indiansfan07

Did a quick search and couldn't find much on pros/cons of matching to other alliances. I'll be flying out from New York to Seattle a lot over the next few months and am considering matching my 1K status to either oneworld or skyteam (American/Alaska, or Delta, essentially). I've been a loyal 1K'er / CO Plat for years, but figure that all I really care about is SA Gold, which I can get thru Aegean or something like that for lounge access/free bags. I also fly a lot to Cleveland, and recently have been booking thru BA on American since that's only 9000 BA points R/T..

Anyone have any recommendations / opinions on matching to another airline for a NYC-based flyer? I care about upgrades, possibly Wifi on board, and domestic service quality. I'm leaning towards American since their miles are easier to redeem than Delta, but Delta has complimentary upgrades for even Platinum Medallions. Or I could stick with United/CO since I'm most familiar with them and am already top-tier, I guess it's just that there are other tempting airlines out there!

edrags

I completely agree with you that Delta mileage is worth a lot less than most other airlines. However, they seem to be aware of this problem, and other airlines are starting to fall to their level. Hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel.

If so, I would say go with Delta as they are about to turn LGA into a major hub which will benefit you as a NYC resident. American is going in the opposite direction.

Thunderroad

I believe on AA your 1K status will only get you a status match to platinum, not the rough equivalent of 1K, which is Executive Platinum. Anyway, FWIW, as both an AA EXP and UA 1K I like the AA FF program much more in terms of upgrades, mileage redemption availability, etc.

ciao114

+1 for Delta

escapefromphl

I think most elite flyers consider BA's new award program a negative, not a positive. How will you maintain AA exec plat if you credit miles to BA anyway?

i_fly_to_much

Yes, they are aware of the mileage problem, but are doing nothing to fix it. YMMV, but I would disagree that other airlines, at least United are falling to their level. I've had great success finding low level awards in both coach and business class that are non existent on Delta.

That being said, I find their soft and hard product to be very good and with their alliance with Alaska, flying NY to Seattle would be a very good choice.

If reasonable mileage redemption is important to you, forget about it with DL.

FlyerChrisK

I'm an AA EXP and UA 1K. Upgrades on AA are superb at the EXP level; when I was a PLT, I had no problem clearing upgrades when I wanted them (and had stickers to burn).

Besides the 9k r/t redemption to CLE, I doubt BA's program will be very advantageous to you if you want upgrades and free bags.

vatraveler

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8320/4.5.0.81 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

They don't call them SkyPesos for nothing. Award redemption is abysmal on DL.

anc-ord772

Yes its true, but still my colleagues who fly DL are happy. One just redeemed a rt for two to Thailand at a decent rate. With only a few redemptions a year, the program works for her. Heck, I've only flown two DL flights, and I scored a companion upgrade off a GM. I moved one colleague to AA and they u turned to DL. YMMV

uwr

As far as I know:

DL has 4 daily nonstops JFK-SEA
AA has 1 daily nonstop JFK-SEA

UA/CO has 4 daily nonstops EWR-SEA
AS has 2 daily nonstops EWR-SEA (and it partners with BOTH AA and DL)

If you are planning to take the New York - Seattle flights for the long term, you might want to take this into account.