I don't know much about your AMEX options, but my advice is to build up a 2nd airline account.

As a westerner, I think the perfect combination is United and Alaska. UA gives you the *Alliance plus Delta, plus maybe USAir in the future. AS gives you NW-KLM, CO, AA, plus most of oneworld: BA, Qantas, and...LanChile. The virtue of AS is its wide set of alliances for earning and getting awards. With UA and AS, you have the five majors covered.

The main weakness is that your only upgrade opportunities are on NW and AS. Make sure your LanPeru flight gets AS credit, which might mean using the LanChile codeshare...a good question for the AS board.

Having 2 accounts lets you shop between many airlines and buy a ticket based upon price and convenience, and not be dragooned into visiting Atlanta and Chicago all the time...

And welcome to Flyer Talk!


[This message has been edited by South of the Border (edited 08-07-2002).]