Great (and often enthusiastic) feedback and advice.

I'm coming to the conclusion that like I may have to split up between 2 programs. AS will probably be one of them, but I may use them for west coast travel, and the occasional overpacked and overbooked flight to EWR. I'm close to MVP Gold, and might make it.

2 or 3x monthly trips to the east coast or beyond should let me rack up points on another airline. And it looks like it's between AA, NW and perhaps UA (as a third place option).

AA would give me coverage on airports that AS doesn't have, and I can't help but think that AA gives upgrades to it's own folks before looking at it's partner Elitess so MVP Gold may not help me. The gates are closer, etc. Upgrade certs are cheaper. But that Q & O footnote on their status points chart looks potentially annoying.

NW might be a candidate to replace my CO favorite from back east. Like AA, it's relationship with AS helps.

UA, however has that E+ (that you can purchase access to) & that might make it easier when I have to be behind the curtain. I was a 1K for about 3 years, but I still remember those days of their scheduling issues. I HATE US Scareways. They have exhibited extremely aberrant behavior in my direction when I was in their Chairmans club. and that is a biased opinion. Thanks to the general for reminding me of that.

I'm looking at schedules between these two to destinations I know I'll be hitting like New Orleans, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Heathrow, Schipol etc. That might help tip the scales for me.

Thanks for all the great input, and please the more first hand accounts I can review the more informed I can be.

I figure in another week or so I'll be booking for '07. I'll be sure to post what I decided on given the emotions this invoked.

As as Mr. Letterman says. "Please, no wagering"

If you go with two FF programs (with one of them being AS), then it would seem that you are looking at one or both of the following strategies:

a. The second one is just to collect miles from flights where AS and its many partners do not have a reasonable flight choice. In this case, the only reasonable choice if you are flying mostly US domestic is a Star Alliance carrier like UA (or US or AC), since AA, CO, NW, and DL are already covered by AS' partnerships. (This is ignoring the FF isolates like WN, B6, F9, FL, etc. which you might as well open accounts with if you end up flying them, but do not factor into the decision you are asking about.)

b. You expect to be able to gain the desired level of status on AS and another airline, with the other airline's status being more useful than AS status for non-west coast trips. In this case, AA, CO, NW, or DL may make sense as a secondary program, despite the apparent redundancy with AS, if status and awards there is more useful for some of your flights than AS status and awards even with the AS partnership.

From what you write, it looks more like (b) above. In which case, checking the schedules and flight options to your likely destinations, as you are doing, is the obvious step to take in deciding which FF programs to choose.

But note the rumored mergers going on (US/DL, UA/CO). If any of them go through, that may affect FF alliances and partnerships.

First of all, we are probably all biased. I know I am - I'm going to recommend that you pick either AA or UA.

I fly in & out of Seattle every 2 weeks. I use UA for the simple reason that I connect through DEN, which I like better than the AA option (ORD). Now that I'm hooked into UA, I'm addicted to E+. And I have yet to have a desired upgrade denied as a 1P. (Yes, I realize I'm not trying to upgrade the most desirable routes in the system, but still, a 1024-mile segment is a pretty good spot for 2 e-500's.)

The AA advantage is - I think - some nonstops to New York City. I don't believe that UA can get you that. They'll get you to IAD and CLT (on US metal) - that's your East Coast selection. Plan B is one-stop through DEN, which is better than ORD in the winter. Another AA advantage is that Golds can prebook exit row. On UA, you need 1P to do that.

Anyway, I don't know much about CO, other than the fact that FT'ers hate their mileage program. They seem to have a unique international route map with some cool offerings that others don't have, as well as an international premium cabin product that is well-regarded. I just don't know how hard is it to upgrade into without buying the revenue tickets.

Well, here's some more advice. Chart carefully what you want and what you can reasonably fly. I just crossed into EXP-land on AA. 100,000 miles is a LOT of flying and demanded a number of explicit MRs. I seem to have a great patience and tolerance for this: for the most part, I enjoyed these adventures. You may not. If your goal is unlimited upgrades domestically and international upgrades via AA EXP eVIPs, you may want/need to concentrate your flying on just one carrier. Sit down with a spreadsheet and Great Circle Mapper and get a realistic sense of how quickly you're going to be able to earn EQMs on your routings. It took me 60+ segments to get to EXP...

Here's a strategy that may work for your needs: do the platinum challenge on AA, get Plat, request comp to MVP Gold on AS after you've amassed a goodly number (50,000+) of AA EQMs, keep flying to maintain status in both programs. Platinum on AA is nothing to sneeze at and I found the benefits quite real in the ~8 months I spent as Plat. In terms of the sequence of operations, I did something quite similar to what I just described, though I waited until I was at about 85,000 miles before requesting the comp to MVP Gold.

One other tip: absolutely buy the AC membership if you're going to be doing regular AA travel. At the time I bought, I wondered if I was just indulging myself. In the few months I've had it, the Admiral's Club membership has already paid for itself in all sorts of ways.

My plan is to maintain EXP in AA and to try to keep MVP Gold on segments. We'll see how realistic that is in 2007.

-KF

to tjl - definitely your approach B. I have more miles on UA, CO, and US Airways that I could ever use, so I'm after the creature comfort benefits.

To pinneped and mr. fine, excellent advice. There's a chance I make AS MVP Gold, which could by me time to hit a status on another airline in early 07, and then focus on AS, or else, as you suggest as for a comp in 08.

UA for me... AS has lots of non-stops but not much frequency to those dests.

UA requires much connecting in DEN but thats one of the best airports to connect through... ORD or IAH? no way!

You can red-eye to IAD and get to most places in the east coast in the AM. This gets you 4.5 hrs of sleep at least.

E+ rules, no doubt about it. Only 25K miles to hit Premier and have it for free. You can also buy as you go or get E+ access for $299

UA does IAD, ORD, DEN, LAX, SFO, NRT, PDX from SEA.

I live in SEA and travel about 110k/year almost exclusively domestic (except for major vacations). Here is my input on your situation:

AS is by far the biggest carrier in SEA, as it is their HQ/Main Hub. However, as you have noted, AS is very strong on the West Coast but has somewhat limited trans-continental flight options (BOS, ORD, WAS and a few others).

After AS, UA and NW both have many daily departures out of SEA. UA used to have more, then cut back in Chapter 11 in 2002-03, but more recently NW has also filed Ch11 and cut back so I don't know currently which truly has more daily flights. CO, DL and AA all have significantly fewer options out of SEA than UA and NW (measured by both flights and gates) so IMO you probably would be best focusing on those two.

I used to be primary on UA, but really got tired of connection problems in ORD and SFO (for West coast travel).

So for the past 6-7 years, I have focused on NW as primary (with AS secondary). Traveling east you will connect in either MSP or DTW, both of which also provide several daily flights to Schipol (on NW and KLM codeshare) which I saw you listed.

My observations/considerations:
1) I have qualified for Plat each year on NW and depending on the year I have been MVP or MVPG on AS.

2) Between the two, NW requires 75k for top-tier elite, while UA is 100k - for me this made a significant difference.

3) NW provides automatic domestic (48states) upgrades for elite travelers while UA provides E+ and upgrade vouchers depending on your elite tier. Note: SEA is a heavy elite market for NW so unlike other cities you cannot count on an upgrade every flight - this year my upgrade % as Plat out of SEA was probably 75% and many of those were at the gate vs. in advance.

4) NW WorldClubs are reciprocal with AS Board Room, and both are generally much nicer than UA Red Carpet Club.

5) AS will typically provide a status match to MVPG from top (or sometimes middle) tier on another major, NW will typically only match to Gold but not Plat.

What I would probably do in your shoes is to compare my estimated travel pattern and decide if I wanted to focus on Elite status on either AS or NW as primary with the other being secondary. You will get frequent upgrades on both (on their own metal), so you will need to decide which is of greater value to you - I chose to focus on NW since my travel mix is about 60% midwest and east vs. 40% west. I also place a higher value on being upgraded for 5-6hour itineraries than 2-3hour ones. You can also earn on CO and DL for either airline, but AS also partners with AA, NW does not.

Once you've decided you can credit travel on both airlines to your preferred account and once you've earned desired elite tier you can transition to the other. For example, you may find that AS-MVP and NW-Gold is better for you than AS-MVPG and NW-Silver. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are crediting your miles to the program other than that you are flying you will give up upgrade privileges on that segment (there used to be some clever ways around this, but I think the systems have closed all of the loopholes now).

I'm sure there are those who feel that UA is better than NW out of SEA and they may be right depending on their own travel plans, but I will also throw out that my business partner was a top-tier UA flyer for many years and switched over to NW in 2005 and has been very happy with the change.

BTW- there are a LOT more experts available on each of these programs above by going to the appropriate FT board.

Best of luck with your decision and welcome to Seattle!

We used to fly NW, but switched to UA back in 1999 in order to get into the upper deck Party on the PIP Express. It was a good decision. ^ Since then both Hunki and I have both been UA 1ks every year. Up until last year we were also both AS MVPGs. We dropped AS last year because if became way too difficult to upgrade the transcons even as an MVPG and, after we closed our PDX office, our need for weekly SEA/PDX trips no longer existed.

On UA we typically take three international trips a year and the rest is all domestic. We love the service. We are almost always (at least 95% of the time) upgraded to first or business. As a matter of fact, I personally have never flown internationally in coach, and have made it a lifetime goal to maintain that record.

Maybe we are just lucky, but we have never really had problems with connections in either SFO or ORD. Even during "the summer from hell" everything went smoothly for us. Back then I was even starting to feel a little guilty about accepting all of the bennies they were handing out by way of apology for our "inconvenience".

We are both closing in on UA Million Miler so it is unlikely that we will switch, at least until we hit that goal. I do occasionally toy with idea of achieving lifetime status on AA before we retire. If we do that it would be primarily the result of credit card spending.

So until we retire, it will be almost all UA metal for us. When we fly places that UA doesn't, i.e. TEL, we fly SEA/FRA/SEA on a UA revenue ticket and then get an award ticket FRA/TEL/FRA. Once we retire we have a huge stock of both *Alliance and One World miles to burn to see the rest of the world.

Our only regular destinations to which AS is really a lot more convenient than UA are LAS, LGB and SAN. Even since we dropped AS status, we have always managed to get first class seats on those flights.