AS is a great choice out of SAN. Historically as a 75/100K the only upgrades I'd miss on occasion either involved SEA or Hawaii. Things have changed dramatically in the past six months, both with the status matchers and the mileage run crowd. Indeed, I missed a FLL-SAN the other day which had never happened before, but I know for a fact there were half-a-dozen 100Ks on a same-day-turn mileage run. I'm hoping things settle back down now that the 2x EQM period has passed.

FWIW since NYC is of particular interest I'll offer that while I've never missed a JFK upgrade (out of maybe a dozen over the past 5 years) several have been close. I find EWR to generally be a much easier get.

AS *desperately* needs a lounge or at least an airside customer service desk, as in the rare instances where things do go pear shaped their operation is just not able to handle the added stress. I'm hoping the announced-but-not-yet-real Chase Sapphire lounge will take some pressure off the airspace/soon-to-be-AS lounge, which is currently not worth waiting in the line to enter.