Originally Posted by
Frequentflyout
This year, I have been traveling a great deal for business all across the country - I am a loyal American customer who went all in on aadvantage this year. I got the executive elite card with American so I can get lounge access, and I have been able to rack up loyalty points fast, having now achieved platinum pro. I want to make clear I’ve had really good experiences traveling to the east coast, south and Midwest with American - transiting either through Chicago or Dallas.
however, I have encountered a challenge in getting to executive platinum because I have been unable to find logical routes to certain west coast destinations, especially in the state of Colorado, where I do a lot of business recently. For whatever reason, the quickest route currently to go to Aspen or Vail/eagle is 7+ hours, transiting through Dallas. This route makes no sense, as you go further east, have a layover, and go back west. I ended up booking flights with United and Delta - both of whom have convenient nonstops to Aspen (2 hours of travel time). As a loyal Aadvantage member - I am kicking myself because we are close to the end of the year, and I am not earning valuable loyalty points (at least 5-10k loyalty points) that would help me in continuing to be a loyal American customer, and in advancing my elite status (and enjoying the great benefits).
The frustrating thing to me as a customer is inconsistency - I also am traveling to Durango, Colorado for work later this year. Luckily, American offers a far more logical route to Durango - transiting through Phoenix. This is very much competitive in price and time of travel to the comparable United route through Denver - that is what I am disappointed I didn’t see for Aspen/Vail routes. I also wanted to point out that in my experience, American has fewer nonstops into Denver, some of which are on tiny Bombardier jets (not ideal for tall folks like myself!)
i know there are complexities involved here and this may be a niche problem - just wanted to say this didn’t make sense to me, and I am bummed I have to fly with other airlines i don’t have status with for (some) of these routes!
Welcome to Flyertalk!
Where are you based? It seems that if UA/DL has nonstops in markets where AA doesn't, then you are better of going with UA/DL to take advantage of these. Unfortunately the reality, and cost of loyalty, is that you can't have your cake and eat it too, you either accept that for some itineraries AA will be worse off and you choose them to get a higher status (or more miles/LPs), or you go with UA/DL to take advantage of the schedule. Unless you live in a fortress hub (and even then), it is nearly impossible that one airline will have the best schedule/price/aircraft for where you want to fly, when you want to fly. Yes, AA is weaker in some markets than others, but DL and UA are also weaker in markets that AA is good in.
Even as an EXP I've only flown AA and partners about 55% of the 350 flights I've taken so far this year. I don't have a dominant carrier for the remainder, but I'll fly Delta, United, and even EasyJet and Ryanair in Europe when they have a better schedule that fits my needs. (I haven't counted Porter, whom I flew with a bunch earlier this year before the partnership was inked, into that percentage.) Based on my home bases and the flying that I do, it would definitely be better off from a schedule perspective for me to fly with UA, but my time there as a 1K didn't yield enough value, so I've decided the opportunity cost of having to connect more to fly AA and partners is worth it for the value I get in return (better use of miles, upgrades, lounges, etc).
It really boils down to a personal preference. Unless AA/AS does not even serve a market you need to fly to (frequently enough), then it's a decision between spending more time at home / with clients vs traveling and flying on other airlines, or sacrificing time for benefits.