Hi,
I'm pretty new to the FF game and would like some input on committing to an FF program. I am debating between AA and UA (and would like to avoid Delta because (i) they have way too many elites through their cc deals and (ii) as a gold medallion in the past, I didn't really see any benefits that I wouldn't have gotten with the right cc).

I am currently an AA platinum (thanks to the challenge) based out of New York. I currently have 6k EQM on AA, 0 on UA and 2.5k on Delta and have no intention of doing mileage runs. Whichever program I go with, I will be looking at about 75k EQM by the end of the year.

The main elite benefits I care for are the free checked bag and economy plus seating. Upgrades are nice, but I know they are unlikely since I will mainly be flying out of nyc. I am also looking for an FF program whose miles I can best leverage for upgrades (not award travel) to Europe and South America.

I have a few routing issues with AA and oneworld. AA (and US) does not fly directly to my hometown from NYC (UA and Delta do). I make this trip once a month and having to connect at ORD is much more expensive, time consuming and tricky since I generally fly out on the latest itinerary from LGA, meaning I miss my connecting flight in ORD if there is any delay. That said, I will be moving to Miami in the next year or two, which will negate this problem entirely.

My other main routing issue is traveling to my home country in Europe. There are no direct flights on any airline from the states. My best oneworld options are through LHR or MAD. There are a lot of cheaper options flying through Germany with Star Alliance (and just more flight options in general). I will fly home at least three, if not four, times this year. I know that UA doesn't grant EQMs on partner airlines as freely as AA, but I generally book UA on the leg to Germany and then Germanwings, Croatia Airlines or Adria for the second leg, which all credit 100%.

Finally, I have two trips planned to South America. My understanding is that AA and oneworld are better for this travel than UA and star alliance. However, looking at prices and routes, I see them as being about equal.

If I go with UA, I'll probably ask for a status match in June with the hopes of completing their challenge in July (so that it lasts through Feb, 2016). I am not worried about UA's spend requirements because, if I switch, I'll get their cc (plus, I travel quite a bit for work, so those Y fares my employer covers should do the trick anyways).

I have one more trip next weekend booked on AA, but would switch everything to UA after that if I think I'm ready to make that move. As you can probably tell from the above, I'm pretty sure that switching is the right thing to do, but I would appreciate any input from the more experienced fliers--especially in light of the fact that my projected mileage for the year would get me to platinum premier on UA, but would still only be enough for plat on AA. Thank you all in advance!

Welcome to FT, nkrijeka

I only fly 50k or so a year, mostly domestic, so am less experienced in answering your questions than most. I moved from UA to AA this year in large part due to the increasing use of Canadair RJs by UA. Like you, I value E+ as a primary elite benefit, but find the E+ in the UA RJs just too uncomfortable on flights of 2.5 - 3.5 hours. You might want to look at what type of plane you would be on for your domestic travel on UA as an additional deciding factor.

Thanks, that's a good point. The new AA fleet is also a motivator. I generally have found UA's regular economy to be less comfortable.

You've clearly thought through this matter pretty well. You might want to say what your home town airport and home country in Europe are, as well as where you'll be going most to accumulate your annual 75K (if it is not mainly your home town and home country) since that information could add to the useful feedback you'll hopefully get from other replies.

I can see the reasons why UA makes sense to you, especially in terms of your monthly trips to your home town. It could be that you'd be best advised to go with UA for now and then switch to AA when you move to Miami.

Having said that, I'll provide a few reasons for sticking with AA, even though I realize they might not outweigh the reasons for switching to UA. I base these on my experience as 20 years of 1K at UA, which I brought to an end this year out of frustration with UA, and my nearly a decade of mostly being an Executive Platinum at AA, which I'm concentrating most of my flying on (well, AA and its partner airlines) from now on.

1. Most generally, UA is in a downward spiral that shows no signs of ending under its current management. This is reflected in its deteriorating FF program (with a big devaluation coming up very shortly), poor handling of irregular operations due to mechanical or weather problems, glitchy reservation and other IT systems, and poor customer service that starts at the top with management policies and attitudes. It seems that every few months UA comes out with some change that makes life as a passenger and frequent flyer even tougher. I know that with the AA-US merger there is a good chance that the combined AA will deteriorate also, but it would have to fall a long way to catch up with UA (even as UA continues to deteriorate as well).
2. More specifically, I find international upgrades and complimentary domestic upgrades on AA easier to get than on UA. My experience is with systemwide upgrade certificates rather than using miles plus cash, but I would think that the comparative availability would remain the same either way.
2. AA is introducing far better international business class seats, with all-aisle access, and I believe that all such seats from JFK are now all-aisle access. The configuration is 1-2-1, as opposed to being as bad as 2-4-2 on UA's 777s and downstairs 747s.
3. One upside of the AA-US merger will be more route options, though I can't say whether that will specifically benefit you and realize it won't do any good for travel to your home town.
4. Some UA flights might involve going through EWR, which is a lousy airport.
5. Once you do move to MIA, AA will probably make much more sense.
6. With UA you have to buy a more expensive "W" economy fare to even be able to upgrade an international flight (with, again, such upgrades being tough to find), whereas with AA just about any economy fare can be upgraded.
7. I would think that flying internationally out of NYC you'd have more AA flight options than UA, which would mean at the very least having extra legroom in economy as opposed to the LH economy sardine can.

Again, not sure that these outweigh your reasons for switching, but wanted to make you aware of them. I don't have the links handy, but if you search through the UA, AA and Information Desk forums you'll find other threads that discuss this comparison as well.

I believe on UA you can upgrade with miles from any Y fare. This restriction only applies to GPUs on some int'l routes.

Thanks for the responses. RSW in Florida and ZAG or LJU, which are both equidistant to my hometown in Croatia. BA has a couple of flights a day from LHR to ZAG and there is also MAD to ZAG once a day on Iberia. It's really the lack of direct flights to RSW that kill it for me. There is a JetBlue code share that is direct, but my understanding is that you get no EQMs on AA. I'll call to confirm, but I've seen people mention this in FT.

I've had some frustrating UA experiences in the past--quite a few mechanical issues and unhelpful staff. And EWR can be a nightmare. Maybe my solution for now is to use UA to fly to RSW, which should get me to premier gold and E+ seating and focus the rest of my efforts on renewing AA plat. I unfortunately see no way of getting to exec plat this year with my work commitments.