Thanks so much. So looks like the main trade off is losing FCL and SWU but earning MANY more miles on AS.
I guess one more intriguing possibility is to give up BA Silver (which I use for Admirals Club access) and credit that BA flight to AS to get close to MVP Gold and then credit my domestic non-stop flights to AS and get to MVP Gold instead of 75K. That way, I keep my OWE, and get the benefits of MVP Gold (and get to credit to it) on AS non-stops domestically and to Hawaii. Since I am thinking of shifting to mainly UA on domestic flights (upgrades with RPU/PP are higher than complimentary EXP upgrades on AA), the loss of AC access may not be as big a deal.
The main attraction of AS for me right now is the much larger number of non-stop flights from SAN (including places like BOS, AUS, SEA, and PDX) than either UA or AA, and MVP Gold may be good enough to get these benefits and open up EK flights/awards (which I'd love to have the option of).
How good are the upgrade rates as MVP Gold? Do MVP Gold members using one of their 4 complimentary upgrades get higher priority than MVP 75K using a complimentary one?
Also, for award inventory, does MVP 75K provide greater access to J class inventory on EK/CX? Finally, do AS redemptions on BA also incur BA's large fuel surcharges?
Thanks again!