Originally Posted by mspreh

I disagree with this. I book rewards on AA for family much easier on AA than I do on DL. I have earned fewer miles on AA than on DL, but when comparing them it's not even close. DL wanted 332,500 miles to fly in F from MSP to OGG per person round trip. AA wanted 67,500 for similar flight times on 3/18 departure. I've compared about 15 flights in the past year, and not a single one of those has my dollars spent on Delta equated to a free flight in less than double the dollars that I've spent on AA.

As a DL diamond I earn 11 miles per dollar spent. So in the above example I would have needed to spend $30,227.27 on DL to get that flight for free. The flight I booked with AA only required me to spend $8,437.50 with them. OK I paid $17.32 more in fuel surcharges/taxes for that flight than I would have with DL.

Sorry but the value for sky pesos isn't there.

Only advantage DL has: Fewer delays or canceled flights.

Pro's for AA: I am upgraded more often even at a lower tier of status, my redemptions are much better value than with DL. I can choose my meal before I fly. Flight attendants seam to be more consistent. On a scale of 1 to 10, 2/3 of DL's are below a 5, and 1/3 are an 8 or better. Flying AA with rare exception they all seem to be about a 7.

DL will have one other benefit out of DTW, is a much higher percentage of flights can be done direct, vs. connecting (this benefit is for the OP, based on location).