Originally Posted by
angetenar
Ok some more thoughts:
1. Are you familiar with how status qualification works with United/American/Delta? American and Delta reward credit card spend to a much greater degree than United does.
2. Jetblue and Alaska have partnered with American so that's another consideration
3. I know that for United, you can select economy plus seats at booking starting with gold, not sure for the others. Southwest doesn't have economy plus.
4. Do you want to leisure travel in economy or business?
5. Does lounge access matter to you?
Thanks again for the reply. I spent some time looking into all 3 of these ....
1- I've begun to familiarize myself with this - hence this post. I am generally aware of the perks/benefits, but I have never been in a position that I fly enough to really pay deep attention. If possible I'd like to not open more credit cards right now - would like to make the decision on which airline to concentrate on based mostly on the flying. That said, I am open to a card if it really makes sense (seems to me that most of the airline cards require a LOT of spend to make it truly worthwhile).
2- I was aware that AA and AS were partnered. Not aware of JetBlue.
3- Delta @ silver level allows Comfort+ upgrades at 24 hours prior to departure ("preferred seats" are available at booking)
American @ gold tier allows MCE seats at check-in.
United allows "preferred" seating at booking (just closer to the front of the plane) - E+ not until check-in.
4- Doesn't matter, honestly. I have Chase & Amex points for aspirational things (FC, int'l business) so I think I'd rather focus on the easiest status to obtain that will give me in-flight benefits.
5- I have lounge access through Amex Platinum (Centurion, Escape, Delta when flying Delta) and Priority Pass (various others) so this is not as big of a deal for me.
I think my questions boil down to:
-Which status is the best option/easiest for getting in-flight benefits?
-Which of these statuses is actually realistic for getting those benefits (i.e. as a Delta silver, would I ever even clear for an upgrade to first or biz?)
Thanks!