OnePass or AAdvantage?
 

I've been a member here, but I have never been in the position to actually become a FF. In February next year, I will be starting a new job which will require me to travel extensively (every weekend for 36 weekends). Living in Austin and going to both coasts and points in-between, both AA and CO have pretty good coverage. There are two instances in the entire schedule when CO gets me about 50 miles closer to my destination than AA, but that doesn't really matter. Doing the rough estimation, on AA I will accumulate 104,370 EQM's and at least 138 EQP's. Total mileage would be around 195,000. On CO, I would end up with 114,136 EQM's and at least 151 EQP's. Total mileage is around 210,000.

My question, I guess is which program is better? I know I can challenge for Plat at AA and be a Plat faster, and with AA I will be on more mainline flights (only 16 express segments) so I might get upgraded more. On CO, I will be flying more segments and 42 express segments. EXP sounds a lot better than Plat Elite...can anybody say for sure which is better? I would hit Plat Elite before EXP by 5 weekends.

Neither airline has non-stops from Austin to the destinations I have, so a hub stop is required for both. I know CO's terminal E in Houston is nice and that seems to be where all of the AUS flights land...what about AA's terminals in DFW? (I haven't been there in more than 10 years--AA side that is).

So what's your opinion? AA AAdvantage or CO OnePass?

Basing it on my own experience only, I like AA.

I find they are easiest to redeem and also, you can HOLD award bookings online for a while, whereas most other web sites are far more limiting. AA also HAS seats most of the time for my needs!

I know CO recently has become a better place... I have heard this from many people and that's great. But AA, other than the fact its in flight coffee can be horrid, has at least been consistent for my needs.

Dont forget the credit cards... AA has Citi MC and it gives you 20k for signing up and also, you can catch that 10k or 20k citibanking promo in here too. I have had good experiences with Citibank.

Good luck!
:)MM

I'd go as much as possible with AA.

AA has partners like CX and BA. CO does not.

AA also has lifetime status, which is easier to earn than most others.

You can churn AA credit cards if you want, and those miles count towards lifetime status.

As someone who flew out of AUS frequently, I'd stick with AA. Not just because their FF program is better, but also because they have more gates and better flight availability from Austin. This is all generally speaking - your specific situation may be an exception.

Furthermore, I've experienced numerous hassles when dealing with CO about the OnePass program. Their customer service (which you will be dealing with at least once if you fly that much) is not as good as AA's.

Finally, AAdvantage can be reached by a 1-800 number; OnePass dropped their 1-800 number in favor of a local 713 number (probably to save costs). What does that tell you about CO?

consider the towels
 

As you weigh the options and differences between AA and CO consider the towels. The little towel on AA is a lightweight piece of cheesecloth with a little warm water which evaporates, cooling to cabin temperature almost immediately on opening the towel. It will clean your hands but isn't exactly refreshing. The towel given out by CO is HOT, nice and refreshing. It's a real towel. :)

LMAO!

when I was making my decision, the moistness of the towels was one main factor, but the fact that CO had hot nuts was what pushed me over...

You seem to be pretty balanced between the two. Pick a favorite vacation destination and see which airline flies there more directly? pick a favorite relative who you would give award tickets to and see which airline serves their nearest airport more conviently? flip a coin?
if all else fails, I vote AA since you will get it sooner and it will mean one less plat ahead of me on CO. :p

How long do you think you might be doing this?

AA no only has lifetime Gold (at 1 million miles) and liftetime Plat (at 2 million miles), but unlike any other airline that has lifetime status, those are based on miles from all sources (base miles from flying, class of service bonuses on flying, elite bonuses on flying, other bonuses on flying, hotel/car rental/credit card miles whether earned directly or transferred from points, AAdvantage Dining miles, pudding miles, etc, etc). I'm not sure if CO even has lifetime elite at all, but if so, only from either "base" miles (paid actual miles flown) or EQMs. Since as an AA Plat, for example, you'd earn a 100% bonus on each mile flown, just for calculations sake, if you actually flew 195,000 you'd earn 390,000 minimum from flying alone (even more if there were any other bonuses), which means you'd be lifetime Elite in no more than 2.5 years and lifetime Plat in no more than 5 years. (Sorry, there is no lifetime EXP.) That'd be nice to have years from now if your flying ever falls back severely, or if you find after a few years you want to steer much of your flyihg to CO but still keep some of it on AA. (If you do CO first but don't get to lifetime status, you won't have nearly as much to show for it if you later decide to switch mostly to AA but still want to use CO some.)

Someone should actually write to AA and CO about nuts and towels! hahaha

I personally think AAs coffee is horrid. At least on say, a short flight from BOS to NY or something. United has Starbucks at least, but I dunno about CO.

From my experience living in AUS, Dallas, and Houston, I always preferred AA over CO.
I was elite on both and here were my experiences:

* The only advantage I saw with CO was being upgraded to "first" but over 2 years I was batting <50% on upgrades. This was even with checking in just under 24 hours.
* Food in CO's domestic first sucks. The pasta dish reminded me of Michelina's 99c frozen pasta meals.
* Food in CO's domestic coach reminded me of junior high food nuked through the plastic wrapper.
* That extra 2"-3" (More Room Throughout Coach) helps
* I was much more successful at getting flights with AA miles than CO miles. I don't think I EVER was able to book a flight for just 25K mi on CO.
* The best use of CO miles I found was transferring them to Amtrak and then redeeming them for retail store GCs. 5K miles = $50 GC. I'm not sure if this is still possible.

Regards,
-g

I am Plat on CO and lifetime Gold on AA, and Gold on SQ. In making your decision, AA will actually let you use your miles, and it is almost impossible on CO--they prefer you use them on some other carrier. I personally think CO has the best service, but the worst leg room. The other matter to consider is that you have some control on upgrades on AA, whereas CO's liberal policy of upgrades will go to Y class and Plat's first, so your silver and gold days will be in coach.

PFG

I like CO
 

I have been both an Executive Platinum on AA and a Platinum on CO. For years, I favored AA because the reward availability was much better. I also once found their First Class products to be comparable. I am fortunate to be able to book seats in FC, so upgrades are not a factor for me.

Starting around two years ago, AA basically eliminated FC Service, to the point where it was just a wider seat and free booze. I rarely drink, so the free booze did not matter to me. I still stuck with AA because the award availability was much better.

This year, AA Award availability has shrunken dramatically. I have not been able to find award seats to anywhere I was looking to fly unless I was willing to pony up double miles. My wife is a teacher, and my award travel times are rarely flexible, but I am often trying to book more than 6 months out.

The award availability is no better on CO. At this point, it does not appear to be good on any airline, because all of the airlines have sold out their frequent flyers by selling miles to credit card companies and others.

I now choose Continental because: (1) they still have full first class service and real first class meals on the flights I travel; (2) I like the whole Elite Access system; and (3) they actually seem to care about what their best customers think (reference them actually having a person responding to people here).

Next year, I will not be Executive Platinum on AA, and have certainly let them know why.

Hey, AA serves warm nuts.

Keep in mind this is CO nonepass where they WILL shaft you when it come to redeeming your miles. Go with AA and feel good abt the miles you earn.