Hey everyone,

I am moving to Nashville this fall and am subsequently looking into changing airline FFP. I am currently US Silver, but there is NO chance I will be sticking with them. My understanding is that WN has the largest presence at BNA, followed in no particular order by AA and DL.

I am a traveling IT Consultant; we have clients spread throughout the nation, so there is not any particular region or city that I can focus transportation.

My question(s) to yall are in reference to how you would weigh the pros and cons of AA vs DL. Below is my list of pros/cons for each; feel free to add to the list.

My list of pros for DL would be as follows:

• Silver Status Match (to FO)
• Nearby hub cities within driving distance (MEM, ATL, CVG)

My list of cons for DL would be as follows:

• Devaluation of SkyMiles (see FlyerTalk threads)
• Lower mileage/segment requirement for each tier (influx of elites?)
• ATL International...need I say more?

My list of pros for AA would be as follows:

• Better airline/program in my opinion
• Better use of miles
• Lifetime PLAT/EPLAT

My list of cons for AA would be as follows:

• Distance between hub cities and BNA
• Status challenge; no match of Dividend Silver
• Higher mileage/segment requirement for each tier
• ORD/DFW

With these pros/cons in mind, if you were in my shoes, which airline/program would you go with?

You won't want to drive to CVG, MEM, or ATL from BNA for a flight.
MEM is the closest and it is still unrealistic.

If it were me I would do Delta and hub through ATL.

I wasn't necessarily saying I would drive to any of those airports for my flights. I was just saying that if, for whatever reason, my scheduled flight was cancelled and I had the option of either spending the night in the airport or driving home, those three options wouldn't necessarily be awful. AA would not provide that option.

As a NW Platinum seeing the effects of the program change first hand, I would recommend AA. The AA miles seems to be quite valuable for making trips to Central and South America. The only disadvantage I see with AA is that trans-atlantic flights on BA get you no miles.

I would go with AA as my primary and then UA as my secondary.

What you didn't mention in your list of pros and cons was the routing it would require to get to many cities in the northeast or southeast on AA or whether you can get there at all. How would you get to BTV, PWM, PVD, ALB,or MHT on AA, for example? And do you want to backtrack to ORD or DFW or STL to get to a lot of others. On the other hand, Eagle has direct flights to DCA, LGA, BOS and MIA.

Maybe I am not focusing enough on the pros and cons of a FFP, but to me, ease of getting from origin to destination is my #1 criterion.

My suggestion is to look at the list of cities you are most likely to travel to and check out the routing on each carrier before making your final decision.

Here is my story and while it might not exactly address your questions, it does give food for thought. I have nearly 1M on both DL and AA as over the past ten years I have split my travel almost 50/50 between the two airlines and always based out of BNA. This is based on my work also in the IT industry.

For almost five years, I was heavily traveling to LAX, DFW, ORD, and LGA and AA became a no-brainer due to directs to all. Prior to that (and currently) I travel to every part of the US, with an emphasis on (stay with me sports fans) Big-12, SEC and ACC country. And that has meant DL for me. While WN has the most destinations, coverage isnt good enough to make a huge difference and the departure times always seem odd to me for business purposes.

With all that said, I have never been very price sensitive, prefer mainline equipment that accommodates upgrades, and for the most part do not mind reasonable connections. Keep in mind that I fly alot, not as much as many on this board but qualify for PM on segments by mid-year and mileage by OCT, so I find obtaining status not really a problem.

Lastly I have found that with the NWA addition, DTW and MEM has opened up some improved routing options for my needs (who knows if they will last). And with SLC services returning, the west coast options will improve.

Good topic: As I also go BNA once in a while, I find it to be a tough airport to get in and out of, especially from where I am based. I also agree with the PP that while WN gives the most coverage, the flight schedules are just plain odd and not-very-accomodating for business travellers.

At the end of the day, I've tried a few CO-IAH and AA-DFW flights, but for the most part, I've found that getting into BNA is pretty much the same from the west coast: with the exception of WN, you're going to be connecting somehow, somewhere that may not be the most convenient (IAH/DFW makes more sense, at least), so I've just resorted to sticking with US and doing the redeyes to CLT for my EB flights and UA-DEN for my return WB flights. If I go CO/AA I don't have the redeye option, and for redeyes if I'm going to overshoot and connect in ATL, I mind as well connect in CLT with the higher possibility of an UG as a US Plat.

At least from the west coast, I find BNA a particularly hard city to get in to. Not sure what everyone else's experiences are. I'm not the singer-songwriter type, and so the WN timetables are incompatible - with the M&A schedules I'm on.

To the OP: Depends on where you fly, of course. AA has the biggest mainline presence, but if you need east coast coverage or SE coverage, US may serve you in a few places. Those DL BNA-ATL nonstops are VERY expensive. (But then again, so are those US BNA-CLT nonstops). BNA is hard, unless you're strappin' a guitar with "B20" on your BP.

There is no lifetime EPlat...only Gold and Plat.

I'd go with UA as my primary, AA second. That's based on my perception of value.

Out of BNA, flying UA means "I place no value on the space/comfort that some find when on a mainline jet". The few mainline flights are operated by US to CLT (the "direct" flights on the schedule stop there).

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm one of the BNA-based DL flyers but still carry the AA credit card; I have an itinerary booked on AA for later this month. Even as a low-level elite, I have a phenomenal upgrade rate on DL and tons of scheduling flexibility (the rate is maintained in my signature at the time of posting). I would share my thoughts via PM for anyone interested.

After an extended PM conversation with icurhere2 (who has provided valuable insight in regards to the AA vs DL comparison, as well as the respective airlines' flights in/out of BNA), I believe I have concluded to proceed with Delta.

The reasoning behind this decision is two-fold:

• Status match: As most of you are aware, AA is unwilling to match elite status of a competitor airline (in my case, US Silver). While FO with DL will not provide much assistance in terms of upgrades, the fact that I am guaranteed FO through 2/11 is extremely beneficial. Sure, I could pay $80 (or $150 if attempting the PLAT challenge) and fulfill the requirements for AA Gold, but then again, for me to offer my business on a consistent basis to an airline at a time when the entire industry is struggling, the least I expect is to receive some immediate benefit in return; Quid pro Quo.
• Domestic outreach: As some of the PPs pointed out, AA’s domestic outreach leaves a bit to be desired in regards to mid- to small-sized airports. In the pasy year, I have been required to travel to Concord, NH (via MHT) for two full months. As AAdvantage elite, I would either have had to fly to LGA or ORD and finish the trip on UA or US OR I would have just decided to make the entire trip on US/DL/UA/etc. This restriction on domestic outreach is a much larger negative for AA than any of the other cons I listed for DL, IMO. Also, the addition of MEM and DTW will provide improved routing options, as previously mentioned.

As a final question, are there any of you that strongly disagree with my final verdict? If so, could you please explain your reasoning?

Thank you again to all of you who have contributed!

I totally agree. It's the decision I would have made in your situation.

I did share positive aspects about both airlines and the operations at BNA, including the lounges. The Admirals Club at BNA deserves the excellent reputation it has among many.

I would under no circumstances choose United from Nashville. The operation is the laughing stock of the airport. It is poorly run by DGS and the employees have little to no training. If you dont' believe me, try to buy a ticket at the counter, and they wont even attempt to do it. The station manager was fired last week and DGS corporate is in town trying to clean up the huge mess. It will be too little too late. The flights are constantly delayed and the customer service is the worst I have ever experienced at any airport, with any airline.