Best FF programme for LA
 

Hi All

I'll be moving to LA soon and was wondering if you guys could recommend the best FF programme to concentrate my efforts on if the following routes are the ones I travel most:

LA - Maui
LA - London (any airport)
LA - Aruba
and possibly LA - New York (any airport)

I actually have status on both United and AA at the moment but I won't be able to keep it up on both so, either I focus on the better one of these (based on what you guys suggest) or get another airline (again, on your suggestions) to tranfer my status to them.

Thanks in advance!

Normally going out of LAX, I would say united. But based on your travel:

LAX - London (AA or BA have non-stops)
LAX - Maui (AA, United, and Hawaiian Airlines)
LAX - NY (Delta and AA have more non-stops to NY then United)
LAX - Aruba (don't know this one to be honest)

I would say the winner based on this situation would be AA only because you have more options for London and NY on AA from LAX. YMMV

AA also has significantly more options than UA for LAX to Aruba.

A lot depends on your frequency/class of travel, and your expected highest elite level.

If you will be going to OGG most often, UA has more flight options. AA is better to the other destinations.

UA's PS is, IMO, as good or better as AA's 762 AFS LAX-JFK, but with half the frequencies; if you're buying Business and have that much schedule control, it's a vote for UA -- otherwise, for AA.

If you'll be making it to the EXP level on AA on Y cabin travel, those 8 eVIPs (systemwide upgrades) will be a lifesaver on the long LAX-LHR flights, and the EXP priority will help you on the JFK runs (where, as a PLT, I'm doing 75%+ and expect to do better as EXP...).

YMMV

I'd probably only be travelling about 6-8 times a year. My usual tactic is to book an upgradable economy ticket and then use miles to put myself in Business (trans Atlantic) or First (domestic). The AA option is tempting because of the BA link and they still fly 747s which I like because of the upper deck option. On the other hand I have had better experiences on UA as opposed to AA - puzzler.

If I remember correctly, you can't earn in AA while flying BA unless your actual ticket is booked as an AA codeshare with an AA flight number.

Halothane

Yes, and AA codeshares on BA don't earn AAdvantage miles TATL between US and UK.

Thanks for all the help and advice. I think I'll go with AA as they're the only airline that seem to service all the routes I'm likely to fly (with reasonable times). UA was definitely better for Maui but with the latest news about AA and BA (I know it will take time if indeed it happens at all) I think AA are the best option for me.

I'll be PremEx again on UA this year but do you think AA will match that if I switch to flying with them all the time? I know BA matched another airline for a colleague of mine but I have never tried this myself.

The situation with recipriprocity on mileage accrual on Ba/AA (and a few other oneworld partners) could soon be changing:

British Airways says it has sealed an alliance with American Airlines that will allow the two carriers to fix fares, routes and schedules together.

The move will also include Spain's Iberia, which is merging with BA.

With aviation fuel prices near record levels and spending on air travel slowing, airlines are looking at ways to cut costs.

But the carriers will have to persuade the US that the deal does not break US rules on foreign ownership of airlines.

The rest is here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7560790.stm

One thing I had failed to take into consideration (when I said I'd probably go with AA) is that AA charge $300 each way to upgrade from Economy to Business + miles (at least for atlantic crossings) whereas UA don't seem to have a $ charge. I really didn't think that choosing between these 2 would be this hard!