Thanks for looking!

Here is my situation: I am about to move to Northern VA and will be there for about 2 years. I plan on making 5 trips during that period flying out of DCA or IAD. Then, I will be moving to SC (either GSP or CHS) to settle down for good. I will be making about 2 trips a year once I move to SC. In about 5-6 years from now I want to take a trip to hawaii or the caribbean and use my accumulated miles to upgrade to first class on that trip.

Taking into consideration the geographic area I will be living in and that I will be using a miles reward credit card to help accumulate miles faster (plus associated partners), which airline would be the best? I am leary of enrolling in Delta's or US Airways' program because of their financial health and not so good reviews of their service (specifically Delta's). AA appeals to me but they have limited flights in the area(s) that I will be living in. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time!!!

Where will you be flying on those 5 trips out of DCA/IAD?

I fly AA out of DCA/IAD frequently and the route network, though nowhere near as extensive as UA's from IAD, is adequate to go most places.

From DCA, you can fly AA or American Eagle nonstop to ORD, DFW, STL, JFK, LGA, MIA, BOS, and soon BNA (Nashville).

From IAD, your nonstop options are ORD, DFW, STL, LAX, MIA, and SJU (San Juan).

Connections to Europe can be made at JFK (or ORD if you want extra miles); domestic connections can be made at ORD, DFW, or STL; and Caribbean connections are through MIA.

Yes...I would be making those 5 trips from IAD or DCA.

Thanks!

UA has a nice hub in IAD

i'm a UA fan and it makes me smile when i usually find that the best prices on travelocity shows up as UA

i think the best thing is to use the carrier that has a nice hub in one of your airports

Last year, they said US air would go bankrupt in april of this year. It's still flying. I don't think US air will go bankrupt anytime soon if you are thinking about flying them. Delta is even better off. Let me clarify that. The FF program of each respective company will stay solvent even if they ever do go under. The programs are too valuable.