Originally Posted by
marubill
Hello everyone,
I have a question, I'm based in LAX, mainly travel to ORD and some other destinations (US and MEX). This is my first year acquiring elite status and currently enrolled with AS, since I use AA for ORD, AS for MEX and AA/DL/AS for other trips to the West coast. My question is, most likely AS will break partnership with DL soon, should I change my strategy and start using AA or UA instead of AS?. Definitely will continue to earn elite status but most likely only the lower one (25K), maybe can reach to 50K but not constantly. Which program do you recommend the most for lower tier AS, AA or UA?
Thanks for your recommendations
my opinion would be stick with either AS or AA. Of all the programs you mentioned, AS still has the best benefits for the lowest level of all of them. On DL even the 2nd tier doesnt get you much more than an AS MVP gets. If you main goal is mileage accrual for awards I think AS is a better choice. If your main goal is status and its benefits then I always say, bank with whatever airline you will use the most and who has the partners available to suit your needs when you cant use your primary carrier. Ive never used the UA or AA programs so I cant input anything on them. All Ive used was NW for years(DL for about a year after the buyout) and AS since 2002 for a lot of the ALaska travel until I moved there. AS and NW had a pretty nice partnership going on though. Well I had a CO account also but never had status there. Just used them once in a while to and from MDT via EWR. If AS had the route map in 1995 that they have now, Id easily be a million miler. What was the farthest east AS flew in 95? Billings?