Flying to ICN from EWR or PHL
 

Long time lurker, first time poster. Great community here! Please forgive any misuse of jargon.

I am flying from EWR or PHL to ICN on July 16th, returning July 30th for work. They will not pay for business/first class.

I am presently a United silver member, and prefer to fly there as Newark is closer for me. In a bit of serendipity, i was offered a promotion from American for 3 months platinum pro for free, and if I fly 20K miles and spend $2500 i maintain it until January 2021. I don’t believe I can hit the minimum spend but the possibility is sorta there cause this flight is obviously very expensive.

From what ive gathered on my research, there are no complimentary upgrades on trans pacific flights on either airline. Not even to economy plus. I’ve become rather accustomed to this given my Silver status with United. I know the real heavy travelers here say that Silver status isn’t really that great, but it has cut about 10-15% out of the nuisance of traveling for me.

I wanted to get feedback from the folks on here if either of these airlines with the status I have give anything to travelers for trans pacific flights? Is there any reason to do one over the other? If an extra free bag is the only reason, I’ll ignore that “perk” as work is paying.

Arrival times and cost are close enough that either are ok. As mentioned, I prefer Newark but can do Philly if that is a better option for whatever reason. The direct flight isn’t on the table due to costs either, I’ll be laying over in either DFW or SFO it seems.

Thanks in advance.

I would avoid SFO just because that gives you a longer domestic leg in a 757 compared to a longer 787 leg. AA will give you the most miles but for about $350 more you could go Delta Premium Economy on an A350 both ways. EWR via DTW or MSP.

No free international upgrades, but Platinum Pro status entitles you to select a Main Cabin Extra Coach seat on AA flights at no extra charge. That gives you 34" pitch, dedicated overhead bins, and free drinks.

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...abin-extra.jsp

(I don't see any exclusion listed for elites seeking free MCE seats on international flights.)

Edited to add: If AA is offering you a free trial of Platinum Pro, you have nothing to lose. If you log in to your AAdvantage account when you're ready to book, you'll see if MCE is free for you. And you have 24 hours to cancel a ticket for a full refund, anyway.

?

UA Silver gets E+ at check in (T-24hour) if not basic economy (and E+ seats are still available)

UA hasn't rolled out basic economy for TPAC flights afaik

UA Silver just doesn't get CPU (upgrade) on EWR-LAX/SFO, though getting CPU with silver is rare



UA and AA uses the same 787-9 on the long haul (USA-ICN) portion, so same width. UA has 1" more legroom in regular E, E+ is same for both

American did offer me the instant free upgrade to their MCE. I called United, and the E+ is available within the 24 hours of flight time upon check-in as I'm accustomed to. I have never had a hard time getting E+ on any flight, and there are tons of E+ seats available on the flight I'm looking to book.

I think I am going to do United, as this will get me to having an outside shot at Gold this year. The extra spend with American probably won't happen anyway so I won't maintain PP with them. The small extra bonus mileage from PP is nice but not really worth flying out of the dreary and abysmal Terminal A at EWR to be honest.

Side note - I know common logic has dictated that CPUs almost never hit with Silver level, but as mentioned I fly out of EWR and I've been upgraded 4 times on 26 segments since achieving Silver (one of the 4 upgrades was MCO to IAH). I do often fly at odd times, so perhaps that contributes. I'll count my blessings and continue to not expect anything. I do try to check in exactly at 24 hours out, but that's probably voodoo as to having any effect on CPUs.

Thanks to all.

FYI, EWR-SFO/LAX e+ gets free meal (regular e doesn't).

Maybe one reason to choose a middle E+ over an aisle/window ... Or not

Thanks for that info, good to know. However, I personally would rather sit on the wing than in the middle for any flight of that length :-)

I've flown various different routes, I personally avoid flying east coast to west coast and then trans-pacific.
Does it have to be EWR? If you're headed over in that direction anyway, the Asiana JFK->ICN direct is the same cost as the 1 stop United flight through SFO on your dates.