Any mention of earlier systemwides? I saw a post this week where a UA flyer said he was getting 8 systemwides after completing his challenge which seems like another change to the program to bring UA flyers over. Was your challenge points or miles?

Not trying to butt in here, but just an FYI...

I'm almost 2/3 of the way through my challenge, and mine was based on earning 25,000 points in 90 days. Upon completion, I'll get the 8 SWUs. As I understand it, that is the standard deal they are offering only to UA 1Ks. Everyone else has to pay some kind of fee for their challenge.

Back in 2012, AA did offer the systemwides up front with a 1K status match (not a challenge), but in the two years since, the offer of systemwides with a status match/challenge has not always been the case. If they're consistently offering them now after completion of a challenge, that's good news. That's why I'm curious if Yanks08802 was also offered systemwides just from his activity from the 1K challenge. I'd also note that one 1K flyer said he was given EXP status up front before starting his challenge, so there might be a couple variations. He also got systemwides after completion. Did they give you EXP status before your first flight?

And based on its PRASM numbers compared to its competition, the planes are more full of Kayakers than its competition.

Chase away your most frequent fliers because the benefits of keeping them around are purportedly too high. AA and DL must be laughing themselves silly.

United is an airline that the courts have found knowingly defrauds its customers (U.S. 7th Circuit Ct. of Appeals case number 14-1375) and treats those customers with utter disdain. United is an airline only for those locked into fortress hubs, those with corporate contracts (which are diminishing in number), Kayakers, and those who just don't know any better.

When I did mine at the end of June, I was given EXP status right away and after earning 25K EQPs the SWUs posted in my account within 48 hours.

I was impressed with how AA worked with me on getting me set up for my EXP Challenge. Originally, I had a ton of questions - particularly how long will my EXP status be good for - and the agent who took care of my case was fantastic. She answered every single question I had and shared the full details of the challenge to ensure I can properly prepare myself for the challenge. I was not quite ready to hit the gas at the time, but she simply said when you are ready to start just let us know - via reply - and when I was ready, they took care of everything in less than 24 hours.

I also found out that my status would have only been good through Feb 2015 and after pleading my case at the time, they apparently agreed to let my EXP be valid through Feb 2016 as my account and credentials reflected 2/2016.

The time frame for paid challenges is covered in the AA wiki for Golds (25K) and Platinums (50K), so AA probably uses the same criteria for someone coming in at the EXP level from UA on a free challenge. Definitely worth reading that part to get a sense how the dates work out.
http://flyerguide.com/Challenge_(AA)

So, if VX flew there, you would rather fly VX (and flew them enough, despite the smaller network, to be gold) which does not say a lot about how great UA is. :D

But the issue then becomes, why go with UA for the rest? I'm also SFO based, once I dropped out of GS (by shifting traffic to Delta, VX, and other carriers to avoid connecting or RJs on UA) then what is UA's draw? Not much....

e.g. I have trips to PHL and Green Bay coming up. PHL on UA is Y in a slimmed/dark A320/A319, even as a 1K (which I still am till 2/1) I'm not getting upgraded. No way I ride on that plane for that long. So I'll either buy a cheap F fare on AA direct, or buy a connecting F fare on DL.

Green Bay? UA is likely to misconnect me with its poor 79-80% OT, plus its a ERJ-145 for the last flight, and the 'good' connection is a A320 to ORD (see comment on going to PHL on that slimmed/dark plane). I just did the A320 in the exit row ORD-SFO (change of equipment), not again. Delta? Well its the same price, but the second flight is on a CRJ-900 or 700, and Delta is not likely to misconnect me with its 86-87% OT and better IRROPS. So who do I take? Who would you take on these flights?

And the bottom line is that after a year of choices like this, UA got $4800 in spending from me, and I'll be my MM status (gold) next year, creating even less incentive to fly UA. And as this thread (and the yield and PRASM figures) shows, I'm not the only one.

Actually, they have slightly added capacity, but they did so by adding more seats to the Airbus/CRJ700 fleets with "slimming". The number of frames is down.

I did say UA is adequate - I did not say they are great.

But, as I said, I don't think any airline in the US today is great. Even VX.

In my case, 'the rest' is actually the majority. So, in August when I reviewed YTD and looked at the remainder of 2014, I realized that I had a chance to achieve 1K again.

In my case, I then said "Why should I fly another airline when, if I give most of 'the rest' of my flying to UA, I will achieve 1K again."

I am glad you are happy with the move you made spin.

I am happy with my choice as well.

Looks like I'm not completely "leaving" yet. I need to do a RT DFW-SMF-DFW in January.

AA - $696 in Y
UA - $322 in Y or $698 in F

Yes, AA has non-stops, but the timing of departures actually work better for me on UA. Plus, although I'm enjoying the move to AA, it certainly isn't enough to be worth an additional 116%.

This is likely going to be an ongoing problem for me for flights originating at DFW. Although I live in Latin America, I'm frequently in Dallas for family reasons during my U.S. trips, so this is going to take some additional strategy that I had not planned.

I checked a couple mid-week dates in both January and February: SFO to PHL. UA seems to run 737's on that route - not A320s. AA has more flights per day because PHL is/was a US Air hub. I didn't find any F bargains on AA - E was identical to UA and F was $1844 on AA, $1265 on UA. It's just one set of dates (Jan 13-15), but...

And if you do end up taking US Air to PHL, they have "choice" seats which, as far as I can tell, have no extra legroom, they just sit you closer to the front. They don't seem to have E+.

If you are planning a little farther out, there seems to be lots of R space for Feb flights on UA, SFO->PHL..

We'll, UA made a kind Christmas Gesture after a few major issues, I will NOT be leaving UA in 2015. I'll continue to fly WN on UA Express flights, but UA will win most of the other mainline flights.

Kudos to UA for making it right and going above and beyond.

@KenInEscazu, Southwest is advertising "free live TV on your own device". But it is Southwest.

Try hidden city on your return?

Sorry for the late reply. AA did give me immediate EXP status for the 90 day period, but it wasn't much of a benefit. My travel pattern is light in the last quarter, so I purchased almost exclusively premium cabin tickets for the entire challenge period. The exception was a "points run," which was also a shopping run for me (SJO based) to MCO on 12/24. I knew the traffic would be light that evening, particularly among elites, and I did get the UGs on both segments for a very low fare. That offset some of the pain of basically buying my EXP status.

AA is pretty tough on rules, and I'm not willing to try any tricks that might put my rather costly status at risk. I like AA on the routes I have been flying, and the last thing I want is to end up on a blacklist with them after all of this. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

So I've made the choice to "try" out AA for 2015. I've been UA Platinum for the last few years and have the Presidential Plus card where I spent over $40k for at least the last 5 years. I haven't asked for a challenge or status match yet, I'm trying to book some travel in hopes of getting the status up front (I won't have an issue completing the challenge in Q1, only wish they counted CX flights).

Even with this, I figure I should be able to get AA Platinum and keep UA Platinum for 2016 and make a decision at the end of next year which one to move forward with. We don't know if AA will change to a revenue based system and I'm waiting to see if the change with UA actually reduced the number of elites.