Originally Posted by
FullFare
I've taken my time out and will provide further clarification, if that is possible. I went to book a one-way SFO-JFK and checked the major carriers on my own. It so happened that AA was $20 more than UA (a 10% price increase AA over UA). But.....that wasn't the one pivotal thing that got me to book a UA flight. There were other factors, just as there are (and probably should be) on any airline booking. I got immediate confirmation from UA of an upgrade, using the same miles as AA, but didn't have to pay a co-pay or other such fee, largely because of status.
The fare difference is a non-starter. A quick search shows that AA and UA match (exactly) at every price point except for one - AA has a $231 price and UA doesn't - it seems likely that UA had W left, but AA's lowest was an S:
QA14ERY1 AA Q One-Way 196.00(USD)
SA14GN UA S One-Way 196.00(USD)
NA14ERY1 AA N One-Way 211.00(USD)
WA14GN UA W One-Way 211.00(USD)
SA14ERY1 AA S One-Way 231.00(USD)
GA14ERY1 AA G One-Way 251.00(USD)
VA14GN UA V One-Way 251.00(USD)
GA07ERY1 AA G One-Way 286.00(USD)
VA7GN UA V One-Way 286.00(USD)
QA7GN UA Q One-Way 326.00(USD)
WA07ERY1 AA W One-Way 326.00(USD)
Your relevant point, however, is the (relatively) new waiver of the domestic copay for mileage upgrades that began in May. It won't surprise me, BTW, if AA matches this sometime this year as it was a very positive change for UA, probably driven by the desire to extract miles from people that would otherwise get a free upgrade anyhow.
Originally Posted by
francophile
Not very helpful for those of us who fly transcon more than 4 times a year:
You can earn a maximum of eight upgrades between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 in each year.
This is a little melodramatic. CR1s are an additional upgrade instrument available to UA elites that are not "instead of" something that AA elites have. Indeed, they are VERY helpful, since it means that for 8 flights a year, you don't have to play upgrade roulette or burn miles. I agree with the general tone that the OP was a bit off, but CR1 bashing is a silly byproduct of this thread; I wish AA had an earnable confirmed domestic upgrade instrument.