Originally Posted by
jeff1217
From what I've gathered then I suppose convenience is the name of the game. I would've thought that more people would choose FFPs based on benefits, rewards etc. Perhaps in this day and age with the Internet it is easier to compare programs giving more choices to the average consumer.
Yep, convenience.
In most parts of the world, there's 1 national flag type carrier. That's going to be your choice for a global provider, and maybe you augment with a regional LCC.
In the U.S., throughout my early business travel years (90s), AA and UA carefully matched each other on the major benefits of the programs. Status tiers were aligned, upgrading worked very similarly, award charts were pretty similar. There were nuances - slightly different sweet spots in each - but by and large the two were pretty close. US Airways was a little more generous, but a little less of a worldwide route map. I never had much experience with NW, CO, or DL back then.
Therefore, the big differentiator was convenience. Which one worked best for your city and your favorite routes?