Originally Posted by vasantn
Free upgrades are not necessarily a good thing (at least from my perspective). People to whom upgrades are important should "pay" for them in some fashion IMO. It keeps the F cabin free of riffraff.
SkyTeam is in a shambles right now, with F awards unavailable from a number of partner airlines.
Ex-NYC, I'm much happier with AA than with DL (and I'm top-tier on both airlines). I believe
ClipperDelta, who flies a lot more than I do, has expressed a similar opinion.
Finally, my AA upgrade percentage (2.5 years and 150+ flights) is 100%.
Of course, YMMV.
While I'm upset about the lack of F awards on SkyTeam as well, I'd hardly describe it as "a shambles". Let's get real here - how many people, (including frequent flyer "newbies" actually only ever use the International First Class rewards? I'd venture to guess that domestic rewards and international business class rewards are much more realistic.
Also, with AA and oneWorld - BEWARE. You WILL be dealing with the MOST dysfunctional alliance out there! You can't even earn miles on BA flights!