Advice on accumulating miles / points multiple programs
 

Hi all!

I have a quite unique situation and would love some advice given my mileage balances, travel preferences, and (potential) home location.

Current Statuses

• United - Platinum for life due to gifting. If i want to hit 1k, i must requalify from 0 every year.
• American - Status matched platinum until 2019 (currently my next few flights are on AA)
• Delta - No Status

Current Mileage Balances

• United - 10k (but have 400k UR)
• American - 270k
• Delta - 150k
• AMEX MR - 250k / Citi TYP - 300k

Mileage Goals / Home Locations

• Home location: will be changing over the next year but will rotate between SFO and NYC
• Main mileage redemptions: Europe / Asia in J Class

Upcoming Travel Plans

I'll be travelling quite a bit over the next year for work. I have 8 transcon RT paid tickets in J class (SFO to JFK), with some further travel after that.

Give my existing statuses and goals, could anyone advise what you would do? A part of me wants to increase my delta balances to diversify however it is also tempting to push towards a road warrior status at AA or potentially United (for the GPUs)

Thanks in advance all!

DL is a fine airline to fly on, but personally I would not waste any time on trying to accrue more SkyMiles. They're called SkyPesos for a reason. If you found an award on DL that looked tempting, you could always transfer some Amex points over if needed.

Flying SFO-JFK on AA, 8 roundtrips in J is enough to get you most of the way to EXP, if not over depending on the actual fares you're buying.

With your stash of Amex/Chase/Citi points, you've got lots of transfer partners to work with in terms of redemptions to Europe and Asia.

If someone else is paying for it, buy the most expensive ticket you can get away with on whichever airline gives you the most points. Since all programs are now revenue-based, this will result in the most points. (But don't just buy a last minute walkup first class fare if doing so will get you fired.)

If you are paying your own way, buy the least expensive ticket on any airline that meets your personal standards. (Schedule, no. of stops, comfort level, etc.) Keep the money you save and use it to buy more tickets later on. While this won't give you the most points, it will result in you having the most money.

If your money doesn't matter, then you really don't need to be asking on FlyerTalk in the first place.

Many thanks!

Would you consider EXP or 1K more worth it? Or would it be correct to assume a mix of Plat + 1K on united is more preferred.

Plat PRO is considered to be much more valuable than Plat at AA these days (potential for upgrades, no 500 mile stickers needed), so if you can hit 75k EQM and $9k EQD, you may want to target hitting that to complement your UA status.

I don't understand why you listed Chase UR under United but didn't list Amex MR under Delta. Amex MR transfers to Delta 1:1 just like Chase UR transfers to United 1:1.

So it's actually your American balance that is the "effective" lowest of the 3 airlines above, even if it's the "actual" highest.

It depends on what you're shooting for. Out of SFO (and in the NYC market), I'd consider 1K worthless. You and some 30-50 other 1Ks will be on the upgrade list ex-SFO to most major domestic destinations. You can get some great GPU value on NH or LH, but if you plan on redeeming miles, that's not particularly helpful.

If you plan on maximizing domestic upgrades while accumulating miles for int'l award travel, I'd recommend hitting Plat Pro on AA, and then putting the rest of your travel on UA.