FlyerChrisK, excellent insight all around! I hope the OP will note all of your insight. I wish I flew enough to be able to be Exec Plat on AA and get those SWUs! Also, that's a great anecdote about your luck with op-ups on PS.
RE: your point about Skypesos, I agree to an extent, though I've seen a lot of DL opportunities for redemption lately. That said, I've learned more and more about Skymiles/partner availability over the years, and that kind of knowledge would be less necessary with AA/UA, which are, by default, much better.
I happen to think that, for me, AA miles are SO valuable, even more so than UA, because I am a coach redeemer. Their off peak awards and Citicard discounts come in handy for me. But most on these forums redeem for J, and the award charts tend to be similar across DL/AA/UA for J redemptions.
I'm looking forward to hearing more about the OP's travel patterns so that I can better identify a good plan of attack, if you will. Things change drastically if the JFK-LAX hop is only a few months long, 6 months long, a year long, etc.
Originally Posted by
FlyerChrisK
The 125% earning rate as a Delta DM is mitigated by the difficulty in finding low availability awards, sadly. They don't call them Skypesos for nothing.
Yes, EXPs have a terrific upgrade rate (I've missed only JFK-SFO once this year out of about 90k BIS).
Importantly, AA systemwides work on
any fare, allowing you to fly to Europe and back in business class for $440 (if you find the right fare
) as I did last month. UA requires buying at least a W fare (not excessively more in
some markets), but DL is outright hostile.
The new lie-flat business class is rolling out next month, so I'm a very EXP right now.
If you're a 1K, op-ups on p.s. are not too rare. I had a very, very lucky string of 3 in August (out of 5 p.s. flights; the other 2 were instrument-backed upgrades at the time of booking). Nonetheless, hope is not a viable strategy for upgrades.