griftsno1capper

Hi,

This year I'm tracking ~50k UA miles and 65k USAir miles so far in mid July.

I currently hold Chairman's with US and Platinum with UA...

I have 2 trips to Asia left as well as 2-3 to Europe and some coast to coast travel (in other words, I can only hit 1k or Chairman's).

The question is living near PHL (50 min) and EWR (1:45 min) which program would you go for in the future. I only care about INTL upgrades and lounge access.

My company will only allow me to book Premium Economy but will reimburse me for upgrade fees (up to 600 dollars for Asia).

Thoughts?

Thank you - this one is tough as I like direct flights but Premium Economy is so much better than EconomyPlus. That being said, 2 intl. upgrades (Chairman's US vs 6 1k UA) tips the scales more into UA's boat. The only thing that I'm wondering is if the US/AA merger will result in 6-8 upgrades on future AA/US flights. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Thank you!

olouie

The 6 GPUs on UA can be hard to use depending on booking class so make sure to look into what your company allows you to book. I generally find AA/OneWorld food and service to be better too (and most lounges that I have been to are nicer than UA/Star Alliance ones).

Phoenixtinct

Well, look at it this way - United has announced the changes they'll be making to the MileagePlus program in 2015 whereas American has been very tight-lipped about what will happen to AAdvantage and Dividend Miles in 2015. The only thing announced is that both will be merged in 2015. But what the resulting AAdvantage will be like is not yet known. Based on this alone, I would pick UA over AA.

On another note, UA is going to a revenue-based earnings beginning March 1st and they implemented a spend requirement, which are major turn offs, so it might be wise to stick to AA/US for the time being as there is speculation that they may jump on the revenue-based band wagon as well at some point in the future but most likely not starting in 2015.

In terms of upgrades, US CP offers 2 personal and 2 companion ones compared to 6 issued by UA. US CP will be equivalent to something in the new AAdvantage program but if that level will grant you 6 or more upgrade instruments is not yet known.

OW carriers serving PHL or EWR for that matter are rather limited - BA and QR with CX out of EWR only. BA and CX have Premium Economy cabins.

*A carriers that offer Premium Economy are LH (coming this Fall) - LH serves both EWR and PHL, SAS, AC. Other *A carriers out of EWR - OS, TP, LX and AV.

ericcheung

I would go for US/AA i this situation, because of oneworld.

If you get paid premium economy, BA and CX have decent premium economy products and aren't that difficult to upgrade with miles on their respective programs. For the Europe to US daytime flights, how much value would you put on a Premium economy to Business upgrade. Sure on a red-eye it is very valuable, but less so on a daytime flight. UA E+, AA MCE and US Choice/Preferred seats are all standard E seats. Premium economy (with an emphasis on premium) gives you more width and is closer to domestic first.

BA lounge in PHL is very nice. BA lounge in EWR beats the UA Clubs in EWR. One world Emerald gives you First class lounges which can be much nicer than business lounges at outstations.

If JFK was a decent option, the argument could be quite different. BR (Eva), SQ (Singapore) from JFK provide decent options across both the Pacific and the Atlantic. Lufthansa, Swiss, Turkish also round out the offerings.

I'm a US CP - and the move from star to one world was a huge benefit for me. I enjoy flying BA/CX and AA quite a bit. I will miss BR, TG and SQ.

The other key question is where in Asia or Europe the OP is flying to...

cfabar1

I'd go with AA. Though really i would just go with Delta.

Babu

cfabar1, curious why Delta. Is it because their product is better and compensates for the poor SkyMiles program?

FlyIgglesFly

Same concern here (45 min from PHL, 1 hour from EWR), but only a 50k/yr flier. If you asked me a year ago, before the devaluation for Star Alliance rewards, the spend based elite status, and now spend based earning, I'd have gone over to UA. Now? Not even thinking about it. I'll be Plat on AA, get my 100% bonus and, even if they do totally revamp their program, I'll be in no worse shape than I would be if I'd have stuck with US/AA.

I'm at 30,000 PQM right now, only 5K more booked on US/AA right now, with about 20,000 miles worth not yet booked. But now out of PHL you have BA, US, and QR for world travel, CX is now an option out of EWR as well. I think OneWorld is better placed for people like us, honestly.

griftsno1capper

Thanks so far!

... The revenue component doesn't bother me on UA, I expect AA will do this sooner or later. One thing I forgot was a rt ticket I took earlier this year (in Feb) on BA that I collected AA miles on, so if they merge programs I'm at 82k miles this year on US/AA.

I do fly BA, CX and JAL PE from oneworld, LH is adding it and some CA flights have it. The one world lounges in LHR and HKG are much better than the *G lounges, I seem to get better food and shower options.

My most common airports overseas are HAM, STR, PEK, HND, PVG, SIN and HKG.

I guess the part I struggle with is on oneworld, how do I upgrade if I'm on a different carrier everywhere and only collecting DM's? On United, I hardly miss a chance to upgrade. I've gotten system upgrades by BA because I'm Emerald, but that is it.

Thanks again.

olouie

How are you doing the INTL upgrades with UA as a platinum? Just the miles + $? I thought only 1K get GPUs to use.

griftsno1capper

Had 1k last year, slowed down on UA due to devaluation of miles. Started collecting more USAir while They were still star alliance. Still had 600k miles from continental days, so 30k and money still upgrades me often.

Historically, I fly 150k miles a year, this year is exceptionally high for me and next year will require 6 trips to Asia and 10 to Europe. So I'm looking at 200k+ When you mix domestic in.

Personally, I hate flying USAir. I'm hoping when they merge dividend miles and AA things will get better.

Just flew from PHL to DUB in business class. Absolutely terrible on a 767.

Forgive typos, I'm on my mobile.

Col Ronson

Those 762 are being phased out. The A330 US flies has better business class seats than anything in the UA fleet (all aisle access business)

dtremit

Be mindful of the difficulty of keeping the revenue on those *A tickets on the right ticket stock for UA revenue credit. While AA may well introduce a revenue requirement, I think there's a good chance they'll implement it a bit better.

swm61230

AA is my choice.

I have just started to change over all my flying to aa.

And as I see it they can destroy the airline and program just as UA has but something tells me that they will be cautious about something's and even leak information about a change to see the response before they make the change.

Kind of what pmUA would do and then hear the backlash and rethink the idea.

I believe that AA right now will listen and cares about the HVF more so then UA and in turn will listen to them more then UA has.

While there is also the money component and that the main concern is all about money. Why would AA decide to alienate all the HFV they have poached/gotten from UA/DL. A lot of us that have moved I can only imagine have decided to make sacrifices in regards to route network and alliances to get treated the way we think we should be and respected for the amount of money that is spent with that company.

Most companies offer perks,discounts, special treatment to the customers that spend money with them.

Airlines seem to think that they don't have customers anymore. But I can say that I have been treated with so much respect and friendliness from AA that I keep asking myself is this really an airline.

mikelat

Wish AA had done that on the change to OW Explorer awards. I know may people got burnt while saving up for it or just waiting for a chance to book some and would have jumped if they knew they were going away. I don't put much faith in AA pre-announcing changes.

Col Ronson

If UA and DL are doing something and AA decides to match, what are AA fliers going to do? its not like AA fliers can defect anywhere else except maybe back to UA or DL.