scherzva

You will get 8 SWU good for ANY fare class, United makes you book for a W or higher when flying outside on North America (you can't upgrade S, T, L, K, G, N tickets).

I am guessing the new program will start either March 1 or April 1, 2015 with EQM for Jan 1, 2015 onward being combined.

US only gives you two SWU.

username

So, it sounds like AA is still doing challenges for UA members for free while US wants a fee?

Thanks.

Microwave

Since these questions and variants on them have come up a few times since the merger process began, I've gone ahead and merged the extant threads into a consolidated one, and retitled it.

If any members would like to create a Wikipost in this new thread outlining some of the differences and points relevant to newcomers from UA or DL, please do! ^

~Moderator

WidgetHead

Hi All,

I posted a few months back in one of the merger threads, I am a relatively new flier to AA/US based in the DC area. Was previously ATL based and loyal to DL but that ship has sailed. I have several trips in the works and I am trying to iron out my FF earning strategy for which program I should start earning with: AA or US.

I only have 3K miles in my US account and 0 in my AA account so those are relatively equivalent.

I have trips upcoming to ATL, ORD, IND, and one Europe vacation I will likely be booking and likely traveling on BA.

So the question I have is since I have the option to fly either US or AA for most of these flights and credit to either account, which FF program make the most sense to start accruing elite miles & status in? Any thoughts as to which program may be better this year as they get merged, or will it not matter?

Thanks!

venkol

Considering you are flying DCA, I would say US Airways flights booked on US Airways tickets. Depending on how much you are flying, I think US still does the trial preferred thing which would let you build up to CP pretty quickly. It's all gonna be one status by 2015 anyways, so I don't think it really matter in the long run.

JDiver

If your BA flight is after 31 March, US will become part of oneworld on that day - you should be able to earn US DM as easily as of that date (well, unless there are IT hitches, so keep your e-ticket numbers and boarding passes!)

If it's 30 March or prior, you may not be able to earn USDM with a BA flight.

AA earns 100% AAdvantage miles (EQ and redeemable) miles on BA, as per this chart; presumably, US will post a similar chart, but until they do we can't predict if all BA fares will earn 100% Preferred Qualifying miles (and AA did not always earn 100% on BA, until the Joint Business Agreement was inked).

So, USDM apparently offers a shortcut to stsatus; AA offers a Challenge, which is based on flying and earning Elite-Qualifying Points (range from 0.5 to 1.5 per mile flown / base mile) rather than EQ Miles.

N.B. Iirc, similar questions have been asked, so this may be merged into a "which FFP" thread soon. /Moderator

WidgetHead

Thanks for the great responses so far. No worries on the BA front, we are not traveling abroad until August. However, my Atlanta trip is next week so I wanted to figure out which program to start crediting flights to so that I can stay with the same one the rest of the year. Sounds like US may be the right answer, but still some reading to do.

Thanks!

rkaradi

There is a promo that let's you earn 50% rdm when you book on aa but fly us and vise versa. Can't remember how long it's lasts this year. Frankly it probably doesn't matter since you have 0 status with both. Just book what is cheaper I guess. But IMHO I would credit to one program so you get status faster, they are saying 3/31 but I'll believe it when I see it.

Microwave

And it has been done.

~Moderator

born sleepy

AA only comped me to Plat (which I think is a perk of the contract they have with my employer), so no systemwides. I don't believe AA will comp EXP no matter your status on another airline.

UA does not require EQP. I flew 108,000 last year and 118,000 the year before. For 2014 they added a dollar requirement: $10,000+ and 100,000+ miles for 1K. Already on track to meet that. I may push off AA to 2015.

Katlor

I am a four year DL gold and one year AA platinum status holder. I have recently moved back to San Francisco and am deciding whether to go DL or AA for my flights this year, in order to maximize my status level for next year and have the best airline program for my needs. I fly 30-50 flights a year.

I am very familiar with Delta, having flown often as Gold, but I am not as familiar with AA. What is better for SFO in terms of upgrades, mile awards, etc?

Pinned

What are your most frequent destinations? That's going to play a big role.

HSaxa

On mile awards it is likely that aa is better.

I switched from UA to Aa a couple of years ago, and while I'm liking the Aa experience out of SFO, UA just has more nonstop flights to more places. If you're going Aa, you better get used to connecting if your destination isn't their hubs. (I realize you didn't ask about UA but out of sfo they're dominant)

Katlor

Thanks for the advice re UA. I didn't realize UA is dominant, but that's a consideration. I think I might skip them since their dominance mean upgrades etc are probably impossible.

My sense is that AA is better for rewards (I've already seen this trying to burn some miles on trips this year, I get more bang for the buck with AA miles versus Delta). Both AA and Delta make a lot of connections, so they are probably equivalent on that point. So the final decision probably comes down to which have better upgrade possibilities.

I've had pretty good luck with Delta upgrades as a Gold Medallion, though not on flights between major cities (for example, ATL to NYC rarely works out). I haven't been with AA as a platinum long enough to know how that works.

Mwenenzi

Katlor Welcome to FT

Your question (and the reverse) has been asked before
Look at the links in post 3 here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html