Originally Posted by
pbarnette
Except they are out of the way. A connection via MEX will add at least 1000 miles to a trip from virtually anywhere in the US. From anywhere East of the Mississippi, it adds a minimum of closer to 2000 miles, compared to going via a place like ATL or NYC. 2000 miles can be over 50% of the distance for a more direct routing. I would think it apparent why this is not a preferred routing for virtually anyone from the US.
But I'm not paying for the intra-European flights. I'm paying for the long-haul leg. And no amount of service can dress up what is barely better than a US domestic F seat as a legitimate use of 90k+ miles. That OK gives the seats away to their elites should tell you all you need to know about what they are worth.
Fair enough. But, this was not your point, was it? You were trying to address a crowd of, what I think it is fair to assume, Americans, telling them that they have a choice of 10 carriers to choose from. I was just pointing out how the number is actually half of that. Whether one wants to avoid the US for whatever reason doesn't change that number. Indeed, if avoiding the US is the criteria, then you lose DL, OK, NW, and CO. AZ still stinks. So you are still at 5
While I don't disagree with your specific comments on the various drawbacks of the various options, the point remains that the options are there.
Sure, I don't want to transit the USA.
But having the option is better than not having it.
Similarly, it's a circuitous route to fly ATL-CUN-MAD-BCN, and ATL-CDG-BCN would be much preferable, but the CUN option is still there for when it isn't.
And CSA have a poor seat (though your comment about elite upgrades is off base; the main reason they're offered is because their home base isn't very strong in terms of business travel and they want people to fly them within Europe as opposed to taking a direct flight on another carrier), but a poor seat is better than no seat. Same goes for AZ.
What I'm getting at is that there is a massive difference between "I would like to spend my miles on a better routing/product than what I can usually find" and "my miles are useless". Your miles may not be able to always get you the exact flights you'd like, but they're far from useless.
Whoever disagrees with the above is free to donate me their miles. Heck, I'll even buy them a beer for their trouble.
