hi all...looking for some opinions...my husband is currently EXP on AA and Premier Exec on United....in the next year he will be making 4 or five round trips to Belfast....looks like it will be on CO....he has no miles at all on CO but about 25000 on DL....should he get the credit for flying on CO or DL... is one program better than the other....will he get the same number of miles on DL as CO for flying CO??? Thanks for your thoughts

Theresa

This might get more responses in the forum for each airline's FF program. If he is flying on CO then he should get credit in the CO program. If he flies CO and wants credit for his DL account he might only get some miles elite qualification miles. As an EXP for AA he should write CO about an elite status match (but CO will probably only match the second elite tier).

Your husband can fly on NW, CO, or DL, and receive miles (including Elite miles) in any of the programs. There are some fares where he may not get 100% Elite miles, though. Check in with the good folks at the CO board for their vast knowledge.

The short answer: join OnePass if you'll be flying CO metal.

The long answer:

When it comes to picking a SkyTeam program, it's usually best to choose the program whose metal you actually fly the most, for the following reasons:

• The elite phone number is only available on your "home" carrier. DL and NW Plats still have to use the plebeian phone line when calling CO.
• When it comes to irregular ops, home team elites will get priority over partner elites (but partner elites do get priority over base members).
• Many mileage bonuses (online purchase/checkin, promos, etc.) are valid only on home team metal.
• Free domestic upgrades are generally only available on home team metal (except for NW/CO, which give each other's elites upgrade reciprocity). Same goes for mileage upgrades.

That said, if you're flying mostly internationally (presumably in paid business class), you'll probably find the benefits of accruing miles to DL vs. CO to be only slightly in CO's favor. Cheap coach fares on each carrier will only earn 50% EQMs in the "other" carrier's program. But regular coach fares earn 100% EQMs either way, and full coach and paid F/J earn 150% in either program.

CO elites earn slightly higher elite banked mile bonuses on CO flights than DL elites do (CO silver/gold/plat earns 50/100/125% mileage bonuses, while DL earns 25/100/100%).

But DL miles are probably still worth a little more per mile due to less restricted award availability.