Since our home base is moving to the West Coast from Alaska I am realizing that weekly summer flights to JNU may not be worth maintaining an allegiance to AS. Our travel patterns are SEA/JNU, West Coast, South East and a few jaunts to the East Coast and Mexico. The towns we hit in S.E. seem to be heavily covered by NW.

I was wondering if anyone had created a side by side comparison of the programs offered by different airlines such as NW & AA? I would like to know each airline's upgrade policy, standby & change polices, etc. Obviously I can go to each program's website but I didn't want to reinvent the wheel here if I didn't have to.

I am also wondering if I should be giving up status w/ AS since I can still get EQMs while flying many of the partner airlines. Although admittedly I am a little miffed that AS isn't offering 150% EQM on Y tickets. AS has created a lot of bad blood with us through their inconsistant policies lately plus their (unrelated obviously) lousy cargo service, flying with them and transporting with them is so predictably unpredictable.

A

One thing to consider is that AS is a mileage partner with AA, NW, DL, and CO. So staying with AS may give you more airline choices for continental US flights than any of these others (AA is OneWorld, while NW, DL, and CO are SkyTeam).

None of these covers any Star Alliance airlines like UA, US, or AC.

I'm not an FF expert, and my strategy is still developing, so keep that in mind if there is an angle I've missed. Also, you probably know a lot of this, but I'm still ejicatin muself.

I moved to PDX last year where AS is the clear leader in NS flights. SWA is second, all others go to hubs only. My understanding is that SEA has a bit more options from non-AS carriers, but they are still the dominant carrier.

As such I've been looking hard at the AS program since this is the first time I've found myself somewhere where concentrating on one FF program might actually work out for me (up to now, my concentration has been all on Hilton HHonors, but I'd love to get status with an airline and more free flights to go with all my free hotel rooms).

I'd think AS' partner network would be the easiest ariline for maintaining status (or gaining, in my case). From the website, "American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Air France, LAN, or Northwest Airlines" miles count towards status. You only need 20K AS miles, or 25K miles including partners for VIP (double those numbers for MVP Gold).

In my limited experience, AS is easier to redeem miles with than many of the other airlines, and cheaper, too, with the 20K domestic redemptions (AS only, 25K on partners). And you can redeem with more partners than the status accruing ones listed above: CO, Hawaiian, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, etc.

And FWIW, I personally have found that AS service ranks high in comparison with other airlines. I don't have extensive experience, and don't know about "inconsistant policies lately" making them "predictably unpredictable".

A downside would seem to be that the international alliance is small compared to the big three networks (OneWorld, Star Alliance, SkyTeam). And you can't transfer your AS miles into HHonors points at a decent rate (that's just one of my personal things since it has always been my focus).

What I need to do next is look at AS partners, where flying AS counts towards status, and see if they hold any benefits over AS. Unfortunately, I haven't found the table you describe. I'll end up making my own, probably.

LOL, of course, that seems to be AA and NW, the two programs you want to evaluate.

I'll stand for AA.

AA sure is intriguing with the million mile lifetime status possiblity.

You should probably look into whether either AA or NW will do a status match. For my money, NW offers a much better coach product than AA along with better lounges. The AA service has really declined over the past few years, they offer no free food in coach...not even peanuts. You might consider remaining with AS...they offer excellent coverage up and down the Pacific Coast into Mexico and with status you get upgrade certificates for NWA. I would recommend that you give up a Board Room membership for a World Clubs or Presidents Club membership...you get access to the AS Clubs along with many other partners.

I have evaluated this exact question several times in the past 10yrs, and every time i decide it is best to remain with AS.

i grew up inside an AS plane (from ANC), but have been in the midwest the past 10 yrs. when i first moved to the midwest AS had the one ANC-ORD flight, and that was it outside of the western US. now there are 3 flights a day to SEA from ORD, plus other east coast service. i fly about 80K a year, and i would say about 30K of that is on AS - as i fly them from ORD to SEA and ANC. i love the possibilities it gives me being Gold on AS - i can get EQM on AA, DL, and NW - so pretty much i can choose which airline i want whenever i go places. I am getting the 100% bonus for these partner flights, and the 50K bonus for reaching 75K on AS and its partners throughout the year.

the major benefit to switching is first class upgrades - but i can handle Y on short hops around the midwest. i really want the upgrades on ORD-SEA and ORD-ANC - which i always fly on AS. so it just made sense for me to stick with AS.

i did write NW and tell them I was going to switch from AS to either AA or NW a few years ago, and they did comp me NW Gold for the remainder of the program year. yes, i got a lot of FC upgrades, but the miles just didnt seem as valuable to me as the AS miles (with all of the partners it is much easier to redeem somewhere - you get most of the NW partners and more). i flew NW almost exclusively for a year, but it didnt beat out AS in my mind.

i also wrote AA with the same proposition (and got nothing at all back). they do have a challenge program, but there FC is limited with upgrade points. they fly mainly old MD80s, which, as you know from AS, arent the best planes, especially after they created LRTC. as an AS elite i cant reserve exit rows in advance, but again am able to survive anywhere for an hour or two.

i have stuck with AS. although i know that AS has had its share of problems, it really is a good airline and a great frequent flyer program. i dont find AS to be any worse than either NW or AA - the service level is actually higher on AS than it is on the other two carriers. delays plague both NW and AA when flying out of the midwest (i dont think i have been on an on-time AA flight this year - and i have 16 AA/AE segments this year). AS is having some growing pains, but i think it is still a top notch program.

as far as a chart, this is the info i gathered over the years in making my decision (please correct if any is wrong)

LEVELS
AS
MVP 20K (AS only) 25K (AS + partners)
Gold 40K (AS only) 50K (AS + partners)
AA
Gold 25K
Platinum 50K
Platinum Exec 100K
NW
Silver 25K
Gold 50K
Platinum 75K

UPGRADES
AS
unlimited - MVP 48hrs, Gold 72hrs (unless Q+ then time of booking)
AA
4 500 mile segment upgrades per 10K flown
can purchase more
exception - platinum executive get unlimited upgrades
upgrade windows - Gold 24hrs/Platinum 72hrs/Plat Exec 100hrs
NW
unlimited - Silver 1 day, Gold 3 days, Platinum 5days

CHANGE FEES
AS
waived for MVP Golds only, others subject to $50 fee
AA
waived for Exec Plat only, others subject to $100 fee
NW
waived for Platinum, others subject to either $50 or $100 fee depending on market

STAND BY
AS
pretty liberal, unless on a flight-restricted ticket
AA
$25.00 same day confirmation (within 3 hrs)
or you can choose to stand by for free same day
NW
$25.00 same day confirmation (within 3 hrs)
or you can choose to stand by for free same day


MEALS
AS
eff. Aug 1, BOB in Y on mid-range - still comp on transcons
AA
BOB in Y on all flights including alaska and hawaii
NW
BOB in Y on all flights including alaska


PARTNERS
AS
AA, AF, BA, CO, CX, DL, HA, KL, LA, NW, QF
AA
oneworld (including BA, QF, CX, IB, LA) + AS
NW
sky team (including CO, NW, DL, KL, AF, KE) + AS


LOUNGES
AS
discount for being elite - allows use of CO/NW lounges when traveling those airlines - access to DL lounges in ATL/CVG/SLC
AA
discount for being elite - lounges throughout country, but pay for alcohol
NW
discount for being elite - ability to use any DL/NW/CO lounge at any time

AS has this, but it is only BIS miles on AS that count towards this. hard to obtain.

Good point. I should have specified: AA is intriguing with the one-of-a-kind million mile lifetime status offer from all mileage sources (credit cards, bonus rentals, etc.). With the flying patterns I have, I don't think I'll ever actually fly 1,000,000 miles.

You know OMAguy, I think you are absolutely on the mark. Your post makes a lot of sense and comparing what is important to me, upgrades and flight flexibility, AS still seems to be the one. As a gold it is nice having all those fees waived. Most, if not all, of my long hauls can be done on AS so I have the free upgrades. I really don't like AA's policy of the vouchers for upgrades. My NW flights in the SE are shorter flights and NW does upgrade me if available day of flight based on my AS status.

As my daughter would say, Okay, fine... I guess. It really does make the most sense to stay with AS.

A