Hi all:

I've been a loyal USAir customer for the past several years and getting in even at the Silver level was awesome for flying out of TPA. I'd pretty consistently get upgraded, and if first class wasn't available, I could pretty much always book myself into an exit row anyhow - I'm on the tallish side of things, so I'm all about the extra leg room.

With the American merger though, I think I need to find a new airline. The AAdvantage program with regards to upgrades doesn't seem as agreeable to me, what with needing to use vouchers on flights over 500 miles and all.

So I'm considering using the status match programs offered by either Delta or United to get into one of those programs, but I'm having trouble deciding which one would be a better choice. Hoping someone has some insight. Answers to the standard questions below, as well as some other thoughts/concerns.

1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
(e.g., upgrades, priority services, baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, lounge access)
Reply: Upgrades, able to book exit rows at booking - i'm all about maximizing my legroom on any given flight. Don't care so much about award redemption or any of the other stuff.

2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
(e.g., <25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles and <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: 25k-50k, 25-50 flights

3. What fare class do you usually buy?
(e.g., first, business, premium economy, economy)
Reply: economy

4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: work. some ability to choose airlines, but have to fly economy per work policy.

5. Which routes do you fly most often
(e.g., U.S. domestic, transatlantic, intra-Asia)
Reply: u.s. domestic

6. What is your home airport?
(e.g., SFO, LHR, HKG)
Reply: TPA

7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in a FFP, if any?
(e.g., AA Executive Platinum, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro)
Reply: US Silver past 4 years, something like 50k miles floating around

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
Reply: Delta, United


I'm in tech consulting, so I often have several devices with me, and often times a little juice would be helpful. If either airline had a clear advantage in offering in seat power throughout the economy class, that might be enough to incline me to go that direction. In flight internet is also a big draw for me.

My travel is primarily up and down the east coast, although on occasion I do need to get to San Francisco or Las Vegas.

With US Air I usually wound up routed through Charlotte. It's not bad as far as airports go... But on more than one occasion I've been stranded there and/or found myself hauling it from a D gate to somewhere in B. So I guess I should give some thought to where I'd commonly be passing through, and I think the unfortunate answer is that either choice (ATL or Chicago, I'm assuming) doesn' offer the best amenities as far as hanging out and waiting for my connecting flight - I'm talking power outlets, for the most part, but ease of getting around the airport and making a connecting flight probably factors in. I'd assume that given most of my travel is east coast, Delta might make more sense with less out of the way stuff over to Chicago or whatever, but maybe that's an incorrect assumption on my part.

Delta always makes me a little nervous in that I don't think the SkyTeam program is anywhere near as valuable as the Star Alliance... but that may not be true anymore. Doesn't seem like in the states the Star Alliance really provides too much flexibility anymore, so maybe that's not a huge consideration.

I'm also a little concerned about the sizes of the United and Delta programs. I'm getting the feeling that USAir wasn't a very large program, and that's why I end up getting upgraded so often with relatively low status. I feel like the upgrade lists for United and Delta are like 40 people deep every time I'm near one of their gates. Is it even possible that I'd ever see an upgrade at the entry level of their program? I'm assuming that once the USAir stuff rolls in it'll be the same situation with AAdvantage folks - there's just going to be so many more people in the program I'll no longer see upgrades as often as I currently do.

I'm not likely to ever do much more than 50k miles or 50 flights in a given year, so it seems unlikely I'll ever hit the second tier of status. So maybe there's the possibility that sticking with AA is the best path forward, but I just don't know. And then there's always the possibility that I'm overlooking something, so I turn to you seasoned road warriors for some advice.

Anybody have any suggestions based on the above? Thanks!