Im 49 years old female. All through high school and until a few years ago I would fly Delta only from New Orleans west. Instead of leaving a few decent flights west they have made it so anyone flying from New Orleans has to fly another airline. All those years saving frequent flyer points and being loyal. Continental Airlines is not ideal in the summer months using Houston as a hub leaving New Orleans because so many times the weather is bad in New Orleans or Houston.

Welcome to Flyertalk, Louisiana Hurricane.

I'm not really sure what question you're asking? Are you looking for a different carrier to fly / frequent flyer program to be loyal to (and seeking advice for what program to participate in)?

If that's indeed what you're after, perhaps you could share what your most frequent destinations are, what perks are important to you, how often you fly (do you make elite status?), and what your award goals are. Then the seasoned experts here might be able to get to work on your behalf!

Best,
Gary

One, Im looking for the fastest way to fly from New Orleans west. Two, use frequent flyer points to upgrade to Business class. United Airlines is out because they do not accept points via American Express's program and Southwest is out because they only have one class of service.

Are you aware that you can stick with SkyMiles while using CO (or even NW) to fly west from MSY? Now that DL, CO, and NW are essentially bedfellows, you can earn miles in one program even on the other carriers' metal. So remaining with SkyMiles, but flying a combination of DL, CO, and NW is an option.

Also, your concern about summertime weather delays is rather unfounded. If the weather at MSY is bad, it will affect all airlines, not just CO. And contrary to what you apparently think, IAH (Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport) actually does quite well in the government's
on-time arrival and departure statistics.

The advantage of using CO is that if you are an elite, you are eligible for complimentary space available first class upgrades. The disadvantages include a lot of regional jet travel and a recently announced rollback on elite qualifying miles on discount fares. But the unholy trinity of DL, CO, and NW should be attractive to you given your demand for premium travel.

Outside of WN (Southwest) and the aforementioned DL/CO/NW alliance, your other two options are AA and UA. Both are good choices. AA generally connects through DFW and UA through DEN. AA offers MRTC (More Room Throughout Coach) except on its 757 and A300 aircraft, and UA offers E+ (Economy Plus) on most of its aircraft. Between the two, I would probably choose AA because its DFW hub is closer to MSY than UA's DEN hub. But ultimately, you may be better off with the DL/CO/NW alliance.

[This message has been edited by cAAl (edited Jan 20, 2004).]

Actually, you can transfer Membership Rewards points to Continental and then convert your Continental miles into United via Amtrak -- with no devaluation, up to 25,000 miles per year.

See:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/009175.html

Well, at least you got an opinion from Randy!

last time I checked, United has a daily nonstop to SFO from New orleans. I think it leaves around 11 am...