Thanks. Is there a difference between DL, AA and UA in terms of a credit card that I could obtain and get lounge access starting with my first trip (even for a per-use fee) while I'm building status the first year? I'll be doing 4x per year for a 10 year commitment. Would a million miles get me any status with any of the three even though I'd never hit top-tier in any single year? I've got 200k lifetime with AA now. Nothing close to that on UA or DL.

As for what I value for the coach product, the only thing I really value is a realistic opportunity to get an upgraded coach seat with more leg room as a lower tier frequent flyer. Not anticipating business or first upgrades.

What airlines will you use to fly to India?

Its generally only USA airlines that have E+/MCE as a variation (more leg room) of economy.
Premium Economy PE sold by many airlines (including AA now on some aircraft) is a different class, just like business & first. You will not get free upgrades Y to PE.

With non USA based airlines always expect to travel in the class you buy for $$$. Non USA based airlines do not have the (often free) upgrade mentality(entitlement) of USA airlines.

UA, DL, and AA all have credit cards that will get you into the lounges. I haven't looked at the details in a while, but the cards that come with lounge access usually all have an annual fee of about $450-500/year. You could also look at the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which gives you access to the Priority Pass network (check https://www.prioritypass.com/ for specific lounges at specific airports) with an annual of $450 or so, but they also give you a $300 statement credit per year for travel, so as long as you spend $300 on travel in a year it's really a $150 annual fee (plus another $100 credit if you apply for Global Entry). If you're only looking to get a card for a year while you're building status, the signup bonuses of 50000+ miles/points that all these cards come with will pay for the cost of the annual fee. You also can usually just buy a lounge membership directly from an airline for about the same cost of a credit card annual fee if you don't want to mess with a credit card, but then you don't get the credit card signup bonus.

At 1 million miles, I believe DL and AA give you lifetime of their lowest tier status, and UA gives you lifetime of their second tier status (of course, 10 years is plenty of time for United to "enhance" the program to match DL and AA).

For access to extra leg room Y+ seats, I believe all 3 will give access to "preferred seating" at booking with the lowest tier status - i.e., seats towards the front, but not necessarily with extra leg room and sometimes exit rows), then you get access to Y+ seats (DL Comfort+, UA Economy+, and AA Main Cabin Extra) 24 hrs before the flight. At 2nd tier status I think UA and AA let you book into Y+ for free at the time of booking, while DL doesn't let you do this until 3rd tier status (and there it's still an "upgrade" that needs to clear, not something you can do as you buy the ticket). DL also gives out free drinks in Y+, and I think AA is starting this soon if they don't already. In general I think UA and AA planes tend to have more Y+ seats than DL for most of the seating configurations.

One last thing to think about since you anticipate at least 80K miles per year (and possibly more with domestic and intra-India) are your chances of getting top-tier status. For AA and UA you need 100K miles (so not that far away) and $12K spend, but DL needs 125K and $15K spend. The big perk here since you'll be flying long-haul international flights is that you'd get upgrade certificates you could use for the international flights.

But only on the airline of the ffp. Not on partner airlines

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
(upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.)
Reply: Good award redemption rates, extra baggage allowance, priority services when flying the airline, upgrades on travel.
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
(<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?)
Reply: <25,000 basic/economy. 2-4 a year. Occasionally I go international so a lot? Sorry I don't know I've flown with my parents most of the time. I just started flying with others and having my first flight by myself soon.
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
(First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest)
Reply: economy, cheapest
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Yes. United/American. When international Asiana and some Philippine airline.
(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
(US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc)
Reply: Domestic, in Asia.
(6) What is your home airport?
(SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: JAX
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
(AA Executive Platinum, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc)
Reply: I think I just have a basic account with AA, United, and Delta.
(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: American. Maybe United too.

Hi folks,

I'll be taking weekly RT flights from NYC/PHL to LAX over the next few months in J. Average ticket prices are about ~900-1k per leg. I currently have lifetime united plat (through a companion) however must requalify every year.

Can anyone provide advice on which of these i should credit to or what status i should shoot for? I am based in NY with regular travel to Asia. Trying to see if i should diversify my statuses

* American
* United
* American & Credit to Alaska


Thanks!

As this is a query concerning multiple programs, will move this to the Information Desk forum where such discussion are best held. And avoids posting in multiple forums ( which is not allowed by FT rules)

Which Frequent Flyer Program to Join? Help Is Here!

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

That does not work now, unless AS coded: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...ry-2018-a.html

What are your objectives from a ffp?
What do you expect status will do for you?

Can you chose airlines NYC/PHL to LAX or corporate travel policy in play?
Coach or business/first class?

How is it lifetime status if you need to requalify every year?

Thanks for the note and correction.

I am able to choose airlines, but this will actually now be PHL - SFO with either American or United now

For work I will be flying premium class but travel primarily economy for personal. Top items for me would be ability to upgrade on partner airlines for flights to Asia (CX / JAL / ANA), upgrades domestically, and ability to change flights domestically same day.

Apologies, i would have to requalify to 1k from 0, rather than from plat, is what i was attempting to say.

I provided my comments to the identical post in the Alaska Airlines forum. Have you seen the responses there?
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...ew-old-11.html

That's not going to happen. Cross airline ffp upgrades are uncommon.

AA/IB/BA have a cross airline upgrade system, but heavy on t&c’s and requires an expensive base fare.
Star Alliance has a cross airline upgrade system, but requires a very expensive base fare, so useless for most people. Discount business class fare can be cheaper at times
UA thread How to upgrade with UA miles on Star Alliance carriers

There is big difference between USA based airlines & non USA based airlines when it comes to upgrades. With non USA based airlines always expect to fly in the cabin you buy. The pointy end is not “upgrade class”. Non USA based airlines will fly with empty premium seats.

If you look on the forums USA airlines have a lot of threads on “upgrades” and non USA airlines have very few to none.

You need to do more research on ffp’s and what realistically you can expect.

AA and UA both fly their own metal to Asia (AA serves fewer Asian destinations than UA does, however). But on the PHL-SFO route, AA's First Class is pretty dire (no at-seat power or in-flight entertainment), unless you happen to get the (once daily?) A330 widebody that AA operates on that route. However, if you don't need at-seat power or IFE, then AA is probably little different than UA on that route.

AAdvantage elite benefits described here:

https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...ite-status.jsp

Details of same-day change and same-day standby policies for AAdvantage elites here:

https://www.aa.com/i18n/plan-travel/...day-travel.jsp

I am about to take my first trip of 2018 and am on the fence about whether to commit to Delta or American. I don�t fly much and expect to do three transatlantic trips and three domestic US trips this year. I never fly enough to attain any status and usually fly Delta out of habit. I have about 150,000 SkyMiles and 66,000 AAdvantage miles.