Originally Posted by
SADDE6
Ironically, AS has been looked at by many (including myself) as a good alternative to UA given one can get the same 50% mileage bonus as MVP and a 100% bonus as Gold. And for the same 1MM BIS on AS you could get a lifetime status that would give you a 100% mileage bonus (something that will soon require 3MM on UA.)
FWIW, MM on AS is much more difficult to attain compared to UA. On UA, you can net 20K miles towards MM in one trip, but not on AS [both require BIS (UA includes Copa) and COS bonuses do not count towards MM]. With AS, the only benefit of MM is MVP Gold, that's it. No benefits for a spouse, no Star Gold benefits which comes with lounge access on international itineraries or free bags when traveling on over 20 different carriers, no E+, etc.
Of course, everybody has different priorities and definitely a YMMV situation, but just remember this, you will NOT get any additional benefits as a MM'er with AS like UA offers.
Those are the following benefits that AS does better than UA at 1MM.
1. 100% bonus miles vs 50% with UA
2. Waived Change Fees for revenue tickets and award tickets
3. Waives all phone/ticketing fees except $25 for partner award bookings
However, if you think you will fly another million miles and since you are already at 1MM with UA, it is more appropriate to compare AS's 1MM program to UA's 2MM program in your situation.
Advantages of AS's program.
1. 100% bonus miles vs 75% with UA
2. Waived change fees on revenue tickets
That's it. I am not going to list the advantages of UA's program over AS's since I assume you know the program well and I do not want to derail this thread to an UA-centric thread.