I'm a SF Bay area resident and fly about 75-80K miles annually on *A. Having slogged hard to maintain my Premier Exec status over the past few years, I am totally frustrated in trying to get *A award seats through UA. Hence, with a new year starting, I am seriously considering a second *A FFP, for those occasions when I do not fly UA metal.

Can someone recommend a program? High on my list of priorities would be the ability of getting award seats on various *A carriers // no penalties for date changes on award tix after commencement of travel // low fees for award tix (BD, NH etc collect fuel surcharges on award tix, whereas UA/US do not)

I expect to fly 25-35K miles annually on non-UA metal, with about 40% in Business Class and 60% in discounted coach. I think I will try and keep my UA P/E (i.e. *Gold) level and shunt all non-UA *A mileage onto the second program.