although i don't really try to accumulate miles i'm a pm with delta and live in L.A., but after finding this site i've realized that i should be more efficient with regards to making the most of my miles.. does anyone have a suggestion as to which airline program would be best for me? can't help but think delta may not be my best bet, i've been looking at american but really don't have alot of time to research this. any help from socal flyers would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance! btw, i fly mostly out of LAX, thanks again, turnerk2

oops, mistake, i'm a silver, not plat, sorry bout that!

where do you travel to?

I'm gold on NW mostly from my previous locations

The NW/CO/DL is OK if you travel East, often with a hub stop.....

Going north/south is hard unless you fly ALaska, SW

Going East is OK on NW/UA or foreign carriers

Maybe Alaska would be good for you, since then you can earn on NW, DL, AA and redeem on them as well....

AA is pretty good - trans-cons non stop, just about anywhere in the US with one stop (ORD or DFW). North or South on AS earns EQMs/EQPs. West on CX/QF.

I'd say Alaska is your best bet. You can consolodate all of the miles you earn on Delta, Northwest, American, Delta, and of course Alaska on one card. They are partners with all of them. That way, you aren't limited to flying one airline and you can keep all of your miles close at hand. They also have some good int'l partners. Plus, AS has a big presence down there.

I like NW, but they don't have any trans con, you have to always go through DTW or MSP which is rough and especially so, if you ever take the redeye.
But, you can partner with CO to go transcon to newark.

Depends on what you're looking for and where you go and what's most important to you. Schedules? Upgrades? Route network? I mostly fly east coast and midwest, so NW works really well for me. On longer flights, I appreciate the F seat and the fact that NW has 16 of them. I have only visited one destination inside the Pac time zone -- LAS. It's skyteam's biggest hole on the west coast market (LAX-LAS not served by skyteam... alaska does it via a codeshare from AA so it doesn't count). It is reachable on DL via SLC, but that only makes sense if it's cheap enough.

You need to tell us more about where you're flying to, what's important to you, & what you're looking for before we could give you an 'educated' recommendation. Short of that, we're just talking generics which may or may not apply to you.

Cheers. Sharon

PS - Welcome to FT!

thanks a ton everyone, i fly mainly to nyc, atl, and cvg, i never really thought about alaska because i was under the impression that they were a west coast/alaska airline only (my mistake lol) but i'll definitely check them out tonite, thanks again for all the input and more if you have the time or interest turnerk2

NY, CVG and ATL being your primary destinations, it would seem to make sense sticking with DL out of LAX.

My vote would be with NW. Earn EQM on NW, DL, CO and Alaska. I just reached Platinum this month for the first time but my upgrade % as Gold on NWA was great. NW has plenty of great bonus offers and I generally fine the service fine.

Good luck on your choice but I have to say NWA has been pretty good to me.

i have the delta amex which helps with earning miles, does the northwest card offer similar incentives?

Well, if you want free upgrades, try NW. You will sit up front a lot, maybe not every time, but a lot. Oh, just so you know... LAX has a reputation for being a tough upgrade, but you should know that certain flights you will have STIFF competition, even as a PLAT. Thursday night redeyes to the hubs, for one. NW has had a better ratio of "real" jets to CRJ's than most other airlines, but that may change with the downsizing. The hubs in MSP and DTW aren't terrible, and neither are "legendary" for delays like ATL is. Throwing on connections to your destinations as you would with NW will get you status faster or with less effort than flying nonstops as you are with DL most of the time. T2 at LAX ain't the best in the world, and the WC there now closes too early to be of any use on the redeye departures.

Amongst the SkyTeam partners, presuming scheduling/routes isn't an issue, I think NW is the best for the cheapo traveller like me. NW cheap fares earn 100% EQM, DL cheap fares earn 100% EQM for NW WP, NW has more F seats than DL (read: more upgrades), and I think the base milage bonus is higher for Plats as well (is DL at 125% for their plats on their metal?). However you will *not* get upgraded on DL with your WP status. I write CO off most of the time because of their 50% EQM policy. If they would allow me to book on CO.com and get 100% EQM, I would have a different attitude. The EQM thing is such a deal breaker that I haven't flown CO metal this calendar year and I will be plat after my next flight.

Thanks DHAST, some great info there, I'm still trying to sort thru all this information, I'm a cheapo travellere myself lol, thanks again!

Funny was on a LAX-LAS NW flight earlier this month and got F upgrade to boot. Only one flight a day though, so your comment is actually quite valid. Would rephrase "LAX-LAS poorly served by skyteam..."

I recommend NWA WP too for EQM and UG, but as previous posters mentioned, it all depends on where you fly.