brarrr

To me, this is an AS-specific question... the generic version is, as a seattle-based flier next year I'll book as much as I can to AS, at least till I hit 90k partner. But after that, what's my best option? I've been doing UA, but I'm getting ready to be done with them. I think. Annoyed with much of their changes, but not so pissed off that I'm certain.

Not so much what would you do in my situation - but what do you do, if you're a 75k or gold and balancing other programs in a way that is complementary.. and it's not about any one specific thing but an overall long term benefit (and i'm not chasing million status)

I'm at 105k eqm on AS this year and 76k on UA... so I could have gone 1K or diamond or ... but maybe my better options are things like Air Canada or Lufthansa or ANA or Asiana since they all fly to Seattle and are *a. And most of my flights are int'l and biz (asia, au, israel, europe) if they're not on AS (so ticket price hurdles aren't a big issue). Or delta or aa or ..

mrapollinax

Not sure I understand what you are asking. Are you looking to see which program you should consider for flights that you cannot credit to AS MVP?

Kufat

What do you want out of an elite program? "overall long term benefit" is very vague; do you like upgrades, booking flexibility, companion benefits, mileage earning and redemption, etc.?

eponymous_coward

If most of your non-AS flights are international business class, most of the benefits of status are rolled into the ticket (lounge access, extra luggage). I would probably book based on convenience and price and credit opportunistically. UA seems like a reasonable *A program to credit to. If there is one airline you seem to be on a lot, having status probably helps when there is a mess to clean up. Is that often UA?

maradori

Second what the others say that "what you are looking for in a FF program" is a question you should be asking yourself

I jumped ship to AS from AC, for example. If you consider AC, for example, will you do enough AC-metal flying to qualify under the $ requirement?

One thing I mildly suggest is to consider UA, but only so that you diversify your alliance membership (e.g. maintain flexibility to book reward travel on DL/AA/etc with AS miles but have some *A miles to use if can't find avail with AS)

brarrr

Well, it's hard to say. There's no standout "feature" to a program that makes me happy other than AS's change fee waiver. I make use of almost all the perks of being a ua plat... but none of them stand out. My question is more formally - what's the second best program out of seattle, complimentary to AS.

Re AC - generally yes I have no problem routing via YVR when headed to asia or sydney so probably not a problem getting $ credited.

If I went with a non-US carrier odds are I'd only use the alliance benefits and award redemptions. If I went US, I'd lose lounge access but gain upgrades which is a wash for me. So i suppose in that respect, what is the best redemption program, as complimentary to AS.

PV_Premier

Delta has to be the easy answer to this question...with their nonstops to Asia and Europe, they have the easiest connections to second-tier (non hub) cities in those continents, and you can reach Australia easily via LAX connections. Africa can be reached via AMS or CDG, and South America easily reached via ATL.

The only *A nonstop flights that I am aware of out of SEA are NH to NRT, and LH to FRA. NRT is a fine place to connect onward to Asia of course, but I would certainly rather connect in AMS than FRA to Europe.

In addition I would rather fly DL domestically than UA.

eponymous_coward

OZ to ICN
BR to TPE

Both are *A out of SEA. There are pretty short hops to AC at YVR and UA at SFO.

DL's redemption chart is "whatever we feel like charging you today, sucker".

I'm not convinced at all that DL is the best alternative to AS unless you like BOHICA when it comes to awards. KE might be a better ST program. If awards are irrelevant then it's a reasonable choice for the reasons stated, convenience of nonstops, elite bennies, good domestic amenities.

eponymous_coward

OZ to ICN
BR to TPE

Both are *A out of SEA. There are pretty short hops to AC at YVR and UA at SFO.

DL's redemption chart is "whatever we feel like charging you today, sucker".

I'm not convinced at all that DL is the best alternative unless you like BOHICA when it comes to awards. If they are irrelevant then it's a reasonable choice for the reasons stated.

If awards are important, AS has overlap with SkyTeam. Zero overlap with *A.

PV_Premier

Thanks for those other two *A datapoints out of SEA.

While DL's redemption chart is indeed "dynamic" this sometimes leads to good values, as well as bad ones.

Low level awards in J on DL metal aren't dead, IME. Similarly, IMO DL has become a lot more competitive on Y domestic awards lately.

eponymous_coward

Those low level awards are available on other ST programs (including AS at the moment). KE for example.

You get access to ST (DL/KL/AF) and OW (BA/LA/QF/CX and hopefully JL soon) with AS. No *A access with AS or DL. Unless you really like China or VS/VA, I would argue *A as an alliance is way stronger for award destinations than DL, especially conjoined with AS (keep in mind you can redeem for long haul F in *A but not using DL). YMMV.

brarrr

Doing some rough calc, if I had treated this year differently and instead of UA/*A focused on delta/ST... i could have probably hit gold on AS and diamond on delta. Which, net/net, might be a better thing than 75k and plat on UA...

I'm guessing this coming year will not be as heavy a year...

more to think about i guess.

MSPeconomist

I'd pick DL for their operational excellence/reliability, IROPs handling, and nonstop service from SEA.

You seem to belong to all hotel programs, or I would also add DL's crossover program with SPG, but it might not survice the merger with Marriott anyway.

PV_Premier

MVPG and DL DM would be a pretty awesome combo out of SEA.

eponymous_coward

So are you interested in bennies or award redemptions?

Keep in mind you get J and nothing better on DL awards, plus the lack of award chart. If as has been suggested nonstop + operations + benefits works for you and awards are "meh, J and seeing what DL gives me is fine", then it makes sense.