Considering a move to UA MP? I guess you haven't been reading this forum.

This is all writing on the wall, but it is not evidence that a dehubbing has been scheduled. We certainly agree that dehubbing is probable. I'd venture a 99.44% chance of it. (Not that there is anything Ivory soap pure about Smisek). But by saying that it is "scheduled" you suggest that UA has inplace an official timeline for dehubbing, a date specific in the future when CLE will no longer be a hub.

It is, IMO, a short-term mindset that is leading UA to walk away from CLE. ORD is nearly maxed out; EWR too. IAD is junk. Where else can they grow? But, then they don't want to grow either operations or marketshare. They want to grow the bottom line.

To the OP...even if CLE were dehubbed, for either domestic or intl travel, you would have a good feeder to either ORd or EWR on UA.

Dehubbing would also be long enough process for you to status match away if you desired. AA isn't an option until at least. 2 years post merger IMHO.

Definitiveness of speculation on FT is inversely proportional to the cube of actual probability, and the square of the outrageous-ness.

NRT and GUM :D

Go With UA
 

If you want to travel internationally, UA is your best bet for upgrade space and availability of award seats.

CLE is well-positioned to feed into IAD/EWR, in addition to ORD, to get you to your international destinations.

Good Luck!

No growth room at NRT. GUM would be smart, but they haven't made the moves to grow there. An SFO-GUM-KUL flight would certainly be a smart start. GUM-PER wouldn't be a bad move either. GUM-CAN (no government approvals required) too.

Those are probably the two worst places to connect in the United States. JFK and LAX could be worse.

To the OP: what are your usual routes? That's going to make a big difference. For now, UA has better coverage out of SF, but AA is a better terminal and flying experience. But AA is not great from CLE and non-existent in CAK.

EWR is my #1 favorite place to connect (besides CLE, of course). ORD is my #2 favorite. For the worst places, I'd say (from the horrid to just bad): IAD, JFK, DFW, IAH, PHX, PHL, LAX. But everyone differs on this.

As to the best carrier for OP: Whichever one gives the best fares to his/her most frequently used destinations while still offering a good FF program. That leaves out DL, unfortunately, because DTW is a good operation which leaves just US/AA and UA. Unless OP doesn't go international, then WN wouldn't be an awful choice.

How about LAX?

LAX-YLW new
LAX-HDN new
LAX-DGO new
LAX-ICT last operated 2008 is back again.

Beside LAX has a lot of international traffic.

CLE is basically a domestic hub, which is even worse than DEN (DEN has DEN-NRT on schedule).

HKG is a smarter connection point to KUL from SFO if travel time/distance is your focus. http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=sfo-gum-kul;sfo-hkg-kul

GUM-PER is more than 3600 miles meaning a wide-body and there's no way enough demand exists there. Demand to CAN and KUL also likely don't exist.

This is the real question the OP needs to answer for themselves.

If domestic upgrades are your primary focus in a loyalty program, UA is probably not going to be a good fit. Upgrade percentages have dropped since the merger.

If international award redemption is your primary focus, then MileagePlus has a lot to offer. Award availability is still quite good -- even in premium cabins and on partner flights -- to all corners of the globe. *A has a very comprehensive reach to a lot of places.

The question is where is there hub space to grow. The only answers are CLE and GUM, not HKG.

GUM-PER is within the range of both 757-200 (with winglets) and 737-700ER. Any number of aircraft coude do it with a technical stop at DRW. So, no it could be done with narrowbodies.

Absent further route authority, the only way for UA to grow its share of the China market is to utilize existing unused routes from GUM. US airlines have rights to fly from GUM to three different cities in China excluding BJS & SHA.

While I do think that investment and growth at GUM make sense, clearly CLE is where UA would find it most easy to grow. But then, they don't want to grow.

Still for OP and many other travellers accross the US, UA remains the logical choice if one is to focus one's travelling on only one airline.

It exists. But not from GUM, Stateside.