Originally Posted by
UALurkerORD
Hi
Been a while since I posted, and mostly in my UA days. Made Ex Plat based in CLT for past few years, mostly purchasing ~20 RTs a year in F for CLT-LGA and with CC spend. About to move to London for a couple of years which means swapping out that route for F or J between UK and US 3-5 times a year, maintaining addresses in both countries.
My question is, irrespective of spend and LPs, does “home” airport matter for getting the CK invite? Wondering if changing my address with AA for LHR base will position me better than leaving it as CLT. Given BA options for transcon travel vs AA or bust in CLT, I’d think that might provide an edge. Interested to hear thoughts/experiences.
What matters most of all is margin dollars on AA and the joint-business-agreement partners metal. 600,000 LPs on AA, BA and JL J and F tickets does more for you than 1.2 million LPs on cards, hotels, non-JBA OneWorld and upgraded Y/W fares.
After that, home airport absolutely matters, and especially for first-timers. Easiest when you fly out of secondary markets (hubs for no airlines) and Chicago, LA, NYC and PHX (AA shares the market), because being a CK will drive more flying on AA. Hard where AA dominates (CLT, PHL, MIA) and especially hard in DFW where AA not only dominates but has a lot of people who stock their LPs with long-haul J and F tickets.