Originally Posted by
Biggie Fries
Having a hard time thinking this one through ...
My wife (US Gold) and I (US CP) will be flying PHL-XXX-HNL in 3Q2015, where XXX is probably LAX, possibly DFW, but almost certainly not PHX -- which is why I am writing. We have lots of US Dividend Miles at the moment, but none with AA. This will change when the mileage programs merge in 2Q2015; but I am also interested in what I might be able to do before then ...
My first issue is whether I should book the Y tickets (now -- prices are low) through US or AA. I'm pretty sure the answer is "through US": Since the upgrade systems will still be carrier-specific in 3Q2015, this gives us the option of "rolling the dice" on the PHL-XXX segments, which will be US metal. By that I mean that we should still be operating in a US environment that will allow companion upgrades for US CPs (... or have I missed a memo on this one ... ?)
The second issue is the one where things get murky for me ... Am I correct in thinking
- as a CP or Exec Plat or whatever I have become by 3Q2015, even with a past purchase through US, I will be eligible for an automatic upgrade?
- but that my wife, as a US Gold, or AA Plat, will not? In which case, is there anything we can do now -- US Dividend Miles, buying stickers (I have no idea what I am talking about) -- to lock her into an F upgrade (if available) for the XXX-HNL legs on AA metal?
By the time of the flight, you will be EXP and Plat in the combined program; the fact that your status has historically been with US
should be irrelevant. Therefore, I would book with the operating carrier of your flight; that nearly always is the path of least things that can go wrong, if you stick to one operating carrier all the way through (though it sounds like you won't do that).
For AA-operated flights, if you request upgrades for both of you, you should be eligible for a complimentary upgrade based on your EXP status. Your wife should be eligible for an upgrade either as your companion (and at your priority, but you'll need two available upgrade seats at once for either of you to clear) or on her own merits with her Platinum priority.
Either way, your upgrades will be complimentary and hers will require stickers. I'm not up on whether the stickers can come out of her account (she may have earned some by then, and my understanding is that AA will comp former US non-CP elites a bunch of stickers when the programs merge) or must come out of your account if she's using your priority.
But a US operated by AA flight makes things murkier and less easy to predict. However, I'm virtually certain that the cost will be as I described: hers will require stickers, yours won't.
The other thing that will certainly be possible (availability permitting) if all your flights are AA marketed and operated will be to use either hers or your post-merger AA miles to upgrade her flight with miles+copay and roll the dice on your complimentary EXP upgrade. Not clear whether that would be possible for US*/AA.