat and UAL Plat Exec. I can probably swing doing the miles/segments for both at the 50k/yr level with a little effort. I've got to weigh that against going for 1K or Exec Plat by concentrating on one.