In August I'm moving to Seattle, and I have parents in Cleveland and a boyfriend in New York. I'll be doing around 3 round trips a year to CLE (which should total around 12000 miles) and anywhere from 8-10 trips a year to any of the NYC airports (Should be between 38400-48000 miles total). I've been periodically searching for the price for these flights, and there isn't one clear winner for which airline to pick. For SEA-CLE it is a pretty clear choice that United is the best option. For SEA-New York, it is much less clear. Delta and United are usually the best options, and sometimes one is significantly cheaper than the other. So, if you were me, would you always buy the cheaper flight and end up with a possible 25k, 25k split (or worse, something like a 40k, 10 split)? Or instead, would you try to go for 50k at United? Obviously, getting award flights is nice but I'm really thinking about status. Hopefully this is in the correct forum, and please keep in mind this is personal money (I don't have to fly for business) Thanks!

It's just a math problem. Figure out how much you value a United mile and how much you value a Delta mile.

Figure out how much you value each level of status on the airlines.

Figure out the difference in ticket costs.

Make the appropriate calculations.

It sounds complicated, and it is, but that's the only way to figure it out.

Yeah, if I knew what the ticket costs would be exactly, then it would be much easier to make a decision.

sounds like you have picked united..plus seems to be the one that solves both of your problems

It's hard to get reasonable DL award tickets, especially (for domestic) if you don't have status, but status brings bonus miles and you can easily get miles (including status miles on Plat and Reserve) from DL AmEx credit cards. This probably won't be enough to change your decision if you're sure that a significant fraction of your travel will be on UA/CO, but it's something to consider. With UA/CO you suffer through the merger but with DL, there seems to be uncertainty regarding how their FF program will evolve.

I would see how many flights the boyfriend bought before I made any firm decisions. It's just my humble opinion but if you are planning to make 8 to 10 flights a year to see this guy, you should expect him to make 8 to 10 flights to see you...and if he isn't willing to do that, then the question isn't about what airline you should commit to. It's about how much time you want to waste with somebody who lives in a different city -- a city known for the large proportion of single women available to each single man. I guess that's my answer -- if *I* were you, I'd want to see commitment from the boyfriend before I'd worry overmuch about committing to an airline. The airline will always be there. The boyfriend who chooses to live in a different city, not so much.

I would stick with United, if I were you.

+1 Best suggestion here so far. I do not want to comment on others relationship, but as a guy who was in this same situation dealing with a long distance relationship we both did our part in seeing each other. Got married after a year, and have been living happily for the past 13 years.

Since you are moving to Seattle, one more option is Alaska Airlines since they are based in Seattle and have the most departures from that airport. It looks like the only non-stops they have to New York are to Newark, if that works. While they are not partners with United, they are partners with both Delta and American, so you can post miles earned on any of those flights back to Alaska as well as redeem miles for awards on those airlines.

I would be careful in having too much loyalty. Status can be great, but just don't get in a situation where you're spending too much extra money per ticket just to have status, and its perks.

Try to determine the value of status to YOU (how much you value free bags, better seats, occasional upgrade, etc.) and just be careful to not spend more money that airline then is worth.

I have a feeling some FTers spend far more on MRs, etc., for their status than it is logically worth.

Good luck.

I don't think the OP was asking for relationship advice, but I also think you folks are way off. My girlfriend made about 50 trips to see me in the three years we dated, and has made another 20-25 since we got married. Perhaps (a) the OP will have a living situation that isn't incredibly comfortable for him to visit her (b) she likes having a reason to come to New York (c) they have other activities or friends in New York (d) her schedule allows her more flexibility (e) he is coming out to Seattle a lot but she wasn't asking for advice on his travel. In my case the reason my wife comes here is pretty simple - the shopping is much better where I live!

As for the question, I would personally go for status. I've never been gold on any airline but I've been silver several times and I've had pretty good success on upgrades. Even if you only get upgraded half, or even 1/3, of the time, you're going to be really happy when it happens.

Another consideration though, which airports in NYC are most convenient? I assume UA will have the best service to EWR and DL to JFK. Your perspective may be very different if you're going to Queens vs. going to the west side of Manattan.

United miles are much more valuable than Skymiles for int'l travel, and domestically you can redeem them on both UA & US and heck, even Air Canada from YVR if push came to shove.

As for fare prices, I was in a bi-coastal relationship for awhile, and my advice would be to watch the Mileage Run Deals forum religiously (2-3x per day) and/or get the ITA app or go to their website and run a search for SEA-NYC one ways using their flex calendar as much as you can. The reason is you will be able to jump on $200 transcons as soon as they go live and get the best times/dates.

Heck I've even seen them go as low as $160, in which you case you want to buy as many as you can, although that depends on the certainty of your schedule...

Cheers

I'd try and pick United if I were in your shoes. This way you can even pick a US flight if that's convenient while going some place else.

I would suggest joining both programs, but giving preference to flying on United (or its partners) unless you find a particularly attractive fare on Delta or Alaska.

I feel you stick to United.