Hey, folks. My home airport is MAF (Midland, TX). That means that if I am going to fly internationally, my choices are American and United. There are also a ton of Southwest flights for domestic purposes. I have a senior in high school who, I suspect, will be going to school for 4 years in Dublin. We are planning a trip there in February to check out campuses. If he goes, I will be making 2-3 round trips a year. He would be making 2-4 round trips a year depending on how things shake out. My question is whether I should concentrate my flying and award flight credits to BA or whether I should primarily go with AA. United is a worse option due to how connections work from here and that they tend to charge for premium tickets. I would also ask the same question the same question on his behalf since it is a slightly different set of circumstances.

I am an Executive Platinum on AA now, although I will very likely be Platinum Pro next year instead. Obviously, I do not also have status on BA. My kid has not status on anyone. I earned my status mostly on credit card spending, although over the last few years I have taken 5-6 round trips per year domestically on AA. That is likely to decrease to roughly 2 round trips per year over the next few years. I book a paid business class seat whenever I can; sometimes that works out and sometimes it does not. If flying transatlantic I would buy either premium economy or business depending on the fares at the time; First would normally be out of my price range and Economy is not something I care to do for a flight of that length. I am way more willing to send the kid to economy class when we aren't travelling together, although he is over 6 feet tall. I would like to buy him a premium economy ticket when I can.

Here is what I care about-- the quality of the actual flights, the value I get out of elite status, and what I can use my miles to do (free flights, upgrades, etc). Thanks for any advice you can offer.