Please help me choose- AA EXP vs Delta PM
 

First, I'd like to say that although I am currently a NW Gold Elite, I am not considering switching because of the merger. I liked the limited experiences I have had flying DL, but I am not sure if it is the right airline for me.

I'll be flying RIC-SFO/SJC or NYC-SFO/SJC weekly at peak consulting travel times. So I'll make EXP or PM fairly quickly. I'd like to ask you all a few questions and thank you in advance for your responses.

1. What are the upgrade success rates on these flights? I searched for this and found that AA EXP upgrade % seem to be about equivalent to DL PM, but I couldn't find any info on these specific flights.

2. How does first compare on these routes? How about coach?

3. For upgrades on American 3 class planes, do you get upgraded to business or first?

4. Do the 737-800s that fly jfk-sfo have avod in first? I saw contratictory information on here vs seatguru.


Thanks!

1. In general, based on my experience as a former AA EXP and a former/present DL PM, your upgrade % would be higher on AA than DL at the top tier. Both would be good, but if you are flying on lower fares on DL you take a big hit in upgrade priority that you don't take on AA.

2. I can't speak to coach, but in F the service is going to be comparable. I personally like the attitude and attentiveness of DL flight attendants much better, but most view the overall product as comparable between the two in domestic F.

3. To Business on AA, not to F.

4. I don't think so, but it could be a mixed fleet.

In general, when making decisions like the one you are making that involve domestic travel patterns, I would look at schedules, equipment, and connecting cities as my decision points. For example, from RIC-SFO, I think Delta would be superior; from JFK-SFO I think AA would win. Only you know how much you fly to/from each.

AA - 8 eVIP (you used to actually 16 in the first year) that are great and easy to use. From this board DL PMU are almost always useless. You need to bu three highest fares vs almost any for AA.

New change fee on awards for DL are obnoxious.

I was EXP on AA since they started in 1998 and switched to NW in 2003. I'm now going back. If you're thinking DL you should run, not walk away and go with AA.

What I was EXP they did not have free upgrades on domestic. I cannot speak for their %, on NW it was pretty much automatic for the upgrade. From what I've read on DL that percentage is fairly high but somewhere in the 75% range. Do no know for sure.

Seems like your questions have pretty much been answered by the others but as someone who has elite status with both DL and AA and is about to make EXP with AA, I can say that I prefer AA and their program hands down to DL. It is solely my opinion and AA serves my needs better. Their service in J and F on the flagship trans con flights beats DL hands down. It will pretty much boil down to which airline will serve your needs the best. AA does a great job on the trans con routes (ex SFO-JFK, etc) service-wise. Plus, I have had a much easier time finding award availability with AA. My advice would be to definitely pick AA EXP over DL PM especially with the trans con routes you will be flying. AA EXP IMO is far superior to DL PM. YMMV.

You'll have power ports on most seats in coach, and SFO/LAX-JFK has wi-fi available (paid) in 3 class planes on that route. I have quite a few lounge and meal photos linked below, though not of that route (I tend to connect at DFW for more miles).

I notice one thing you haven't asked about is award availability. Where do you intend to spend your miles? Are you up to date on One World awards (different than partner awards), or off peak awards to Europe and South America? Reduced mileage awards with an AA credit card? AA does have some perks that you may not find on competitors.

If you are going to fly 100K miles annually, AA wins hands down in terms of FF benefits, all other things (most importantly, schedules and routes) being equal. If you fly around 75K, the decision is more difficult.

If you do fly a lot of JFK-SFO-JFK, AA's service is all-widebody.

I agree with Gandhi90s. If you are going to fly over 100k AA will be your best bet. Otherwise I would go with DL. AA's Plat is ok but I always depised using there upgrade system with picking and choosing which routes you wanted to upgrade on. Granted its been a couple of years since I flew AA, but I always had great service with them. DL has comparable service with them I think. I never did like DFW or ORD and like the current DL hubs much better. ACs don't offer free booze but CRCs do which I like very much! The clubs agents for both are great. AA also counts all miles towards lifetime status while DL only counts MQMs. DL now has a huge route structure which you can pretty much go where you want.

As a DL GM, Upgrade out of RIC (to ATL) is about 75%... but I don't usually fly on the most business peak (8am and 6pm)... usually fly middle day or late night and get the upgrade. RIC is tough, but not too tough. Even as a FO, I made upgrades in and out of RIC.

RIC-CVG RIC-MSP RIC-DTW and RIC-JFK is always on all Y metal, so you won't upgrade going to those hubs.

AA has F to ORD and DFW.

I think this is incorrect. There are plenty on this board that don't have any problem using their PMUs and are happy with them. There are some that aren't, but "almost always useless" is not remotely close to the truth.

That being said, I would tell the OP that EXP is the better status. Indeed, I think EXP is probably the best status there is out there.

But, I always think one should choose their travel based upon whether the travel itself fits their needs. If all else is equal, then look at the FF programs. But, if flying AA will take you out of the way more often than flying DL, then I wouldn't recommend flying AA just to get EXP. But, given your itineraries, that doesn't seem like too much of a problem, so go with AA.

One other thing to note - if upgrades are important, do not bother with CO, as you will simply not get upgraded going EWR-SFO.

Also keep in mind that you should take into consideration what to do with all those miles you'll accrue. If there's specific personal travel you'd like to take when using the miles, that might impact your decision making process of how to acquire those miles. You're pretty much guarenteed to accumulate at least 200K miles, so how you want to use those miles might be important.

I agree. I will say that they are not nearly as useful as AA's eVIPs for 3 major reasons:

1. You can only use them on expensive fares, so they are useful only if you are (a) not price-sensitive or (b) flying on OPM.
2. They are not transferable.
3. There is no guarantee that the flight will not go out with empty premium seats even if you are waitlisted.

Of course, none of the above is remotely relevant if AA doesn't fly when and where you want to go.

do some research on the AA forum for 'platinum challenge', it is essentially a fast track to mid tier status, so after your first couple of trips you will be able to enjoy some benefits of status quickly as you then work your way towards EXP.

Never meant to say that eVIPs are not better than PMUs, and I think all of your claims are true. Just pointing out that PMUs are of some value to plenty of people. At this point, they remain the best deal you will get for 75k miles.

Like I said I can only go by what I've read about PMU's. The part that really bothers me is their availability (according to what I've read). I would treat these as "Y" and "B" fares over at NW to use miles. If it is not available at the time of booking I would not take the chance of paying extra for a trip to hopefully upgrade later using miles or PMU's in this case. That it a ripoff to me.

I think AA and CO have a co-pay rule. AA is $250 (that may not be correct) each way to use miles. You do not need to pay the money until the miles option is available. On CO I think the co-pay is determined off of the fare class to use miles. Once again, you only need to pay the extra charge at the time miles are available.

I do not know rules for UA or any other airlines for using miles or their certificates.

I received 4 eVIP for crossing 3 million miles a couple of years ago. I took my daughter to DUB for less than $400 each and was able to use the eVIP's. I know they have some limitations on theirs (there was not any when I was with them before segments, miles were implemented in the last couple of years where it was only points before that). The first couple of years they were good and booked into "J".

NW SWU book into "C" which is only one class under "J". I do not think there are many instances where these are not available. That does not matter anymore since their SWU are now gone.

If Delta once again eliminates upgrades on SLUT fares (as someone has posted in another thread), then AA wins hands-down. I'm PLT on AA and PM on DL - I've already moved 20,000 miles of flying to AA for 2009, with more to come. I expect to be EXP well before the end of the year.