Status Match to AA
 

Greetings,

For top tier CO elites, wishing to do status match with AA, I have created a comprehensive guide:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-platinum.html

Good luck flying the dAArk side! ^

everyone's saying it's for the highest tiers... does that mean they'll only do this for pplat's or would regular plats work too?

I am not certain but CO's Plat is equivalent to UA 1Ks and the latter do get matched to AA's Platinum and the offer to do a 3 month challenge for EXP. So I think it looks promising for CO's Plat.

Wow, CheerfulFlyer, you're really trying to get the word out about this, aren't you?

Is flying UA/CO so bad now that you want to fly AA instead? I have been flying AA as gold (also have UA 2P after just missing 1P last year). I'm finding the differences go in UA's favor every time.

First off, I find AA ground crew and FA's to be more surly than UA's (I have not flown a lot of CO so can't comment there). I have had trouble getting same day stand by and found coach in AA to be extremely cramped. I've also had an experience where an AA FA tried to make me gate check my computer bag while she stuffed a Kettle's 22 inch roller bag into a bin instead of mine.

I find elite recognition on AA to be horrible. They are also less yielding on bag weight (even if just a couple of pounds over -- and they only allow 50 not 70 pounds like UA).

I'm on a Platinum Challenge with AA and am contemplating not completing it because I'm so unhappy with them. BUT I've only flown UA once this year. So I'm just wondering if things are going downhill to the point that you all want to jump ship. I'm not seeing any greener grass at all, but I'd love to hear from some of you as to the state of UA/CO right now. I will base my flying for the rest of the year on that.

First off, let me state I don't have experience on UA, just CO. I was a CO Plat last year matched from AA EXP and only flew domestic routes. I did not find CO crew to be any better than AA crew. I also was disappointed in the upgrade % as a CO Plat compared to an AA EXP. As someone who is primarily a leisure traveler on my own dime I never bought the fares on CO to get an instant upgrade or to really have any decent chance at an upgrade. On AA though, I've yet to miss and upgrade even on EXP heavy flights such as JFK-LAX/SFO (although I admit to one time out of 6+ using a SWU because I didn't want to risk not getting upgraded). I think different programs work for different priorities. After trying out CO as a Plat I decided that AA EXP is a better choice for me and my travel 'profile'.

My situation is the reverse. I just joined CO from AA. All my travel is personal or for our small business, so upgrades are very important to us.

CO was easy to work with to get the status match and no challenge was needed.
I have no opinion on who is better or if I made the right decision yet, but time will tell.

I guess people (I) will always believe the grass is greener on the other side