DLVXB6UA

If Europe is the use case, then UA can be really useful for the wide variety of nonstops through IAD or 1-stop via EWR.

AA has good coverage of 1st tier Europe but if she also wants 2nd tier Europe then UA+Star might be a good option.

entropy

+1

The best option is to diversify your holdings, certainly from a CC sign-up perspective. Get the personal and small biz versions of both. Sometimes AA might work, and sometimes UA might.

channa

Right now, the AA program is much better, with generally fewer miles required for award tickets.

Also, AA cardholders get 10% of their award miles back after ticketing.

From Arlington, DCA is much, much more convenient than IAD. US has far more destinations out of DCA than UA does.

DLVXB6UA

This benefit only applies to the AA Platinum Select. The $450 Exec card version that comes with club access does not (IIRC).

And there's a 10,000mi annual cap on the rebate.

movedsouth

Well giving me more to think about here... She is young, first real job out of college and was looking to get one card (one annual fee is enough) and use it to help pay for a trip. She is used to us doing that for years. We have traveled on many frequent flier miles over her lifetime. Mostly Delta (husband's business sent him that way most of the time) and some US air flights. We are RIC based.

sannmann

Too bad you didn't bring this up a month ago, before US DM was retired. She could have signed up for a Barclays DM card, a Citi AA card, and a Chase United card and gotten miles in all three programs, with the DM and AA miles merging together at the end of last month. Being in the DC area, she'll have plenty of flight choices: tons of AA/US out of DCA and tons of UA out of IAD.

cova

Living in the same neighbor, I would say go AA. I switched from CO/UA to AA mainly because of the FF program. It is a hassle to get out to IAD from Arlington (metro, then bus - 1.5 hours) versus flying to JFK on AA and going from NY.

Of course non-stops to Europe are nice. I say use AA as the FF program and get CC in both UA and AA. I still charge on an UA CC and will (rarely) use a UA flight to Europe.

With the new AA - there are so many direct flights now from DCA. LAX, PHX, LAS, Florida, etc.

Shareholder

I'd say go with AA, the card and the airline. As noted, awards to Asia and Europe on AA metal are discounted much of the year so your daughter can immediately fly off on a nice vacation for 40K. Also, for at least the next two years, AA will still give flight mileage based on distance and not spend, so she'll earn many more redeemable miles with AA than UA as it will take AA at least through 2017 to move to a revenue based program.

If she goes with UA, she'll get the initial mileage bonus for the credit card but will earn next to no redeemable miles if she flies on discounted fares when she buys flights. And UA only occasionally discounts awards to Asia and Europe while this is a standard off-season offering by AA.

Also, flying AA (with US) means she can use DCA instead of the worst airport in the USA, IAD. If not satisfied with AA over the two years she'll be flying them, she can always move over to UA and get a new credit card.

tom911

Good point. As a "general member" at UA you'll bring in 5 miles per dollar spent. Fly a $300 transcon and you'll earn close to 1,500 miles (a little less due to taxes not accruing miles). Take the same trip on AA and it would be 5,000 miles. Even if you're only only doing two or three domestic trips a year, the difference in miles awarded is significant for leisure travelers.

UVU Wolverine

While I do enjoy Mileage Plus X, I think AA awards are lower overall in terms of miles which makes credit card spending more valuable on an AA card versus a UA card. As long as British Airways can be avoided for transatlantic travel (with the high YQ), round trip economy tickets can be found for 40K miles with decent availability and schedule.

Also, the new Aviator cards from Barclays don't have a foreign transaction fee, include chip (I think they're introducing pin with this as well, not signature), and 10% of redeemed miles back annually up to 10K. Plus, for someone young, Barclays offers a free FICO score. This detail might not be a deal breaker, but it's handy.

All in, if we're focusing on which credit card is better, I'd say AA has the better options for someone who is just starting out and probably won't spend $50K/yr on a credit card or travel more than a handful of times in a year.

travel.flier

AA card also gives a 10% mileage rebate on awards redeemed. They also don't hate their customers.

eefor jfp

Since we're talking about credit cards, let's also talk about banks. Although Citi has dramatically improved over the last few years (their website was horrible when we got our first AAdvantage card five years ago), Chase is still easier and more user-friendly for online banking.

jsdc

This is exactly what I did! I went from zero to 90,000 AA miles pretty easily.

I have stuck with UA b/c my travel has included a fair amount of SFO flights, but b/c MCI is my most frequent destination now (ailing parents), I am considering switching to a combination of AA and VX. That would open up the DCA-MCI nonstop option, which is easier than IAD-MCI.

scherzva

I have been a 1K since 2006 and an EP since 2014. If your daughter lives Arlington depending on where she lives (i.e. Ballston), IAD might be easier to get to than DCA. Both programs have strengths/weaknesses. For the most part AA/US has better pricing than UA, it is easier to earn miles on AA but for international travel AA is harder to redeem saver awards and AA has some fuel surcharges that UA doesn't charge.

If she has any friends who are top tier elites AA will let you upgrade almost any fare-class internationally while United requires the higher priced W fares. Upgrading to J on AA tends to be less expensive thanks to lower co-pays than UA when using miles. However UA is all lay flat, AA isn't.

I am wrestling this myself since there is no way I could keep this going indefinitely myself.

davidviolin

AA, no question in my mind.