Originally Posted by tom911

You have a lot of issues in play so let me just address a couple so others can chime in.

I have over a million miles on UA metal and walked away from them over the 2012 program changes which weren't ideal for a leisure traveler. Just because I did that, though, does not mean it may be a good fit for you. You accrue miles there (and at DL) very differently. It's based on your tier and then miles per dollar, less taxes, after that. So, for example, as a 1K (EXP equivalent) on an $1100 fare to Europe ($1000 before taxes), you'd accrue 11,000 miles (11 miles per dollar spent). If you took the same $1100 trip on AA from SFO with a connection at DFW, you'd generally bring in 25,000 miles with your EXP bonus miles.

Now, if you do buy paid first and that $1100 ticket becomes a $5100 ticket, you'd bring in 55,000 miles at UA. See why UA is a better fit for some? At AA you'd get a 50% bonus on base miles for being in first, so around 31,250 miles total there.

If you follow the UA forum, you'll learn that systemwide upgrades there (6 at 100K, more with additional travel) are good on W or higher fares on international routes, so you have to buy the higher fare, which could range from $100 extra to $700 or more depending on route, and if you can't immediately clear, and don't clear at the gate, you're out the extra money for buying the higher fare. Also, UA is known for selling upgrades and that seems to be a constant complaint on the UA forum.

UA recently raised the award levels for some first class partner award travel (like Lufthansa F) while keeping rates lower on UA metal. Make sure you look at the UA award chart as they have different levels on some higher end awards when you move to partner metal.

Another thing with UA is their UGS tier which is high revenue and recognized at the check-in counters and at boarding and during irregular ops. AA has a similar tier but I get the sense the numbers are nowhere near UA, and you don't see special check-in counters or boarding for CK flyers (not yet at least). The UGS tier at UA also comes with some special perks like upgrading award tickets.

Also, while EXP gives you first class lounge access on international flights no matter what the class of service, 1K status does not provide that. I don't think it provides arrival lounge access either, but then AA only offers that at LHR anyway so probably not a major factor when comparing them.

I've always found UA award availability very good over the years. I redeemed my last chunk of miles earlier this year DUB-ATH. Took a while to zero out that account. My last big redemption was them was on the A380 in F SFO-FRA connecting to a 747 FRA-HKG. I've also done the 747 in F SFO-FRA. All these would cost more miles than what I paid in the last 2-3 years due to the program changes.

I'd recommend you follow up on the award differences and upgrades on the UA forum- you should find some existing threads covering those topics in detail. UA has offered status matches in the past to AA EXP flyers with a specific amount of flying to retain status, so you could give them a test drive without too much of an investment and see how they work out.