roadiega

I live in Atlanta and have flown exclusively on Delta for years. Now my company is wanting me to switch to American. The problem is that I would have to connect thru CLT, which is not that a great of an airport for connections.

My question is since I was Gold last year on Delta and I am now starting all over this year, does anyone think that I should switch to American or continue to push for Delta?

Which airline offers the best status program and how quickly can I move up in status?

Thanks for your advice.

SuperG1955

The first time I was affected by a WX problem. Was scheduled to fly LGA-MSP-MSY (on a G fare) early Saturday AM and had to be back in MSY by Saturday afternoon.

Friday flights looked pretty well loaded so I kept checking for the WX Waiver to be posted and caught it no more than 15 minutes after it was up. Got to the DM line with a few second wait and the CSR put me on my requested trip through ATL but told me that the reissue desk would have to give me a new ticket.

The CSR at the reissue desk suggested that ATL could get pretty dicey for connections on Friday afternoon and put me on a non-stop with no fare increase (confirmed in F). It was well handled - another example of DL service quality.

kipper

Good luck with that.

SuperG1955

I worked with someone who's philosophy I adopted. It's simple and easy to remember and you get a lot of work done. "There are 24 hours in the day, and then there's the night!"

mattp1987

That really depends on your company, I suppose. I try to avoid connecting through CLT as well. As you know, the setup is basically a central area with spokes that make up the terminal and no way to skip walking all the way to the center and all the way back out on another spoke. For that matter, ORD isn't great either, but it's probably better for AA connections than UA connections. DFW isn't bad, but I could be partial because I usually schedule at least 2 hours so I can visit the Centurion Lounge. I think DL with ATL, DTW, and MSP (never flown through SLC) has the best airports for connections of the legacies, and you happen to live in one of those.

All that said, if your employer is forcing you to fly AA then you'll probably end up flying AA. You can enroll in an AA Gold (equivalent to DL Silver) or AA Plat (equivalent to DL Gold) challenge for $120 or $200, respectively. The requirements to meet the challenge don't look too hard, and then you'll get benefits like preferred seating (maybe Main Cabin Extra, you'll have to look up the perks) and start earning upgrade certificates. Be aware that AA only offers unlimited complimentary upgrades to their 100k level Exec Plat flyers, but if you can make it that high it might be the best status available right now from the US legacies.

I don't know what exactly you're looking for with status, but being based in ATL and flying AA at least somewhat you might look into gaining status on AS. That would get you preferred seats on both DL and AA and put you very low on the upgrade list on DL. You would also earn more redeemable miles that way. Unfortunately, you aren't going to get many upgrades unless on AS metal, and I doubt you're doing that much out of ATL.

Good luck deciding and welcome to FT!

Very nice! Despite all the changes we like to gripe about, the customer-facing agents are still top notch.

Lomapaseo

Lat night's flight from ATL-GUA never arrived due to closure due to some volcano (Picaya) ash closing the arrivals etc.

Needless to say I'm stuck waiting for something to arrive today that will fly me out of here

beachmouse

From the things that have happened in the ATL file:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g1sgf

Wonder which food court area.

kipper

Why did I go back to school?

Howste

"They say repetition is good for a developing brain."

Zorak

Sorry, could you repeat that?

Walk carefully tomorrow! Best wishes to anyone in the storm area... mom's going to stay with relatives for a couple days so as not to be home alone in case she gets snowed in.

kipper

Thanks. It shouldn't be bad tomorrow during the day. Tomorrow night, I have no plans.

Howste

I guess you didn't recognize the quote since your kids have four legs and probably don't watch juvenile movies.

The weather here tomorrow is going to be good enough that my wife wants me to go do some yardwork. I guess my trip was a little too short this week.

mattp1987

I'm stuck doing lawnwork this weekend too. I last cut the grass the day I put up Christmas decorations in early Dec, and now it needs to be cut again. On the plus side, the highs are 61° Saturday and 72° Sunday. I'll take that over 30° and 36° in Dayton (which actually isn't bad at all for late Jan).

sethb

On WX, they're very likely to prefer non-stops; there's less that can go wrong with one flight than two. Why did you request a different connection? It was WX, not SDC, so the rules are a lot more liberal.

kipper

LOL, no kids movies here. They prefer things like Dog TV.

I'd rather have to do yardwork than shovel snow.