I love CO/UA and have for 30 years.....becoming exasperated at the chipping away of the things that made CO stand out from other airlines....if you were going to switch (domestic) programs, what would you jump to and why? This should make for some interesting discussion.......have at it!

AA/oneWorld.

even though when i go to asia i go to seoul where my family is and skyteam/KE would be nice, i hate DL that much. and as i need to base my program off of a US carrier since i do a lot of domestic travel, i would rather go AA than DL more so than the convenience of KE.

and yes i know there will be a lot of people rushing to the defense of DL, but that's fine. everyone's got their own opinion. and i just happen to hate delta. with a passion.

It depends on where you live, where (and how often) you fly, and how much you (and/or your company) value your time while travelling.

If you are CO/UA hub-captive, need non-stop itineraries, or can't spare an extra 2 or 3 hours to make a connection on an "alternate" carrier, then your options could be rather limited.

If you are in a DL or AA-dominant market and/or the above criteria don't apply/matter, then a switch to one or the other may be for you depending on where you live and where you mostly fly.

Of course, if you live in a LCC-market, travel mostly domestically, and have a lot of flexibility with connections, etc. Southwest, VirginAm, JetBlue or one of those guys might be the better option.

For many US travelers, much of the decision of "what carrier" rests on when, where, and how often you fly, and whether or not you have time to take out-of-the-way connections to other carriers' hubs.

There aren't that many choices left. Other then LCC's, You've got DL, AA and to a lesser extent, the ugly girl; US.

I've flown DL pretty much hardcore for the past 7 or 8 years and love them for their free domestic upgrades. Their companion upgrade program is pretty good, which depending on the route, have been known to clear days in advance and not at the gate. There are free comp upgrades now for Domestic award travel, not sure if AA has that. Diamonds, Plats and now even Gold medallion members flying in coach get skyteam plus priveledges, which mean lounge access for international. I'd say, all things considered, go with Delta.

Too true. AA and US barely register in the west, and DL SkyMiles are comparatively worthless. I'm sticking with UA/CO for now although I have no hope that the merger will be good for customers. But if I switched it would be to the Alaska Mileage Plan, which already is my backup program. You can credit AA and DL flights to MP, only 20k miles to MVP, and award availability is excellent.

Agreed, that's what I do as well. You got to fly delta with elite perks, but your miles are worth something on AS. Then, every once in a while that you fly AA you can credit to the same program and get 100% mileage bonus.

I spent the last week flying DL exclusively. I have been thinking about a back up carrier a great deal. I have US simply becuase of the Star Alliance. I have tried AA, even using miles to upgrade; don't like them, never feel comfortable. I really enjoyed my week on DL, I never got one upgrade, flew Y, and it was alright. I thought the crews were great and the leather seats comfortable, nothing awesome but comfortable. Once the merger is complete I was probably fly DL 100K and UA 100K. The biggest potential problem I have its the 3M combined miles I will have with UA/CO. My life time with all other carriers is nothing compared to UA and CO. I wish DL had a challenge to achieve a higher level than Gold. Other problem with DL is as already stated the miles are worthless. I don't care for the LCC's. Part of my week included KLM, via a DL codeshare which I really enjoyed, super friendly crew, OK seats, nice service and snack. No mater what happens looks like a bumpy ride...

I don't like what Continental is doing to the regional jet (now propeller) service. AA, and Southwest are looking more attractive all the time.

I'm just curious, what's being chipped away? I know the free food in coach is going away (or gone already), but what else is being taken away from CO?

I'm asking honestly. And perhaps my perspective, being a United elite, is clouding what's happening to CO loyalists. But it seems like CO has been gaining a lot of positive changes lately (SWUs, Economy Plus [and likely improved seats in economy], Regional upgrades, much larger route network, Star Alliance, more lounge access, etc.).

To answer the original question, if I had to leave the new United (inclusive of CO), I would probably stick with Star Alliance carriers for international travel and fly JetBlue and random (read: cheapest) carriers for domestic.

i think to donjo's point, it's a lot to do with the regionals. people are noticing that mainline routes formerly with 73x's and 75x's are being replaced more and more with regional jets. now granted in my personal opinion, the usage of UAx's E170's and CR7's are lessening the blow, but there are a lot of routes that are being replaced by E145's and Q400's.

when you used to frequent a route on a jet and learn that it's been replaced by a Q400, that's never a pleasant thing to hear.

or at least this is what i'm noticing. out of the 17 planes i've been on YTD, surprisingly only seven of them have been on jets. the rest of them have been on regionals.

bob not pleased. bob hate regionals. bob like big jet planes.

but the commute to EWR is also super convenient for bob, so bob is going to give the UA/CO merger until EOY 2012 to decide whether to jump ship or not. call it a two year gamble. as the eternal optimist, i'm hoping that the merger will help in the long run.

some call me foolish for that.

To expand a little on what Bob said, I think there are some items that are universally bad that have been chipped away in the last two years:

- Upgrade rates for Plats
- Cabin comfort in Y
- No more free meals at meal time
- Deteriorating attitude among FAs
- Worse customer service

And for those of us in Austin, losing any mainline flight to Q400s and ERJs is a major deal since we have to connect through Houston to get anywhere.

Yes, the addition of E+ will be great and Star Alliance is fantastic, but let's face it. It will take years before CO's fleet is equipped with E+ to the point of being reliable, and I can fly Star Alliance without having to fly Q400s. Case in point, I am driving to DFW in December to fly on an all Star Alliance carrier routing to KUL and back.

My plan is to requalify for status on UA/CO by flying as little on CO as possible and only marginally more on UA.

YMMV.

Not as much of an option for our Las Vegas-based original poster, but I second the vote for AS. I've shifted my flying from CO-->DL (and AA is an option) until at least requalifying for MVPG; after that it'll be a choice to push for MVPG75K or get back to gold on CO. AS waives change fees for gold and up and is better for companion upgrades.

Airline mergers hardly ever serve the customers' best interest, and especially not this one, despite the blather about "changes I think you'll like." The whole point is to reduce capacity and options and exercise more pricing power. With UA/CO we not only have the natural inventory reductions that come when two partially redundant networks are welded together, but aggressive cuts on top of that:

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...ain/5085938/1/

Taking a macro view that means more elites chasing fewer flights and especially fewer F seats.

The amazing PR/spin accomplishment here is that UA/CO is taking elites who five years ago were routinely getting mainline upgrades... and somehow making them thrilled to sit in E+, or ExPlus on the niblet jets... while paying higher prices and choosing from fewer routing options.

This is not about missing the free (disgusting) microwaved turkey dog in coach... this is about programmatic downgrading of the entire flying experience, from FF program value to uncaring response to irrops. All of which does little / no damage to New UA because for many of us, and all of us living west of DFW or so, there is no network carrier left to flee to.

AS MP has its flaws but it's a pretty good "universal hub" bridging SkyTeam and OneWorld -- you can earn on DL, AF, KL and spend on BA, CX, QF, or vice versa.

Back when AS, CO and NW were all co-involved we had a great arrangement; I flew AS a lot and it counted toward elite status on CO or NW, not paying much attention to the AS MP because I cared more about transcon upgrades on CO/NW. Now that that relationship is dead, though, and upgrades are increasingly a non-factor at New UA, AS MP as a primary program deserves a hard look, especially if you are interested in redeeming miles with comparative ease for premium TPAC travel, as I am.

I cannot speak for AA and OneWold; but, between DL and CO/UA, You are in the best remaining program/alliance. It may be diminished; but, it is still the luxury box versus the nose bleed standing room only version that is the SkyPesos program.

But, as some have said, it matters most as follows:

What are your prioities

Where you are

Where you go; and,

Where you want to go


For example, I don't fly SWA because I have no interest in arriving 2 hours early or making Amarillo a vacation spot. I use CO from the Pac Northwest primarily to the east coast. I don't care to use 35,000 for a domestic award on DL that I can get for 20,000 on CO/UA/US; and, I like to play in Asia. Cha Ching, Star Alliance!

I have switched...DL all the way.

Most of their planes have wifi. They are putting wifi on regional jets. And, I have been on many flights that had wifi, live TV, HBO on Demand, prepackaged TV programs, etc. ALL ON THE SAME PLANE. Wow.

I have to say, I love it. As a Platinum, I have a very high upgrade rate (I don't keep track flight by flight as many here do). And, I love connecting through Atlanta because they have Chick Fil A.