Originally Posted by
sapguy
All in all, UA award availability, while not perfect, is NOT bad at all, especially when compared to US and DL where my friends and family members are trying to do the same thing as me and are shut out almost completely
I actually had to start signing up for UA credit cards (you know, the ones with the 25,000 bonus miles) because I couldn't actually use my "zillions" of US miles for award travel.
UA only releases award seats to its Star Alliance "partners" if the flight is wide open: they save something like the first 4 award seats for their own flyers.
It was actually pretty ridiculous: I needed a summer ticket to Jackson Hole and the cheapest fares were more than $500. I call US to see if I can fly (at least partly) on UA for reward travel. No seats available. I check UA's own award availability. Plentiful. I sign up for the UA credit card, wait 4 weeks for the mileage to post, and get my free ticket. Better than burning "real" miles!
Alas, I think UA's credit card issuer has cracked down on multiple bonuses but, last I heard, AA hasn't. If you want an airline credit card that actually earns you mileage you can use, those 2 airlines are the way to go.