Hello,

New to the board. My husband flies 2-3 times a month roundtrip SMF to either SEA or PDX. He's been flying Southwest and is A-List status with them but he is looking to switch so he can accumulate miles on an airline offering first class and international routes for future travel.

For these short trips, which would you say is the best airline to focus all the travel with - Delta, American, Alaskan or United? Which is going to give him the best earning potential and higher status in the fastest time? his roundtrip fares usually average around $500 per trip if that helps. TIA for your advice!

dockfam Welcome to FT
What airlines could he fly?
Alaska is a distance based frequent flyer program. The others are revenue based, with separate rules for other airline fights.
AS & AA are close partners and in the Oneworld alliance (AA, AS BA, QF, QR etc). So flying AS can get AA ff miles / flying AA can get AS ff miles.
Delta in Skyteam
United in Star Allaince
Now days many people get a lot of ff miles from non flying activities. Credit cards, hotels, rental cars etc
Link---> Which Frequent Flyer Program to Join? Help Is Here!

dockfam , is your husband willing to connect somewhere, or does he only want nonstops? From SMF, AS and WN are the only carriers with nonstops to both SEA and PDX. DL flies nonstop to SEA, where a connection could be made to PDX. UA would require a connection to either destination via SFO.

Will your husband be flying Coach or First Class?

Flights on Alaska can be credited to American based on a percentage of miles flown; AS flights (currently) do not credit to American based on cost.

Attaining elite status with either AA or AS gets some benefits with the other carrier beyond what the oneworld alliance requires.

Welcome to FT, dockfam!

You may receive further useful advice, in addition to the helpful comments posted above, if you could indicate how your husband expects to use the miles he accumulates in a new program. The major airlines and their partners have different strengths and weaknesses as far as using miles is concerned.

He might be better of staying with Southwest and accumulating miles with credit card sign up bonuses. One card will likely get you many ,more miles than a year or more of flying. Multiply by 2 plus spending and you have options.

If flying from the US most programs require a ton of flexibility to get any value for business or first awards.

Definitely not Southwest since you want international. I think AS is a good idea, as well. Credit to AA. AA still has excellent value for international business and/or first class awards. Read some travel sites, stay current, and try to get to Oneworld Emerald, which is the "sweet spot." All the carriers and programs have lost value, but it is still possible with AA to find a one way award to Europe in a lie flat for 57,500 Advantage miles, for example. Yes, flexibility matters, but there is sill consistent availability. Also, there are good last minute awards.

AS gives him the flights he needs on the itinerary he needs, but AA gives him (and you) the most likely options for future gateways at the best value (especially with all the changes).

I'd also say, since status is spend-driven, getting the credit cards does help a lot, unfortunately. Rumor is AA is dumping Barclay (terrible card and terrible bank--IMO). That said, you can get that card, earn your 60K spend bonus, and wait out the card dump. The Citi card options are vast. Executive card has a high AF but comes with Admirals Club access. I like it (obviously, people have varying opinions, but AA does have the more generous access/guest policies as well--here's hoping that stays for a bit...)

Oh, and welcome to FlyerTalk!