Originally Posted by
JBG89
Thanks for the note and correction.
I am able to choose airlines, but this will actually now be PHL - SFO with either American or United now
For work I will be flying premium class but travel primarily economy for personal. Top items for me would be ability to upgrade on partner airlines for flights to Asia (CX / JAL / ANA), upgrades domestically, and ability to change flights domestically same day.
AA and UA both fly their own metal to Asia (AA serves fewer Asian destinations than UA does, however). But on the PHL-SFO route, AA's First Class is pretty dire (no at-seat power or in-flight entertainment), unless you happen to get the (once daily?) A330 widebody that AA operates on that route. However, if you don't need at-seat power or IFE, then AA is probably little different than UA on that route.
AAdvantage elite benefits described here:
https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...ite-status.jsp
Details of same-day change and same-day standby policies for AAdvantage elites here:
https://www.aa.com/i18n/plan-travel/...day-travel.jsp