Originally Posted by only1percent

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.