Hello FTers,

One of my friends has about 2 million AA miles. He's a big of AA and OW. Well, now he will be taking a lot of trips to China.

What is your experience with getting the SF Bay Area to China easily, frequently and in first?

I suggested that he switch alliances to UA. I checked united.com for dates this summer SFO-PEK in first and seats were available and could have booked right then.

Does anyone have suggestions on to use AA or OW to make a lot of flights SFO to China (I'm not sure if it will be Shanghai or Beijing) easily and in first?

Thank you for your help.
David

David: The vast majority of my annual travel (in terms of mileage) is west coast (these days it's mostly PDX, but, like you, I used to live in MTV). Over the years, whenever UA has made me angry, I've played around with JL, NW, AC, NH, and OZ. But, I always end up coming back to UA because MP is good and they're kind of kings in the market.

Also, every few months here in the AA forum, someone posts about: 1) AA's MU codeshare from LAX, or 2) the possibility of taking CX to China. Both of these are terrible options for people that value their time, money, and/or sanity.

Now, as you may know, AA is kicking off ORD-PVG service in April, but as of now west coast travelers are being shut out from this route. Aside from the fact that the connection times don't work, it is not a legal routing.

I'm willing to go on the record and predict that AA will eventually find a way to let west coast pax fly ord-pvg (by adjusting the flight times and relaxing the routing rules), but until that day comes, your friend should steer clear of AA.

Edited to add: I just remembered the 3rd strategy AA flyers use to get to China: SJC-NRT on AA; NRT-PVG/PEK interline. This isn't a horrible option, but the fares tend to be overpriced relative to the rest of the market (though nowhere near as expensive as purchasing NRT-China and SJC-NRT separately). Plus, you loose out on a lot of miles (especially, if flying discount Y because NH and JL both employ a .7 multiplier).

Since the OP was asking about using AA miles on AA/OW to China, why not use JL/AA from west coast USA and connect thru NRT. About as direct as one can be. Also JL will be joining OW, maybe by year's end.

I think he was actually asking about accruing AA miles, but now that you mention it, if I had 2mm, I'd probably be inclined to go the redemption route (on JL) for at least some of my flights. Of course, this might not be the smartest option if a company is willing to foot the bills.