I have looked at the maps carefully. CO really does not bring much to the table. And to think the ST will not find a replacement solution for any lost significant destinations is not reasonable IMHO.

She said she was in the USA, so she will not care about HKG-NRT-GUM. If she wanted to go to GUM that would not be a preferred routing for a USA cit.

Perhaps it was not a completely accurate statement to say that Skyteam had less worldwide coverage.

Living in Japan, it does feel that way here because ANA and JAL are *alliance and OW respectively, so in fact flying out of Japan choices are relatively limited with Skyteam. Now that CO is leaving, one cannot even get a direct flight to New York from NRT on skyteam anymore.

Delta and Skyteam may very well provide excellent coverage for someone living in New York.

I agree that LH and BA are excellent choices for the premium fare flyer.

AA is a very good choice for people like me who mostly buy economy fares.

Luckily for you then that in a month you will have a nonstop to NY again. Furthermore I do find your statement slightly strange as Delta not only is the third largest carrier from NRT, but in fact the NRT hub that DL operates out of NRT is the LARGEST IN THE WORLD operated by an airline outside of its native country. When you add the fact that KE has service to and from multiple cities in Japan, plus the fact that several other ST carriers fly there as well, your argument is somewhat nonsensical.

sbm, you judge the convenience of NRT as a hub based on connectons to GUM? You do know that no one else does, right? In any case, other than Oceania (the least populated area of the world), please let us know exactly where all these regions are where 1W is superior to ST, I'm really curious to hear!! BTW, CO's network apes much of DL's network (unless you like flying from Houston) and while Copa probably leaving does leave a bit of a hole in inter-Central American flying, you will find that DL covers most of Central America quite fine.

Huh? I don't think it's fair to assume that someone based in the US will never want to connect internally within another country! And DL/NW don't do that, and in certain parts of the world, ST is very weak.

HKG, NRT and GUM are NOT in the same country. That is three different governmental affiliations!

As I have said elsewhere, ST is VERY strong for certain types of travel. They will find replacements for the FEW minor losses of CO. If there were enough demand for those other areas, I am sure ST would fill them. But if the routing does not fit for you, it does not fit. And, YMMV means your miles may vary, as posted at the end of some of my posts. This is because, what works for me, may not work for you.

[QUOTE=hobo13;11686449].. connect internally within another country! And DL/NW don't do that, ..QUOTE]

What US airline does connect internally within another country?
Where is a UA hub in asia or europe?
Where is the AA hub in asia or europe?

Most NY professionals I know go with AA. And, frankly, it makes a lot of sense. But only if she can make EXP or they're paying for F.

That having been said, it depends on what her contract is like. If paid C to the west coast or F to say DEN and ORD, maybe stick with BD for easy *G and lots of miles, maybe UA if she has a shot at GS.

CO is nice if they are only paying for full Y.

DL and US are last resorts - based solely on destinations.

steve, NY professionals going where exactly? Domestic or London? Because if they go to a bunch of Euro destinations from NY then they generally are not flying AA.

Why not? Use AA to LHR, then transfer to BA.
EXP is the best elite status IMHO out of NYC if one's main destination isn't Asia.

Unless one has a real reason, (needs the miles, fare much cheaper, whatever) no one would choose to transfer through LHR with BA if one had a nonstop alternative. Even with the advent of T5, flight connections/transfers are not easy nor pretty, just go take a look at the BA forum where the best advice given is to actually exit customs AND to check back in as that is seen as a better move (and you'll also see people complaining about slow security at T5 in any case). Again, those that ned to go to a variety of Euro destinations generally choose airlines other than AA.

I used to fly a lot to Europe from New York and whenever available I would take direct flights.

AA would be my choice only if they had a direct flight, otherwise I would go direct on another carrier. I have a hard time making an annoying transfer at LHR, or anywhere, when there are perfectly good direct flights available.

It seems to me that DL has about the best coverage of Europe along with its partners.

I avoid UA.

If she is travelling on business and her Company allows only Y purchases but she can buy full Y-fares then CO might work out well for her b/c of the unlimited Y-up to F option for elites.

Well, if it is only domestic travel, I would say to avoid UA (and I'm a proud UA'er!). If there is international travel, then UA is much more attractive as *A has the most depth of international partners, with AA second, and SkyMiles way below that (IMO of course). I

If you're going to fly the airline (and not their alliance partners) a lot, I really like AA, then DL. If you're going to fly the partners a lot (for intl travel), then UA is the best IMO. My reasons are in the last paragraph below which you can read if you'd like.

So, go compare AA and DL. One thing great about DL is you only need 75K EQM for the top level, where as AA requires 100K for EXP. SkyMiles looks to be expanding as well.

However, redeeming on DL appears to be a RIP OFF!! Their chart shows one-way, not return fares. The numbers are insane compared to UA and AA!! If using miles for international travel is your goal, AVOID DL!! 100K for US-AUS roundtrip in the "low" end. 60K roundtrip US-Europe in the "low" end, going to 90K at medium. Maybe award availability is better with DL, but the mileage prices are much higher! Your value per earned mile is not great on DL. This is my perception, but perhaps others can change my opinion.

I'd go AA. If she lives in NJ, then CO is great out of newark.

My own reasoning on UA being great for intl travel w/ partner airlines:

I've been Platinum on AA for a few years and am 1P on UA for the last 4 years. The ONLY reason I switched was because AA completely DEVALUED the miles earnings (both EQM and RDM) of partner airlines. So if I flew Qantas or BA or Cathay (all OneWorld partners), I'd get CRAP in return unless I was in an expensive fare class in E (25% EQM for BA, 50% for QF, and one leg from Hong Kong to Aus I got ZERO EQM with Cathay). I tended to fly BA and Qantas a lot since I'm in Australia and flew to both Europe and the US. With the BIS miles it would take to get Platinum (50K EQM) on AA, I could get 1K on United. It was a complete no-brainer for me.

If AA changed its partner earning for discount economy tickets, I'd likely go back. United gives 100% EQM for discount economy tickets on SingAir and Lufthana, and I put a good # of miles on both each year, but majority of my BIS miles is on United.

I have earned most of my miles on NWA but now I am switching to delta . Miles really add up fast on delta . DL is my choice on skyteam ( I live near Atlanta ). CO , NWA and DL are my choice due to low fares on the routes i fly . It really depends on the routes you fly .