Sorry Dupilicate

[This message has been edited by mauld (edited 12-07-2001).]

DL:

Best - Free CRC access for PM. Free unlimited upgrades for K+ fares for PM. 8 800-mile segment upgrades each 10k flown for GM (as opposed to 4 500-mile upgrades for elites on most other airlines). Free alcohol in the CRC. The delta.com website. The people who work at Special Member Services.

Worst - Inability to upgrade international fares less than M by any means at all. Absolutely the very worst policy DL has and it's won AA a chunk of my business. Inability to upgrade L and U fares domestically. Both of these poor policies are enforced, even when there are open seats in front. Just plain AWFUL. No international upgrades on the day of departure, even if one has paid a quailfying fare. STUPID STUPID STUPID. "Simply Good Business" philosophy, also known as "Simply Driving Loyal Customers Away to Other Carriers who Don't Have Simply Stupid Mindless Policies". Revenue Protection Unit, aka RPU - people who are hired to mind other peoples' business. It shouldn't matter how someone chooses gets from A to B, you should be grateful they selected your airline at all!

I'll keep flying Delta as the employees make up for management's deficiencies, but AA's piece of the Spiff Travel Pie is going to dramatically increase in 2002.

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"Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither." - Ben Franklin

[This message has been edited by Spiff (edited 12-07-2001).]

Continental:

Best - unlimited domestic upgrades. Free booze in the President's Club.

Worst - HoKeY fares. An absolute disgrace. No soup for you, Continental!!! 30-day upgrade rule. Awarding bazillions of OnePass miles and then making people jump through some very seriously stupid hoops to use them any place other than domestically.

Personally, the cons outweigh the pros so badly on this airline that I'll probably never fly them unless drastic changes are made to their program.

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"Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither." - Ben Franklin

AF:
Pro: excellent award availability, great 2 for 1 or redem C for the price of Y promos.

Cons: lousy partners, erratic ground service.

Qualiflyer:
Pro: Miles and any fare code including most OW carriers, upgrade on any fare on CX, good award availability, 24/7 call center in your language

Con: Major airlines are filing under cxhapter 11 (SR, SN)

BA:
Pro: Service, OW lounges (The Wing in HKG), the BA forum on FT, award redemption based on distance.

Cons: Maybe the most complicated program around (mileage accrual in Y only possible in certain fare classes, each of them different depending on the carrier/country you live in etc...), very few promos, no recognition from other OW carriers.

Northwest:

Best - Free booze in the WorldClub. Good domestic upgrade policy. Discounted online mileage redemptions. nwa.com is second only to delta.com.

Worst - terrible international upgrade policy. Only two fare classes upgradable to Europe, not much better to Asia. A horrible, horrible policy designed to create an artificial demand for WBC, similar to what DL and CO try to do with their premium products. No mileage credit for CyberSavers. No mileage, not free = No thanks!

I used to enjoy NW as my #2 carrier to DL. However, as a result of their international upgrade policy and the decision not to award mileage credit for CyberSavers has made me effectively drop them.

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"Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither." - Ben Franklin

[This message has been edited by Spiff (edited 12-07-2001).]

Delta
Best: Add the new (limited cities)elite security gates.This may eventually be the biggest benefit.
Worst:LUser fare restrictions.

United:

Best - great alliance. Economy Plus seating for Premiers and above. Transferrable upgrades.

Worst - no double upgrades policy. Nothing like watching the F cabin filled with employees, is there? Probably the worst policy UA has going for it right now. Painful requirements to get mileage credit for flights changed/canceled by UA. All it takes is a phone call on other airlines, sometimes not even that. Too many seats under "airport control". A few I can understand, over half the plane is not acceptable. Thank God the Sh*ttle has died the death it so richly deserved. No free booze in the RCC, despite insanely high membership costs.

My UA ridership has fallen off sharply, mostly because it was easier to get treated well by DL out of DEN. I still would consider flying UA, but the no double upgrades/frequent reports of "Employee Class" incidents makes UA not my first or second choice.

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"Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither." - Ben Franklin

American:

Best - MRTC when you don't get the C/J/F cabin. Upgrade Any Fare. By far and away the best thing about AA. Good alliance partners. Ability to sidestep no double upgrade policy by paying fare difference from C/J to F. Access to other OW members' clubs for Plat/EXP/Admiral's Club members.

Worst - No double upgrades (for the most part). No free drinks in the Admiral's Club, despite insanely high membership fees. Difficulty in puting together multi-segment (3+ segments) flights. Having to plead for mileage credit when reaccommodated.

In my opinion, the AAdavantage program is the strongest in the nation at the moment as far as what's important to me. I am going to shift my travel accordingly.

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"Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither." - Ben Franklin

[This message has been edited by Spiff (edited 12-07-2001).]

For Continental:

Best Feature: Unlimited space available domestic upgrades.

Worst Feature: Int'l BusinessFirst upgrade policies - which include HoKeY fares, the 30 day rule, and the 72 hour rule that allows BF seats to go empty or filled with non-revs when revenue pax still want to upgrade with miles. This stinks, CO!

Continental

Best: Domestic Upgrade policy

Worst: HoKeY international upgrade

Like others:

CO -

Best: domestic upgrade policy, also, I like the platinum no award redeposit fee rule

Worst: HoKeY international upgrade fiasco, and, 72 hour businessfirst lockdown, 30 day roulette on international upgrades even when HoKeY complied with

Is there any way for me to put it in 72 pt type:

HoKeY!

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EWR CO Gold

Continental:
Best= Unlimited domestic upgrades

Worst= HoKeY fares. Worse still, you are not spending miles and 3 times the cost of the cheapest coach seat for an upgraded Int'l seat. You are paying for a CHANCE. Continental is really running a national lottery for these seats, and keeps your money if the upgrade doesn't come through.

I think I'm repeating what everybody else is saying. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

For Continental:

Best: Unlimited domestic upgrades
Worst: HoKeY fares 'enhancement' on BF product.

Second as to both best and worst

CO
Best is unlimited domestic upgrades.

Worst is the HOKeY fare thing and the 30 day international (and Hawaii) award rule. I left CO because of the 30 day rule and look forward to the day (hopefully this year) that CO does NOT win the Freddie.

NW WorldPerks

Best: Dedicated service staff for Gold and Platinum Elites; ability to use multiple FF partners on a single reward ticket (e.g., NW, KLM, and CO on one WP tkt to Europe); affordable mileage levels (80,000 biz. to Asia); consistent info. from WP staff.

Worst: Lack of segment qualification; Consistent glitches when using CO (upgrades AND reward tickets)

DL SkyMiles

Best -- Waived blackout dates for all elites for award travel

Worst -- partnership agreements (both earning and using miles)

NW WordPerks

Best - Unlimited elite upgrades for all tiers

Worst - Lowest tier elites aren't allowed to use the dedicated elite phone line

NW WorldPerks may be better to some parts of Asia but to others they are not. For travel to India on business class:
AA (Cathay) - 90K miles
BA - 100K miles
DL - 100K miles
UA - 110K miles (when they had service to India)
NW - 120K miles

And they have a month blacked out right now, whereas BA has no blackout dates.

United Strong Point:
Ability to REQUEST an upgrade at any time. (Available upgrades then automatically GRANTED at 100, 72, or 24 hours based on status, fare basis, etc. No need to call in or log in at or after the appointed time.)

United Weak Point:
After booking, you can only input requests for upgrades using United.com for reservations that were made on United.com. I want to be able to request upgrades using United.com regardless of how the reservation was made (agent, phone, ... whatever).

Delta Weak Point:
Not being able to request upgrades until EXACTLY 100, 72, or 24 hours based on status, fare basis, etc. (It is frequently not possible to be at a phone or the computer at the appointed time. United provides for "advance" requests.)

Delta Weak Point:
No upgrades for L or U fares.

AA: Best - MRTC; award seat availability

CO: Worst - award seat availability, especially with international partners; on some routes, inability to confirm award seat in F until 30 or fewer days prior to departure, except for top-tier members.

CO overall - easiet to accrue miles but miles have the lowest value, so what's the point?

The point is that I'll take OnePass points over useless Dividend Miles ANYTIME... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I will add:

Pro for CP: Personal Liaisons, upgrading of companions with no coupon all NA flights, upgrading any flight systemwide any price for self & companion cert.
Pro in general: more Airbus, mix your own drinks in fc

Con for CP: Charge for club access starting this year except for top 10% of CP.
Con in general: loss of AAdvantage mileage transfers, incl. loss of Hawaii, poor economic health of airline ~ program at risk

Best: unlimited domestic upgrades (with no restriction based on fare paid)

Worst: the absolute worst has to be the new HoKeY rule for international upgrades - only the most expensive fares put you into a lottery for using miles to upgrade.



------------------
Rachel
CO - Platinum
Hilton - Diamond
SPG - Platinum

Continental:


Best: Unlimited domestic upgrades
Worst: HoKeY fares 'enhancement' on BF product. These fares and the 30 day rule mean that I have not requalified for CO elite this year, because for usually at least $500 less I can get a guarenteed mileage upgrade with other programs




[This message has been edited by Weez (edited 12-09-2001).]

NW
Best:
1-Domestic upgrade policy
2-gold line res agents
3-20,000mi (19,000mi if booked online) domestic coach awards--ARE UPGRADEABLE w/ EUA

Worst:
1-inconsistant quality of food in FC
2-few fares are available for intl UG

UA:
Best:
1-* alliance
2-E+ when stuck in coach


Worst:
1-Having to use E+ a lot
2-Inconsistant/poor customer service in flight and on the ground.
3-Dealing with 500milers to Upgrade

CO

Best:
Unlimited domestic upgrades.

Worst:
The BF upgrade lottery.

AA:

Best: Many non-flying mileage opportunities, like the 20 partners/20k promo

Worst: Can't transfer American Express Membership miles

Southwest:

Best: Free ticket after 4 RTs booked online, few blackout dates or restrictions

Worst: None

AA:
Best - Upgrade an paid fare; award availability.
Worst - The expedite fees for award tix inside 3 weeks.

WN:
Best - Award flight after 4.
Worst - 12 month credit expiration.

If you're considering the number of "votes" for a best/worst feature, I'm with Jet777 and AnthonyAnthony on the best and worst of CO.

I don't think there's any question in any OnePass Elite's mind that the unlimited domestic upgrades can't be beat; they're what keeps us loyal. OTOH, the HoKeY fares just might cause some of us who fly internationally a lot to jump ship.

Another nice CO feature is the ability for elite members to redeposit mileage without a fee on unused reward tickets. A couple of "baddies" (not as bad as HoKeY fares by any means): No recognition for million-milers, and no systemwide upgrades.


[This message has been edited by Nightflyer (edited 12-07-2001).]

For AIR CANADA, Aeroplan features:

Best -
1. low threshold for Elite level (35k instead of 50k elsewhere)
2. lounge access included in Elite and SuperElite levels

Worst -
1. no reward upgrade
2. no online ticketing, usual hold for phone >60 mins
3. domestic discount fares only earns 35% of mileage
4. many fees introduced in 2002 ($10 for replacement member card, $10 for statment, $25 to change time of flight, $75 to change or cancel/redeposit flight, etc)

Continental:

Best: Unlimited domestic upgrades

Absolute Worst: "HoKY" fares.

My sentiments on HoKY will serve as the basis for my voting in this year's Freddies.

Just a comment on swag's WN:

Best: None

Worst: Expiration of credits without an opportunity to extend beyond the 12 month period. I would fly WN on occasion if I could build the credits and keep them (i.e. if I could automatically extend with at least one flight in a certain period liek all the other programs)however I don't fly them at all b/c I can't.

For USAirways Dividend Miles:

Pros: Ease of upgrading even at Silver Preferred Level. 50% mileage bonuses at SP, with 100% at GP and CP. SWUs for all elites.

Cons: Lack of alliance partners. Lack of partners for Hawaii trips. Lack of domestic partners (with loss of AA). Financial health of airline - leading to viability concerns.

WN's Rapid Rewards Best:
-Award availability
-Double credit on website

WN's Rapid Rewards Worst:
-Companion pass too restrictive
-No international partner on which to use awards
-Not a great deal of perks (pre-boarding for CP holders, or lifting the 1-hr check-in requirement for CP holders would be nice and would not cost a thing).

UA Mileage Plus' Best:
Star Alliance
-1K SWU certificates
UA Mileage Plus' Worst:
-No double upgrade mechanism
-Not enough SWU for 1Ks ( 6 a year)
-Lowest International fares not upgradeable with miles

Overall, I think the threat of unilateral devaluation of miles is a large drawback of all programs. We can all wake up tomorrow and find out that our miles are worth half of what they are today.

One note on WN: you can actually get a free ticket after two roundtrips if you have to travel through a connecting city, but book your trip as two separate roundtrips on the website:
Ex: LAX-OAK-SEA RT is 4 credits on one ticket but LAX-OAK RT and OAK-SEA RT is 8 credits if issued separately for the same fare and travelling on the same aircraft!
You can get a companion pass for 12.5 RTs.

US Airways
Best:1) Great sucess domestic First class upgrades and plenty of upgrades already on the Gold 50.000 miles level
2) 2 Systemwide upgrades for free which you can use on all published fares for upgrading

Worst:1)No alliance! No alliance! No alliance!!
Therefore no club acess outside of the US even when flying US Airways not to talk about the non existent partners
2)No way to upgrade all the cheap and medium fares to Business class with miles on the european flights which is possible on american

[This message has been edited by eurousair (edited 12-08-2001).]

US:

Pro:
1. Easiest domestic upgrades for any US airline. I'm Gold (2nd tier) and have always been in F, without exception, for the last 18 months. My wife, who flies more for business, has only been denied upgrades on major business routes at peak times (very few instances). For every 20K flown domestically, US gives Golds 18K in upgrade certificates.
2. SWU for every elite level

Cons:
1. No Alliance and current partners are decreasing.
2. Concerns about the viability of the airline.

Additional Note:
Historically, US' domestic cabin service and amenities have been a step above other domestic carriers. Current cutbacks have been much deeper than with other airlines. US now has the lowest level of catering and the fewest onboard amenities of all major domestic airlines. At current levels, they probably should start painting Greyhound on their aircraft.

JL

Best: Mileage pool for three generation for residents in the US.

Worst: Miles expiring in two years. Limits giving awards to family members.

For US Airways:

BEST:
Terrific upgrade rate for even lowest elite tier - 90% success for Sliver Preferred; SWUs are also unbeatable

WORST:
Dividen Miles is the Incredible Shrinking FF Program with no alliance partner, no more AA, and doubt about Swissair and Sabena. LatinPass does not cut it.