is Skymiles the right program for me?
 

I joined NW WP in the mid 1990s because back in the day, my family was very loyal to KLM for our flights to DEL / CCU. When I moved to ATL for school, I switched to DL because it made sense to be a DL frequent flyer when you live in ATL. Up until now, I was never focused on status - I would just wait to get enough miles in order to be able to get a free domestic coach ticket to some random city for Spring Break or to go to a concert.

Fast forward to today... I'm now working in NYC and have access to multiple airlines. I don't really travel for business, but manage to log at least 25k miles a year (if not 50k) in leisure travel. I don't really care about getting free tix anymore, but would love the ability to get upgrades to F or Biz every now and then when flying out to Vegas for the weekend or to PR for a winter getaway.

I have been considering switching to another program, but in reality, I don't know whether it is worth switching. I despise AA with a passion - I have never had a flight be on time with AA and I find AA aircraft to be disgusting and ghetto. I don't do Jersey, so CO is out of the question.

Note - a good chunk of my miles come a few weekenders in europe each year and an annual trip to India. Last year I flew the AI nonstop but would easily take AF or KL or BA to do a stopover and see my friends in Europe.

What do you think? Stay with DL or switch to UA or some other program?

If you buy YBMHQK fares, then upgrading on flights to Vegas and Puerto Rico from NY with miles shouldn't be an issue.

If you want to upgrade your Intl flights cheaply, DL is not for you.

With the info you provided, it seems like DL makes sense for you.

My thoughts.... Generally I am fine with DL for dom flts. However, getting UGs as a FO for the cities you mention is difficult regardless of the airline because these flts tend to be very elite-heavy.

For intl travel, I prefer *A. IMO there are more and better options and most anyone will say their award travel is easier and less expensive.

Since it sounds like you might be doing more intl travel, I would be inclined to look at UA but of course, the response could be very different next year.

UA is out of the question. Their service out of NYC leaves a lot to be desired. That may change if UA/CO becomes a reality, but then you would have to deal with EWR. That leaves DL or AA. AA is better for international upgrades, but at the EXP level (100K+). AA does not offer unlimited complimentary UGs domestically. Out of JFK, DL has the best program for low or mid-tier elites, IMO (but as you know, I'm biased ;)) I'm at around 80% for eligible flights, and have received a couple TATL op-ups as Gold. UGs are relatively easy to come by on JFK>non-hub routes. Book wisely (avoid heavy travel times and days), and DL provides an extremely valuable program to NYC-based travelers (excluding TATL/TPAC routes). That said, UGs will be rare if you book the heavy holiday weekends once you attain FO.

TATL: You CAN upgrade to BE on TATL flights, but the required M fares are very expensive. Many on this board have predicted DL will never change this policy, but I can see DL adjusting their UG requirements down the road to allow UGs on lesser fares (H? Q?) with an increased mileage/SWU requirement, and of course with a limited availability.