Originally Posted by
funkfish
I fly a decent amount from pleasure and I'm about 7k miles right now from Silver from regular flying. I figure if I get a Delta Amex Reserve I can easily hit gold (maybe platinum year one). However living in NYC one of the wealthiest and competitive markets for airline status (I imagine) I'm concerned that having Gold status wont do much for me as there will be lots of platinum and diamond people on the same flight.
Right now I'll probably make 9-11 trips this year. Some to the west coast and the rest international.
A few notes:
1. I'm 6'5 and flying coach is miserable
2. My wife is less interested in the points hustle as I am, I'm concerned that only one of us having status will be make things more complicated.
3. I've never flown business class
4. I currently have an Amex Platinum Charge Card that gives me similar benefits
I'm curious what peoples thoughts are to this and if I'm missing anything
Depending on where you fly, I would suggest AA or JetBlue. If you can attain any kind of status on AA, their flights to within perimeter non-hub destinations like YYZ, RDU are extremely easy to get, even possible for gold status members (the lowest level). And MCE is no considered a separate class, so you can select it for free if you are platinum or above at booking.
Delta also has more ff than AA in NYC, which means there are more people on upgrade list of smaller number of inventory (DL sells more of its first class than AA does).
If you are concerned about leg space, I would suggest just flying JetBlue. The E90s are way more comfortable than anything on DL economy experience. The A321 mint's economy seats are the most comfortable cross country economy seats by quite a long shot. And if you are willing to shell out for mint, which is cheaper and much better experience than DL domestic first class.
But the key is to stick to one airline.