There are two systems: Qmiles and Qpoints. You get full Qmiles for discount economy but only 50% Qpoints. However, your Qmiles are what you use to redeem awards and your status bonuses are added to your Qmiles total.

Check out http://www.fewmiles.net/AA for a complete explanation.

I switched from DL my primary carrier with CO my 2nd carrier in the fall of 2000 and have never looked back. as much as I gripe about CO; it beats DL. the biggest factor for me leaving DL was the inability to u/g LU fares and since then they have added T fares to the list. DL isn't even my 2nd carrier now; UA is although I want to switch that to AA... another story

Leave them; DL is badddddd

AA has two "programs", Q-miles/points and miles.

You can earn elite status just like all the other airlines by flying miles or segments. I fly tons of segments so I am not really sure any more what the mileage tiers are. One flown mile equals one FF mile. I think you earn elite levels as follows: 25k miles/30 segments for Gold, 50k miles/60 segments for Platinum, 100k miles for Executive Platinum.

Or, you can earn Executive Platinum status by earning Q-points. AA awards Q-points based on the class of service you fly. Discount economy earns .5 Q-point per mile flown, full economy earns 1.0 Q-point per mile flown, and premium cabins earn 1.5 Q-points per mile flown. Executive Platinum status can also be achieved by earning 100k Q-points (~66.667 flown miles in premium cabins).

So, with AA, if you are a premium cabin type of person, you will get the recegnition you deserve and get top tier status while having flown less actual miles. Or, if you are like I am and the company makes you fly economy, then you earn your elite status via actual flown miles.

Come on over to AA, you'll never look back.



[This message has been edited by onedog (edited 11-04-2002).]

Darn, I'm 36 and my skin still hasn't cleared up yet! Zit zapping must have been one of those unofficial benefits that AA phased out as a cost cutting move before I switched over to AA.

You can also earn AAdvantage Gold and AAdvantage Platinum with 25,000 and 50,000 q-points, respectively.

Business class travel earns 1.25 q-points per mile flown. First class travel earns 1.5 q-points per mile flown.

DL is still my primary domestic carrier. I do grudgingly fork over the money for domestic K fares in order to upgrade, but have shifted most of my international business to UA and have never looked back. UA's upgrade-at-the-gate policy, E+ seating and *A Gold international lounge access policy makes them my primary overseas carrier.

LH is starting PDX-FRA (non-stop) service. This might make Star very attractive for you.
DL used to be a fantastic airline in the 80s in terms of management practices (for both employees and customers) ... this devotion to quality caused me to go far out of my way to fly DL over the years ... but the past 5 years has seen a steady change, towards "industry standards" and DL isn't special any more. Skyteam is a joke of an alliance, so I have mostly switched to Oneworld and am now PM-equivalent on AA and QF; now fly DL when convenient, and might make PM again this year despite DL not being my carrier of choice (it is still a good airline, in terms of plane quality). But I didn't leave DL, rather DL left me (and I hung in there for several years ... the problems at DL predate 2001 for the most part).
I will say that AA offers far better service than DL on some routes, and the alliance benefits are far better than for Skyteam (also awards are actually redeemable). My QF Plat status gives me free F lounge access even when flying AA domestically (DL doesn't have anything close to the F lounge quality) so I won't miss the CRC if I do lose access.

I used to fly Delta whenever possible. Since May 2001, I have split my business between Delta and United. Personally, I prefer United in most respects. If United's routes met my needs, I would probably make the switch 100%. Delta seems to hate its customers much of the time. Strange, but true!

Bruce

I used to fly DL whenever possible, and was Gold for a couple of years. The upgrade policy and the number of expired upgrades were large factors in my defection. Currently, I am mixing US, WN, and AA. I never make the top rung, but it proves to be satisfactory since much of the travel is for work and everything is domestic.

GM for past 6 years...gone as of 12/31. Had 2 segments this year - LAX-SLC-LAX. Also let my CRC expire.

Not unhappy about walking away. AS Gold, HP Gold, UA 1P and still haven't flown in Y yet this year.

Leo can...well you know...

I did enough mileage runs to upgrade from GM to PM and, as soon as I reached PM, DL slapped the no upgrades restriction on L fares. Gosh, I'm sorry that I can schedule my business travel far enough in advance to qualify for L fares. My choice then was to pay $400 for a $200 ticket or give all of my business to UA. I now have no status on DL and UA hates me as a 1K because I buy the $200 tickets and then have the nerve to upgrade. Next year, I'll give Greyhound my 100,000 miles.

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Biggest Little 1K (in The Biggest Little City) In The World

I'm in a similar position. Most of my travel is planned months or even years in advance. (For example, I have a business meeting in Honolulu in October 2005.) Obviously, I buy tickets very far in advance, with an effort to catch sales when they occur.

I used to buy Delta's K fares so that I could upgrade. As a PM buying so far in advance, I was almost always upgraded. But now, with the introduction of U and then T fares, the K-fare differential has become huge. My employers can't justify paying the difference. That will land me in coach more and more often. And coach on Delta is really intolerable for a frequent flyer, even a small person like me (5'6", 140 pounds).

So, I have been drifting toward United and liking them a lot. They have much better planes, as we all know. Their upgrade policies are much better. Coach is tolerable when you can't upgrade, because of E+, even for long flights. And the employees have been very nice to me (although others report different experiences). I have even been able to use my Mileage Plus miles for award tickets with almost no problems.

Finally, Delta under Leo Mullin seems to have adopted a customer-hostile attitude that I am unwilling to accept or even tolerate. I know that all airlines would love to fill their planes with last-minute, premium-fare passengers, but that's not going to happen. The world has lots of people like me. I fly an awful lot (250,000 miles annually), but I can and do buy cheap fares well in advance. Is that some sort of crime? I don't think so.

Bruce

Just got off the phone with DL trying to book DC to SIN First Class using miles this coming January. Before calling DL, I tried both AA and UA.

Within 10 minutes, the AA agent confirmed me in F on Cathay Pacific for the exact days I needed. Routing: DCA-JFK-HKG-SIN-HKG-JFK-DCA. She also offered JAL as an option (similar routing, but through NRT). Total cost, 130,000 miles.

It took longer with UA, maybe 20 minutes, but the agent came up with a really exotic routing (also on the exact days requested): IAD-LHR in UA F; LHR-BKK in Thai F; BKK-SIN in SQ F; SIN-FRA in SQ F; and FRA-IAD in Lufthansa F. Total cost, 120,000 miles.

On to Delta! After almost 30 minutes, the agent offered I could leave a day earlier than desired (ok with that), would fly DL Y from DCA-CVG; DL C from CVG-LAX; SQ F from LAX-SIN. Could only come home day after desired date and the only thing available was Y on SQ SIN-SFO, then F on DL SFO-ATL-DCA. The next available seat out of SIN in F was not for 12 days. Total cost, 140,000.

So, in addition to DL's restrictive upgrade policies, lack of comfortable Y seating, now they can't even compete in terms of honoring award requests. The only regret here about leaving DL is all the unusable miles in my account. A real incentive to earn even more miles with them, I think not!

Is it really more difficult to claim an award in the Delta SkyMiles program than then in the United Mileage Plus and American AAdvantage programs?

You bet!

http://www.webflyer.com/programs/award_upgrade_index/