I may be taking a new job shortly that will likely involve regular domestic and international travel from Austin (approx. 50% domestic, 25% Asia, 25% Europe). I'm 85% of the way to my lifetime million miles with AA and have been AA gold in the past but do not currently have any elite status. Since Austin is not a hub for any airlines, any recommendations/input on which of AA, DL, CO or UA I should try to concentrate my travel on when I have a choice would be appreciated. I use miles primarily for domestic and international economy travel (I've always had reasonably good luck with AA on getting award seats). Thanks.

In Austin AA has the best connections etc. AA even has the biggest presence in Austin so I suggest you stick with AA.

Another one that is present is Southwest. But as far as frequent flyer program goes and with Asia & Europe in mind. I wouldnt travel on Southwest even if it was free.

AA and CO based on pricing, frequency, connections, etc.

Go AA!

I noticed that most fares into and out of AUS on AA don't have the usual saturday night stay restriction as well. For instance, when I would commute DFW-SAN the round trip fare would be $900 plus for travel on Tuesday returning on Friday. When I would route through AUS (DFW-AUS-LAX-SAN, or DFW-AUS-DFW-SAN) the fares would be in the $300 range. And oh, the miles on such flights...

Maybe this info will help?

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preez mine da pratform gahp.

Avoid Continental like the plague.

International upgrades are impossible, even for elites. Stick with AA.

Hope you reach 1 MM soon!

go for the 1MM!!

AA no question about it.

SteveH

AA definitely.. they have nonstop flights to SJC,LAX,DFW,ORD,HOU & STL from Austin, so there are plenty of choices for flights/connections.

While I personally am biased toward AA, there are some factors to consider that you didn't provide before I'd be able to give a blanket recommendation.

A few things to consider:
1.) How many miles do you think you're going to fly? For example, if you plan on flying 75,000 miles, that's enough to hit top tier on CO. You'd need another 25,000 to hit top tier on AA.

2.) Is your company going to pay for J tickets on the int'l trips? IF so, you can ignore all the post about the HoKeY dance on CO. If not, read up on HoKeY for the 25% of your travel that's to Europe.

3.) Are the destinations you're going to served well enough by CO/KL/NW? Or are you going to need oneworld (with AA Q-miles on all airlines for eligible fare codes). Will you be able to benefit from AA's point-to-point routes from Austin?

4.) Are you more interested in flying up front domestically or internationally? I'd pick int'l, so I'd bebiased toward AA on this one one if you're going to hit 100,000 miles (for the 8 VIPOW certs- and an extra 8 for first-time qualifiers).

I'd also check out the AA and CO forums. From the posts, there's been plenty of crossover between the two in past months/years- I'm sure you'll be inundated with info!

Good luck w/ your decision....

Edit- just noticed that you hadn't narrowed it down to AA/CO (we did that for you ). There's a rabble-rousing thread on the AA forum about techgirl "switching" to UA- you can search for that if you want news on a DFW-based flyer's perspective on UA/AA.

[This message has been edited by landspeed (edited 07-09-2002).]

Other things to consider:

AA has MRTC which is nice when comparing CO coach. CO has auto-elite upgrades that are no cost. AA requires 500-mile segment purchases. AA requires more points to upgrade to FC, i.e. 30k roundtrip to FC, CO is 20k. AA requires an expedite fee to upgrade using points if within a certain period of time, CO doesn't have this.

AA's 1MM deal (lifetime gold) can't be beat. AA also allows the gold/plt challenge, CO doesn't. I constantly take advantage of NWA promos for points. I use NWA points to upgrade my wife to CO FC. All of my experiences deal with domestic flights, no international as of yet. Many threads discuss CO's international upgrade issues. CO's BF seat is nice but difficult to get. My wife splits here travels between AA and CO and is usually able to maintain at least Silver on CO and Gold on AA. One last item to consider is if you fly CO and have an AMEX Plat card you can gain access to CO and NWA clubs. We pay for AA club access.

UA connections from Austin are really bad now. The non-stops to IAD and SFO are gone.

The current nonstops out of Austin, according to the Austin-Bergstrom website:

Atlanta; Baltimore/Washington (BWI); Chicago (O'Hare); Cincinnati (Int'l); Dallas/Fort Worth (Dallas/Love Field); Denver; El Paso; Harlingen; Houston (Bush Intercontinental/Hobby); Kansas City (MCI); Las Vegas (Int'l); Los Angeles; Lubbock; Memphis; Midland/Odessa; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Nashville; New York/Newark; Orlando; Phoenix (Int'l); Raleigh-Durham; St. Louis (Int'l); Salt Lake City; San Antonio; San Diego; San Jose; Tampa; and Cancun & Cozumel, Mexico seasonal charter service, May 25 � Sept. 1, 2002. To to
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/austinairport/nonstops.htm to see which airline serves which city.


[This message has been edited by TexasFlyer (edited 07-09-2002).]

There are no non-stops to SAT, but there is one DL flight from SAT to AUS, continuing to SLC. SAT-AUS starts at just $93+tax one way!

Okay, its an Hour drive! From north austin to the airport! Why fly?

One thing that really is bad is that Austin is right outside the milliage for a nonstop flight into New York. every flight has to make a connection.

But, Dallas (and texas) has the distinction of being less than a 4 hour direct flight from all of the continental US!

you state percentage wise how your travel will be divided up but you don't say how many miles you will be travelling per year. If you will only hit (25,000 miles) AA Gold which is equal to CO Silver then I would stick with AA. What domestic destinations will you be travelling to? Some airlines have better and more frequent flights to certain destinations.

Rachel