Originally Posted by
TravellingMan
Since they are busy dismantling one by one all the pluses, it is going to be even more difficult to justify buying a ticket with them. Hence AA is better for now as
1. SWU clears well so does UDU at any fare class
2. IROPS and service for EXP is great
3. So far no problems in redeeming miles for Oneworld carriers (ignoring BA).
Yes, SWU does not clear on BA or on CX but I can live without that for the other positives.
Agreed. CX biz class is vastly superior to UA/LH and most of the *A carriers AND I get massive bonuses on AA as an EXP for booking in biz class even at the cheapest biz class fares on partners like CX. I'm finding this a HUGE ^ over UA Mileage Plus especially with the recent downgrade of miles credited on most partner flights. Yes too bad I can't upgrade to F on CX biz fare, but not really necessary as I find CX biz to be overall excellent already AND as an EXP on a biz fare I get full use of the CX First Class lounges in HKG. So this is overall better than UA/LH already.
I haven't given BA a try yet, but did manage to book an F award on BA from Russia to the USA without any problems using AA miles. It was cheap and easy to do and also faced no change penalties as an EXP just as I do on MP as a 1K. So, I'm not seeing any disadvantages of swapping to AA EXP at this time and I'm actually quite happy with them thus far. EVERY AA agent I've interacted with on the phone or at the airport has been efficient (no one-hour ticketing phone calls mostly on hold as is now the norm with UA) and very polite.
As you said, UA is slowly dismantling the value of MP and I'm not seeing much value anymore in giving them my premium travel dollar. By the end of Feb I'll already be at 50K EQM mostly entirely because of TK and where TK flies that I can't get to on any other carriers. If not for that UA and I would barely speak...which I guess is the way they want it these days anyway. Sad...