I'm thinking of switching to a new carrier next year. I live in the DC area and have silver with DL through 2/04. I've been looking through the boards trying to figure out which program is going to be the best one to start flying on. Its looking like American has the best route structure/elite program .. what do you guys thing

Why don't you describe your flying patterns and what you seek most as elite benefits? Then we can be much more helpful!

I fly about 25000-35000 in the seat miles each year, mostly was-las .. try to do once a year or so was-(some european location) and a bunch of trips was-atl, was-nyc .. i don't necessarily have to ride up front but I'd like to maximize my chances of getting up front when i'm travelling on the lower fares.. it just seems like DLs freq. flyer program is a lot more restrictive than everybody else

UA has some pretty good ops out of IAD -- and since it's a mini hub there are probably more non-stops to places you want to go than what DL offered.

I like their product, too -- especially their business class to Europe; although if you're not top-tier you won't get access to it unless you opt for an upgradeable (higher) fare. Nonetheless, there are always great deals on UA out of IAD!

...I might add that with their recently-announced partnership with US Airways, this really opens up the east coast options to you a lot!

There are quite a few DC-area FTers loyal to US Airways. Granted, for flights to LAS, you'd have to connect through PHL, PIT, or CLT...

Check out the US board for more advice; you'll find we're a helpful group!

I don't care much about the connections .. I like to fly so the more connectins the better for me .. unless its business and I need to minimize my travel time. Do USAir and United only allow you to use your elite upgrades on certain fares or can you use them from any fare.

On USairways, the upgrades are for pretty much any published fare, except that for international travel, you can't upgrade from the lowest fare class ("V" I think). I don't know about United, but with the codeshare pending, I might want to learn soon.

Ditto for United. You can use the 500-mile e-upgrades on just about any domestic fare. Similarly, domestically, miles can be used to upgrade just about any fare. (Having said that, there have been a few fares where upgrades are not allowed; but those are few and far between -- I have certainly never run into that problem; even on my cheapies. Examples of "non-upgradeable" fares would be their weekend e-fare specials or deep-deep-discount S-class fares. Although, you can even upgrade those sometimes!)

Internationally, the rules are a little different. Unless you are a 1K (top tier) and receive SWUs (Systemwide Upgrades -- 1Ks receive 6 each year), only fares in class H and above are upgradeable with miles. I would say on average you're looking at a premium of $200-$400 over the lowest available fare to get an H fare. Of course, this varies greatly in some markets and with the time of year. I recently got an H-fare DEN-SFO-TPE roundtrip for $689. In the summer, an H-fare from DEN to CDG was running about $1,200.

If you do fly occasionally to international places, you may do well to look at US' program. I think they give SWUs (albeit a smaller number) to even their mid-tier elites!

Since no one has commented about AA yet, I'll chime in with my .02 miles.

If you are concerned with upgrading low fares, it doesn't get any better than AA. Their upgrades (miles and upgrade certificates) are unrestricted by fare purchased, and that includes their weekend Net SAAvers. As far as I know, the only fares you can't upgrade on American are consolidator fares (booked in 'O', I believe). This applies to both domestic and international.

In terms of their route network out of DCA/IAD, it's not great. Travelling westbound you will connect at ORD or DFW, southbound at MIA and across the pond from JFK. But since connection times don't matter much to you that might not be an issue.

I will also add that I am very, very happy with AA's level of service. Sure, things happen, but they have always taken care of me. I'm Platinum now (50,000 miles flown a year) and will make the top tier, Executive Platinum (100,000) next week. All in all, a solid airline, in my opinion.

I hope that helps! Also check out the AA board for further information from folks far more knowledgeable than I.

dlnewbie, I am in the same boat and am leaning AA. Let's discuss this next Thursday at the DC Happy Hour.