Eurynom0s

The ironic thing with UA's new system letting E+ and F buyups counting toward hitting the next status level is that it makes it harder to retain status, since the higher up you get the likelier you are to get those for free.

jjava

I fly Delta as my backup... problem is Alaska failed at taking me so many places this year I ended up flying more Delta (Toronto, Montreal, Mexico City, etc).

I try to fly directs as much as possible, and prioritized in the following order:
Alaska (Gold for 2020)
Delta (Platinum for 2020)
United (Silver 2020, thanks to Marriott)

I might go all Delta next year because Diamond is likely better than this split status thing I have.

danielflyer

The UA Club Card will get you lounge access and a number of elite benefits (priority check-in, better access to award flights, priority bag handling).

DuckFlyer

I use UA as backup since I have Silver status through my Marriott tier.

chrisl137

Complimentary F upgrades are unicorns unless you're a GS (maybe 1K on some routes) these days, but it's certainly true for the E+ thing. The E+ buyup contribution is also effectively capped somewhere between $600 and $1000 depending on the type of routes you fly - if you're going to fly more than 3 RT transcons in a year, you should just get an E+ subscription unless you want to just buy more of the new PQP. The international E+ subscription is $900 or $1000, so nobody should really be spending much more than that on a la carte E+ purchases.

wolfpacktrojan

Thankfully AS meets most of my business travel needs out of SAN, but I chose to fly UA this year when I couldn't use AS. I flew DL in 2018 when not flying AS because I thought they were the best of the legacies, and they somewhat met my travel needs (JFK, ATL). I flew enough DL to earn Silver, but I decided to switch to UA for a few reasons:

1. I switched all of my NYC flying to EWR because of the ease of getting to Midtown (AS's double miles promo didn't hurt).
2. IAH and IAD became more frequent destinations.
3. Chase UR are my preferred points system, so I thought it made more sense to earn on UA.
4. I enjoy traveling in Asia and prefer *A carriers over ST in the region.

Honestly, I would have been content with Silver just to board with Group 2 to guarantee carry-on space (I had to gate check in Group 3 quite a bit this year), but I managed to meet the PQD requirement for UA Gold quite easily. I needed a mileage run to PVG to hit the PQMs, but well worth it IMO to be able to select E+ at booking (not to mention it only cost me $260 RT). I've yet to have a poor experience on UA that many others seem to run into and am happy with my decision so far.

BearX220

Carry the Chase Southwest Priority Visa ($149) and Chase will pay for your first four A1-A15 upgrades (among other benefits that easily exceed the annual fee). After that they are typically $30 or $40 per flight and typically get you into the first 4 to 7 rows, making the Business Select spend look very high in comparison.

chrisl137

My experience on UA is similar - it's a flight and the service is fine, but if you're a primarily domestic flyer, AS MVP is arguably better than UA gold, and definitely better than silver. On AS as an MVP the upgrade to PC at T-48 reduces your seat risk by a lot more than the silver Y+ at check-in benefit, and an MVP has a much better chance of getting upgrades than a UA Gold (except maybe if you're SEA based). And AS also lets you check a bicycle for the cost of a regular bag, which is $0 if you're MVP or have the credit card.

beachmouse

The one really useful thing DL Silver gets you that a credit card doesn't is free exit row seats at time of purchase as part of 'preferred seating' options. Since the middle exit row seat can often go unclaimed even on a fairly full flight, this can actually be better than getting a C+ upgrade to a middle seat on a flight.

wolfpacktrojan

Agreed that AS status is far more valuable at the lower tiers for domestic fliers, especially if you're based outside of their strongholds. I'm on track to hit 75K next week, and I was already getting upgraded to F on a majority of my flights as a Gold, so I anticipate getting much closer to 100% on upgrades in 2020.

UA Silver isn't anything to sneeze at, as long as you aren't expecting any upgrades. I usually managed to nab E+ aisle seats at check-in in rows 7 to 10 on my flights to IAH in particular. OP would likely be able to manage Silver buying last minute fares despite the changes to earning status beyond 2020. I plan on keeping an eye out for PE or J deals on UA and their "preferred partners" to earn PQPs at a higher rate and try to stretch for Gold again.

Eurynom0s

How are you getting to midtown? LIRR from Jamaica is a lot more frequent than NJT from EWR.

Agree though about UA not being terrible, they're fairly decent about not screwing you on IRROPS. Now, AA on the other hand...

yuenpo

It did not have a solid answer. It depends on where is the place that AS or its partner can't get you there conveniently.

(for me, YYZ is the place that AS can't get me there and I need to go there frequent. So I have to rely on UA/AC. A bit side track, can AS open YYZ from either SEA/SFO/LAX?)

Eurynom0s

I've gotten an aisle row exit seat with a mid-Bs boarding number before. Apparently people have weird seating preferences.

Chugach

PDX based, there’s three destinations I travel to regularly that AS can’t get me nonstop: FAI, JNU, and IAH. IAH is easy...UA flies PDX-IAH nonstop so I’ll usually pony up for one of their discounted F fares and problem solved.

FAI and JNU I have to connect in SEA or ANC anyway regardless if it’s on AS or DL, so it is what it is.

All my other frequent destinations (basically ANC, AUS, and California) are easy nonstops from PDX on AS, plus AS has the best nonstop network from PDX nationally so that helps when I need to do a one-off.

If there’s no nonstop on AS I’ll fly nonstop on whoever offers the route. If there’s no nonstop on anybody I’ll take whoever gets me there the fastest, with preference to AS. Generally speaking UA and DL are my backups.

nomad420

As a UA GS I am very disappointed with the CPUs this year, indeed nearly a unicorn. I have had instrument assisted upgrades not clear. With UA's new point system I am just done with them. I am 1K next year so probably will stick around UA some runs I can't do with AS but I have shifted more and more flights to AS. Heck, if played right I can by F on AS for not much more than E+ on United!! Doing it all the time now.