Originally Posted by CuriousPorpoise

Hi! I'm in an interesting situation re: status and would appreciate any instincts you all have about which program to pursue.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
In a magical ideal world, somewhat frequent domestic first class upgrades would be the most valuable perk to me - but I doubt that's super realistic given my annual spend.
Beyond that, I'd weight upgrades to Main Cabin Extra and access to AA Flagship lounges on domestic flights roughly equally.
Baggage and award miles are not significant factors.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
I'm about to start flying from a non-hub-city (e.g. PVD, BHM, RIC, BTV, PWM, BZN) to ORD about 40 times/year. Always a direct flight, (basic) economy on AA.
I expect that each roundtrip flight will cost around $200 - so I'm anticipating around $8,000 in total spend + 80 flight segments / year.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy?
Whatever's cheapest and available – economy or basic economy.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Traveling for work, but run a small business, so it's my own money. I could, in theory, choose another airline, but AA has bar far the most convenient schedule.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often?
See above!

(6) What is your home airport?
Small-ish, non-hub-city (e.g. PVD, BHM, RIC, BTV, PWM, BZN)

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
No status right now. A good chunk of AmEx points, but plan to use those for international travel.

(8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on?
AA works best for me.

The two programs I'm considering most seriously are:

1. American Airlines. If I spent $8k/year on AA flights, that'd get me somewhere between 16,000 (if I flew 100% basic economy) and 40,000 (if I never flew basic economy) Loyalty Points. I could also earn some through credit card spend, so I feel reasonably confident that I could hit Gold if I pushed for it, but Platinum seems unlikely.
   1. Pros: Main Cabin Extra would be great, as would priority support during IROPS. I like the idea of free upgrades to first class, but that seems unlikely, even if I'm not flying hub-to-hub, right?
   2. Cons: Not guaranteed I'd get status, no lounge access.
2. Royal Jordanian: I think I'd have a decent shot at Platinum Hawk (Oneworld Emerald, 46 segments over 12 months), and could definitely get Gold Sparrow (Oneworld Sapphire, 30 segments over 12 months) pretty quickly. It seems like there's no requirement to fly any RJ segments.
   1. Pros: Definitely achievable, not tied to spend. I'll be spending a lot of time at ORD, so access to the AA Flagship lounge would be fantastic. (Strangely, it looks like this is accessible to Oneworld elites flying domestically as long as they didn't earn their status through AA or AS). Free preferred seat selection when flying AA (not sure how much to value this). If food in the lounge was good enough, I could see myself having dinner there twice/week (on arrival + departure), which I'd value.
   2. Cons: No free MCE, no chance at upgrades to first class, presumably less great support if something goes wrong. Slightly unconventional approach.

What would you do if you were in my shoes? Are there other programs you'd explore (e.g. Alaska)?