Took a job late last year that involves lots of travel. Being based in DEN I naturally stuck to UA for flights and hit Premier Silver there. At my current pace I'll hit Premier Platinum this year, outside chance at 1K.

Through my job I can do a free no challenge status match to AA basically anytime I like. Being just a silver on UA right now and already 4 months into the year it probably makes sense to wait until next year and match at a higher status if I do it.

My real question is more around what the experience is for folks who are based in DEN who fly AA regularly for business. American's flight schedule from DEN has always been somewhat of a deterrent to me, similar to Delta. It seems I really can't go anywhere from DEN without connecting via ORD or DFW. That along with all flights to LAX are now on CRJs is a bummer. On the bright side of that is you get your status easier because you're forced to fly the extra segments. Only I can really decide if the extra hassle and time to do so is worth it.

I'm mostly interested in redeeming miles for international flights for vacations, although some domestic as well. I'm a heavy SPG and AMEX MR user as well, and it kinda bugs me that I have to transfer points for *A flights via Aeroplan to get good conversion rates. I wish there was a way to consolidate MileagePlus miles and Aeroplan...

It's nice I can move SPG points straight to AA, but it doesn't appear I can use my AMEX MR points in any way on AA.

I'm not unhappy with things at UA, but perhaps the grass really is greener elsewhere? So please share your thoughts, experiences and any tips you have for a relative newbie DEN based business traveller. Cheers!