Originally Posted by
RTW70
What will happen if UA retaliates and imposes the same flight minimums on its 10+ million active members? Those UA customers will have to stop flying AC. They will need to fly UA to keep their status.
UA benchmarks itself against DL, which does not have such requirements (as of 2014 at least).
FYI: DL-ticketed (or AF/KL- ticketed) WJ-operated flights give status miles. From accrual and benefit perspectives DL/AF/KL JV-operated flights are much better integrated than AC/UA/LH JV-operated flights.