Originally Posted by
SquareDanceGuy
When I moved to the Bay Area in 1998, I contacted UA in order to transfer my DL and/or AA status. They basically told me to start over, ride in the back for a year, and earn status like everyone else. Therefore I stayed with DL and AA (and eventually moved almost all my flying to AA). UA coulda had my business: they refused it.
That's changing - as near as I can tell matching FF status is pretty routine now (although usually not to the highest status level).