(Which) Frequent Flyer program recommendation?
 

Hey guys

I'm new to this whole site and I'm not sure if this is in the right place. I'd like a recommendation on which frequent flyer program to join. I'd be flying out of SFO/SJC. 4-10 trips a year mainly to EWR/SEA, sometimes to HKG. I'd also like to engage in mileage runs and supplement the miles with credit card derived miles.

I'm mainly looking for easy upgrades from cheapest economy fares and getting award tickets.

Thanks!

Any reason why you posted in the AA forum?

To answer your question, I'd suggest *gasp* UA. (Such blasphemy!) With a hub at EWR and SFO it will likely cover your needs well. (Of course, I'm assuming that they have service to HKG...)

+1 with UA.

Welcome to FT!

Almost certainly UA/CO. They fly their own metal nonstop SFO-HKG/SEA/EWR.

If you really want to fly out of SJC, AA might be better as you can earn EQM on AS nonstop nerdbird SJC-SEA and can connect in ORD/DFW for other destinations in the US, and then fly out of SFO on CX when you head to Asia.

Then again...
AA is pretty great for that if you fly often enough to get EXP status and eVIP/SWUs. Better than UA IMHO, but I don't really know what 1K feels like on UA.:p

The reason why I posted to AA is because I have the AA Citi card. =P I could just as well get the UA CC. And the other thing is I'll probably be a low-mid tier Elite member, and AA doesn't have unlimited upgrades as UA does.

1. How easy is it to get upgrades on UA with 25K status?
2. How does MR difficulty compare between AA vs UA?

Thanks!

AA is a waste of time for anyone but EXP these days. UA +1.

Your first question is probably better asked in the UA forum.

And for the second, I can't compare because I don't MR on UA, but I saw a few years ago that they had cheaper prices so better cpm.

Actually, my dad is a 2P on UA. He got upgraded a few times, but at least you get E+ when you're not upgraded.

I think UA/CO is your best bet, and possibly only bet. Although, you will definitely need to hustle to at least 25k miles to get 2P status, since SFO is extremely elite-heavy.

Not a single doubt - SMI/J is your choice with EWR/SEA and HKG (as SMI/J want to move his bloody fleet of 737s to HKG and kick off CX...:D)

What's SMI/J ?

Jeff Smisek, CEO of UAL. It's a play on the standby/upgrade boards, which show first three letters of last name/first letter of first name.

Heh, why must these boards be so cryptic?

It's used at least as frequently on the UA board as AArpey on the AA board.