Hello Everyone.
I'm a young flyer, but I love to fly. In a typical year I usually fly around 15k miles, not enough for status anywhere, so I usually buy the cheapest fares available. In 2011, though, I will be flying around 25k miles, so if I plan it right then I'll be able to make status on one airline. The question is, which one? Right now I'm trying to decide between AS and UA.
Most of my flying is to visit family. They are in Seattle, Oakland, and Juneau and I am in Southern Connecticut (I usually fly out of LGA/JFK because of public transportation accessibility). I also visit MSP about once a year. Flying is also on my own dime, so I am a bit sensitive to price.
What I am looking for in status is upgrades (isn't everyone?). I recently suffered a back injury playing rugby, and the docs say it will take about a year to 18 months to heal, so the extra leg room helps a ton with pain management. Therefore, I am perfectly willing to blow miles for upgrades, at least until my back heals.
The way I see it right now, UA is probably my best bet because of automatic E+ for 2p, and having status on UA means no copay when upgrading with miles (even on the cheaper tickets if I understand correctly). But, my travel for the first half of 2011 is to LAS, ONT, and RNO and it looks like the flights on DL/AA are cheaper and more convenient for me than on UA/*A.
Being a Seattle native, I'm a little biased towards my hometown airline. I understand that I will probably be flying DL or AA most of the time where I am based. Since looks like upgrades for MVPs on DL is finally happening, that might not be so bad. I will also probably fly to JNU at least once in the next 2 years (e.g. UA status won't help me there).
The availability of flights between UA/*A and DL/AA are about the same for the destinations.
So my questions are:
How hard/easy are MVP upgrades on DL metal from JFK/LGA to SEA?
What's the mileage upgrade opportunity the EWR-SEA flight on AS like? (and are mileage upgrades confirmed at booking if there is upgrade inventory available? The website confused me)
Any other advice?
Thanks in advance for the help
