sinanju

I'm staying with OW... may switch to crediting miles to BA. After my last big trip of the year, which will be in the 1st week of October, I expect, I'll calculate what it would have been in tier points. If I adds up to BA Gold, I'll switch. AA has pretty much thrown me into BA's arms. If it's to my benefit, I might as well go with it. Upgrading BA flights with AA miles is a PITA.

ysolde

I'm staying. AA still works out best for me, in terms of my travel patterns, CC use (hey, I even get "free" AC membership out of my Citi MasterCard in the deal), and hub (NYC -- where I have several options, so it doesn't really matter). If the merger goes through, and I end up really unhappy with AA really quickly, we'll see. For now, though, AA has worked out quite well for me in terms of domestic F, Caribbean J, and OW for international travel (though I do hate those BA taxes/fees whatever they are). Within the US, I have found my airline.

rayhurst

Count me as one that welcomes the DOJ intervention. I have been happy with nearly everything Horton initiated since Arpey left and my feeling was that AA was headed in the right direction until Dougie made yet another ego driven shot at buying a bigger rival. I'd be happier with a standalone AA. I'm staying until we know if the merger happens and/or if any major changes are made to AA/Aadvantage.

aamilesslave

Makes the decision quite easy for us

austin_res

I'm staying with AA for now. I'll decide whether to continue with AA or switch to UA once we know what changes are coming to AA and AAdvantage.

mordy2000

With the new hardware coming (I'm a JFK/LAX guy), I'm sticking with AA for 2014 to see how that goes. The grass always seems greener on the other side - and I have no major issues currently that would make me want to look elsewhere.

7Continents

Is there a really solid reason why any airline should have a FF program that gives more to it's passengers than any other? When all is said and done, I truly think FF programs, when compared side by side will end up as a zero sum game, meaning no one gives more than the other.
Who thinks that pretty soon, our FF program choice will be decided by airline destination availability over individual perks?

Umrswimr

Infuriate is the word you're looking for.

WhatsInYourBackpack

^good choice

I find even when things go well with UA, it is still worse than AA/OW on a bad day.

I easily clear the 100k hurdle on both, but aim to always only put the min # of miles on UA/*A. I use them only when it is convenient or on price.

If DL's SkyPesos weren't so bad, I'd jump in a heartbeat to avoid UA/*A. I've never understood why people hype *A lounges and airlines so much. Most UA clubs are dumps and the *A joint lounges or *A airline lounges are, at best, ok compared to AA/OW.

just my 2cents

brp

Still 100% on domestic upgrades despite all of the doomsayers (going on 3 years now). Why would we leave? Where would we go? Throw in the EXP Desk (maybe not quite a good as it used to be, but still very good), and I don't even see the reason for the question

Cheers.

msv777

I'm staying w/ AA & OW.

Cheers.

socalduck

I'm staying, although I will hedge my bets and keep status with DL. Recent stunts like the Facebook/LinkedIn status giveaway are troubling, though.

Overall, I've been pretty happy with AA this year, although I've largely given up on sticker UGs, and instead I am buying P fares when flying domestic mainline. The only place I still use stickers is for AE, where my success rate is 100%.

makfan

I'm also staying. It's not easy at SFO with the UA behemoth, but I am treated very well by AA and the people at the SFO Admirals Club. We shall see if the merger does go through, but I would not mind if AA stayed standalone. I agree that Horton has made some interesting changes. It seems there has been some effort to actually do a few of those little things that make flying nicer.

The decision that I always waffle over is my 40K EQMs at AS. I love the change fee waiver, but I hate the connections to YVR. Love the Hawaii service, but neither SJC nor OAK has a lounge. For falll, several AS Hawaii flights are reduced from daily scheduling, so I face having to leave from OAK and return to SJC or vice-versa. This adds a lot to the hassle and transportation costs.

I could put my YVR and Hawaii trips on UA and throw in a couple more to make *A Gold. But I do change my YVR trips, so saving that potential $200 is useful. The UA/AC base fares are often a lot more than the AS connection fares in summer. AS and QX flight attendants are generally pleasant and engaged. Decisions, decisions.

dat4life

Well since I'm based in DFW and my company's contract carrier is AA, we're kind of married come Doug Parker or high water.

But even if I weren't captive, I would still likely stick with AA. I flew United a good bit at the beginning of the year, and was not pleased at all. I really like Delta's product and would switch in a heart beat, but SkyMiles is a deal breaker. Truth be told, there really isn't anywhere better to run to at this time IMHO.

Edited to add: Alaska is kind of a wild card right now as I can fly AA and DL and still get decent bennies. I do plan to status match to hedge my bet...just in case.

ORDflyer

I have been flying AA or UA on and off since the 1960's. If you live in Chicago (see my Username), those are really the only two choices. I was with AA in the early days when there was only Gold and the criteria were secret. I then went to UA because of the transparency of how to make Premier. I was a 1k finally for 6 years, but the
"summer from hell" by UA pilots drove me to AA and I have been happily EXP ever since. Why not UA? Much less First Class seating, NRT hub is meaningless since JAL/CX/Malaysia/QF/BA covers Asia completely and I only fly business or first across the oceans. Of course the recent promo was irritating, but suffering through six or seven months of grinding up to top elite on another airline would not be fun. Repeat after me: FREQUENT FLYING HAS ITS INEVITABLE HASSLES AND AT THE END OF IT, THERE ISN'T THAT MUCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE US LEGACY AIRLINES.