Hi, I am a newb at this great site. I recently relocated to Detroit for work and will go back to San Francisco every month. My questions are :

1. Which airline that got good review overall? I've flown US Airways and Northwest airlines which I didn't quite like at all. Especially Northwest, no in-flight entertainment, the seats are uncomfortable and the interior of the plane looks old, the only advantage is they offer direct flight. I flew on United and Delta also, but to different destinations, they're not that bad. Now, I am curious about American Airline or Continental, how are they?

2. Does it worth to join frequent flyer although I only travel once a month?

Thanks for your time, any suggestion or advice are appreciated.

Welcome to Flyertalk, DSFFlyer.

Good review overall in terms of in-flight service, FF program benefits, or both?

Absolutely join some FF programs. Any mile not credited to a loyalty program is a mile of wasted opportunity toward status benefits and awards. "Only once a month" travel will easily put you on track for some level of elite benefits.

That said, lower tier elite benefits vary wildly from program to program. With all of them, you'll be able to use elite lines at check-in and security checkpoints (at airports that have them). Flying out of DTW you'll have a better chance of outbound upgrades on UA, for example, and will be able to pre-reserve Economy Plus seats regardless; on DL, many adv. purchace fares are ineligible for upgrades, period.

You'll do well by spending some time poking around the the various airline forums looking for info on elite benefits, esp. on the route(s) you're most likely to fly. Feel free to post specific questions at any time.

You have to choose your poison. NW appears to be the only nonstop. If you are willing to make a connection, you might as well try Southwest in addition to the others you mentioned. As you fly regularly, you do have the luxury of trying them all and choosing what you like.

Absolutely. Sign up for all airlines you fly and then try to concentrate on one or two. Try participating in various forums to learn pros/cons of different programs.

Thanks for your reply and advice. Greatly appreciate it.
What I meant on my first question was in term of good in flight service, comfortable seating, not too old fashion interior and of course good ff program as well.

What do you think of American Airline and Continental? I have never flown on those two, any information on them are appreciate.
Thanks.

Welcome to FT!
Continental beats American (in FT speak: CO beats AA) hands down.

There are three major alliances:
Skyteam (ST), to which NW, DL and CO belong to.
OneWorld (OW), AA is there; CO is thinking of partnering with AA.
StarAlliance (*A) has US and UA.

Other airlines (like Southwest) do not belong to an alliance.

When you fly on an airline, find out which alliance they belong to and register a FF program (call it airline X). Each time you fly on an airline from that alliance, credit your miles to airline X's program, even if you're not flying on airline X.


This is what I would do: Since you don't like NW, look at other options. If you're flying a legacy carrier (CO, UA, DL...) find out how many flights to their hubs use mainline metal and not regional jets.

essxjay mentioned that if you fly on UA, you'll get E+ seats. That's true, however since you're flying into SFO, which is a UA hub, you're likely to have the same "hub" problem with E+ seating, etc.

Flying about once a month can easily get you elite status, but even without it, it's free, so why not join?

I personally think that just about every "major" US-based carrier is somewhere between lousy and mediocre (SWA being something of an exception). However, they do have better FF programs than their foreign counterparts.

As for service etc, I think you are agonizing over a non-choice. There isn't much to choose. If someone's schedule suits you better, pick them. Price, you'd have to check each time.

I'd join the FF programs of one airline per alliance if I flew several airlines, try to concentrate on one, but also set a dollar limit on my loyalty, how much extra I was willing to pay to accumulate points in a particular program.

Personally, I like AA's program, but that does have to do with the airports I fly from and to.

Welcome to flyertalk.

Since you life in Detroit I would stay with NW because of the direct flights to SFO and NWs hub there. This adds more comfort to travel than an IFE.

DL offers free upgrades to their elites, as does US, I believe, and CO and NW offer free space-avail upgrades first class to both their elites and those of the other program, so that may be something to keep in mind.

I echo both statements above. Welcome and go with the carrier that provides the non-stop, you'll be grateful not having to make a connection.@:-)

edited to add: yes, for sure join a FF program and frequent hotel program as well.