Originally Posted by dvs7310

You've got a pretty interesting scenario.

I do pretty well on AA upgrades as an EXP and I think the customer service on the EXP line is generally great. But I fly a lot of less prime routes, my home town is in Ohio so I do a lot of CMH, CLE, or DAY routes, I go to St. Louis a lot so that's also one I frequent, those are easy upgrades. I believe the only upgrades I've missed when I was on an economy ticket were PIT-ORD, LAX-DFW, and DFW-LAX. But hub to hub upgrades don't seem to be easy and I generally buy first outright on those if I want it.

I have a feeling your ANC flights are difficult, even as EXP. I haven't been there (yet) so can't speak to it personally but I recall a lot of chatter in the UA forum when I was 1K that their ANC route was typically full of paid F oil folks up front, pretty much zero upgrades to be had. I know DFW isn't IAH in terms of oil, but still I imagine that front cabin is a tough one if not buying it. How's your upgrade ratio on SEA-ANC and v.v.?

In terms of award chart for long haul international, AA beats the heck out of AS since they went distance based. In theory partner availability should be similar if not the same from both programs, but I do believe that QR has some favoritism for AS vs. AA in their availability if that makes any difference. You'll have to look at both carriers non-Alliance partners to see if any are relevant to you or not. I've been able to take advantage of FJ awards from AAdvantage and definitely appreciated they were there.

One thing I also don't know is how the upgrade ratio is for AS elites on AA and AA elites on AS. I have my first ever flight on AS this summer but it's in paid D class, so already up front.

I don't know there's a clear answer for your question, as a global traveler I really like AA's program, but sounds like you're primarily regional aside from some international holidays using miles. The downside of regional / domestic travel is that you don't get lounge benefits but sounds like you plan to make up for that with the Citi Exec card. The Citi card benefits BTW are pretty horrible in the US credit card market, so aside from the Admiral's Club membership and any needed status miles, I wouldn't choose it as my primary spender. It has zero travel insurances on it anymore either, so definitely don't buy travel with it if that coverage is important.