sickmint79

i am for the most part based out of BKK. in the past i flew a lot out of AA/ORD.

i have an upcoming flight in june, BKK-HND-LAX-LAS and return of the same route. the BKK-HND leg is PE on JAL, then HND-LAX (PE) on AA, then Y on LAX-LAS AA. purchased as an AA ticket.

there's some premium fair options through cairo that might make sense in some itinerary options i could book too; namely CAI-LHR-ORD and return purchased on AA (I) and operated on BA.

there's a royal jordanian fare now CAI-AMM-BKK-KUL in D bookable through RJ, which i'd also do on a return.

i have no status on AA, but it seems i will not get all that many points on AA. my understanding is the first 2 flights would earn 5 points per dollar, and the last flight 6630 AA miles per https://www.wheretocredit.com/calcul...D/BKK-KUL-RJ-D.

meanwhile the last flight would credit a substantial amount more, 13258, to AS. if i've calculated these correctly, what it actually appears i end up with is:

crediting to AA: about 31k miles/loyalty points, and no status (gold at 40k)

crediting to AS: about 62k miles, 51 of which are elite qualifying, so if i find a way to get in 2 AS segments i'll have MVP or 6 and achieve MVP gold.

am i misunderstanding any of this? or should i most definitely be crediting my miles to AS as a no brainer? even if i don't fit in those segments and achieve no status, the mileage value alone seems much larger.

olouie

AA LP can be easily earned on rocketmiles so def credit to AS.

isaacchambers

The point is....will you even use AS status or get to america to get those segments where AA you can earn easily internationally.....even if you can earn it....will you use it versus AA.....

sickmint79

was not familiar with these, although appear to be for hotel bookings and if i don't mind foregoing hotel points/advantages. i travel pretty infrequently though and not much for work these days and am pretty cheap. the only applicable thing i think i'll have for 2023 here is 4 nights in vegas where i'm staying at a westin and will take the marriott points, if only because they are useful to transfer to some airlines and i have a pile.

this is a very good question. my thoughts here are that i already have a good chunk of aa miles from the past, and about 90k alaska now. so i can already book anything i'd find reasonable on aa, but there might be a cool alaska redemption i can't do. as far as things like complimentary upgrades - that story looks poor on either. as far as earning miles internationally - my most likely known cash trip for 2024 is bkk to sfo, and i could look to credit that to AS and it would seem expect both more miles, and more valuable miles, as well. the pain for me with AS is really going to be for obtaining status, and trying to force my way into some segments, which would both be completely artificial/unnecessary travel and need to be done very quickly as i limit the amount of days i'm in the US.

olouie

AS MVP/gold is much higher change of upgrade than AA gold, which is basically worthless for upgrades on AA. I was EXP for around a decade and upgrades were around 20%. As AS 75k then 100k it’s more like 80-90%.

Flying for Fun

A lot of it depends on the routes you fly. I have been on more than 1 AA flight that flew with empty F seats. Now that all AA Elites are eligible for complimentary upgrades on all domestic & short haul international flights, the likelihood of an AA Gold getting an upgrade is much better, just as MVP on routes not touching SEA.

We flew MIA-PTY today. A319, 8 F, 1F seat available, just two AS Elites on the upgrade list, 1 PNR, 5 standbys for 53 seats. GA called me to see if we wanted to split the PNR.

I have more faith in AA upgrades than I do in AS upgrades. A 100K with a companion is more likely to be sitting in Main while an MVP gets the upgrade. My last AS SFO-PHX, 4 on the waitlist, We are #1 & #2 for one seat, #3 gets it. A no show and #4 gets that one. 100K gets highest priority! Yeah right, as long as you don't use the other benefit of being able to upgrade a companion. That will surely throw you to the back of the bus. Also possible that an AA Gold gets an upgrade on AS while the AS 100K and their companion enjoy cattle class. That wouldn't happen on AA.

James

olouie

If you have faith in AA upgrades then more power to you. Over hundreds of flights over the last 10 years with various routes and times the % speaks for itself for me. My SO was also EXP with less flights and had similar success. With both of us being 100k the only annoyance is having to split reservations. Heck I’m even able to clear transcon, Hawaii and Seattle flights with regularity. Now of course if I fly AS to/from Seattle on a peak holiday weekend probably not going to happen, but same with AA and their hubs or premium routes. Sheer number of elites on AA is so much higher.