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Should I switch to UA from AA? What differences to expect?

Old Aug 14, 2019, 2:51 pm
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Should I switch to UA from AA? What differences to expect?

Old Nov 13, 2018, 4:24 pm
  #106  
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: SLC
Programs: United Gold, Hilton Silver, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 768
If mileage redemption opportunities are important to you, I have experienced drastically better availability on Star Alliance than I ever did when I flew AA. As far as upgrades are concerned, it all depends on when and where you're flying. I get upgraded about 25% of the time, and I'm only Silver.

Last edited by BBSHOPSINGER; Nov 14, 2018 at 8:31 am Reason: grammar
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Old Nov 14, 2018, 3:09 am
  #107  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: DFW or Somewhere Else
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Posts: 1,107
Originally Posted by geckoflyer


I was 0/2 on UA/UX SEA-IAH-CHS today. Nothing at all for PDB either segment with the first mainline and second on Mesa. They are all consistently inconsistent.
PDB- the most ridiculous waste of time. Who cares. Bring a bottle of water.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 5:25 pm
  #108  
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: DFW
Programs: PLAT -- 2.7Million
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I am AA Platinum and been flying AA/OneWorld for decades. Due to a relocation from Dallas area to Micronesia I am likely to switch allegiance to United/Star Alliance. What are the big changes I should expect? Service? Hard product? Soft product? Lounges? Might * match my status? etc.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 6:29 pm
  #109  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
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Posts: 66,569
Originally Posted by AAJetMan
I am AA Platinum and been flying AA/OneWorld for decades. Due to a relocation from Dallas area to Micronesia I am likely to switch allegiance to United/Star Alliance. What are the big changes I should expect? Service? Hard product? Soft product? Lounges? ...
Lots of potential ground to cover but it probably would be best to set some context.

Where will you be traveling to?
Micronesia a big area, are you referring to GUM or one of the small islands?
How much travel will you be doing?

Originally Posted by AAJetMan
Might * match my status? etc.
UA will likely offer a status challenge for AA Plat to UA Gold. That would provide free E+ access, *A lounge access (UCs on international itins), free SDC, improved bag allowance, Boarding Group 1 (after GS, 1K, and other pre-boarders), ....
For more on the challenge, see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...ssion-etc.html

For more on UA Gold benefits, see https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...r/default.aspx
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 7:28 pm
  #110  
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
Lots of potential ground to cover but it probably would be best to set some context.

Where will you be traveling to?
Micronesia a big area, are you referring to GUM or one of the small islands?
How much travel will you be doing?


UA will likely offer a status challenge for AA Plat to UA Gold. That would provide free E+ access, *A lounge access (UCs on international itins), free SDC, improved bag allowance, Boarding Group 1 (after GS, 1K, and other pre-boarders), ....
For more on the challenge, see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...ssion-etc.html

For more on UA Gold benefits, see https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...r/default.aspx
Thank you WineCountry. I'll start from your links and read through this threads...should get me what I need.
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Old Apr 21, 2019, 4:38 am
  #111  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,110
Originally Posted by rdurlabhji
Thanks everyone for the helpful responses.

The only places I really end up connecting are to get to the outstations in the LA area (ONT or BUR) or oddball places in Texas. Although for example on an upcoming trip to Birmingham UA has a nonstop but AA doesn't (on the other hand, AA has a nonstop to Charlottesville but UA doesn't).

It does seem like UA is trending in the right direction while AA is sliding, which is kind of why it seems like a good time to jump ship.
UA for sure has direct ORD-SNA if that works as a non LaX station
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Old Apr 21, 2019, 11:00 am
  #112  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
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Originally Posted by Austin787
FFP: ...App: AA has one advantage in you can track your checked luggage
I track my bags on the UA app on every flight. So this would be a wash in my mind.
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Old Aug 14, 2019, 2:27 pm
  #113  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Programs: AA
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New to United - help!

I'm PP with citi card Admirals Club access on AA and was trending to EP when my contract was changed. New client in new cities will necessitate mostly United. What should I expect with the airline? Best way to attain status quickly? lounges?
I'm looking at 4-6 segments weekly for the foreseeable future... mostly up and down the east coast US.
Not really wanting to start over after 115 segments in last 12 months on AA... ugh!
I appreciate your thoughts/guidance.
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Old Aug 14, 2019, 2:45 pm
  #114  
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Originally Posted by Mem flyer
I'm PP with citi card Admirals Club access on AA and was trending to EP when my contract was changed. New client in new cities will necessitate mostly United. What should I expect with the airline?...
Welcome to UA Forum

Might help to narrow the question a bit.


Originally Posted by Mem flyer
Best way to attain status quickly? ...
Look into a MileagePlus Premier Status Match Challenge (Questions, Discussion, etc)

Originally Posted by Mem flyer
lounges? ..
Domestic travel or internation?
Talking about segments suggest domestic, so you need a United Club membership. The cheapest way is[h4]Consolidated Chase MP Club credit card- Benefits, Q&A, ....{Annual fee inc Aug 2017} -- first year free

Everyone loves to hate their airline lounges but some general information can be found in UC amenities - regular & special food / snacks, power, wifi, work areas, ...{archive}
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Old Aug 14, 2019, 3:02 pm
  #115  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Originally Posted by Mem flyer
I'm PP with citi card Admirals Club access on AA and was trending to EP when my contract was changed. New client in new cities will necessitate mostly United. What should I expect with the airline? Best way to attain status quickly? lounges?
In terms of lounges, Admirals Club have showers and none of the United Clubs have showers.
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Old Aug 30, 2021, 2:32 pm
  #116  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Chicago
Programs: AAdvantage EXP | United Silver | HH Diamond | Bonvoy Platinum | Hyatt Explorist
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So I know the grass is not always greener on the other side, and every airline has it's issues, but I am an AA loyalist based out of ORD thinking about jumping on the United bandwagon. For starters, the status free match makes it really easy to start off with United silver. I typically have enough personal travel to hit the bottom two rungs of any airline loyalty program, and higher if I have business travel - but that looks out of reach for a while. I only picked AA over United originally because I had the AA credit card since college and honestly the free drinks in Y MCE which are gone and probably will never come back. I have like four AMEX cards with Airline Incidental re-imbursement - so I could just buy the drinks in UA Y using those credits. The last straw was seeing article after article about how UA cares about their domestic hard product unlike AA who just keeps taking out IFE.

So my question is - are there any former AA loyalists, and if so what are the differences you notice - bonus points for anyone out of ORD. Seems like I need to request the match by 9/3.
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Old Aug 30, 2021, 3:24 pm
  #117  
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Originally Posted by AAdamE
So I know the grass is not always greener on the other side, and every airline has it's issues, but I am an AA loyalist based out of ORD thinking about jumping on the United bandwagon. For starters, the status free match makes it really easy to start off with United silver. I typically have enough personal travel to hit the bottom two rungs of any airline loyalty program, and higher if I have business travel - but that looks out of reach for a while. I only picked AA over United originally because I had the AA credit card since college and honestly the free drinks in Y MCE which are gone and probably will never come back. I have like four AMEX cards with Airline Incidental re-imbursement - so I could just buy the drinks in UA Y using those credits. The last straw was seeing article after article about how UA cares about their domestic hard product unlike AA who just keeps taking out IFE.

So my question is - are there any former AA loyalists, and if so what are the differences you notice - bonus points for anyone out of ORD. Seems like I need to request the match by 9/3.
UA is a more functional airline right now - more reliable, much better app and IT overall. While it's not notable for outstanding service at the gate or inflight, IME you're more likely to experience truly unpleasant service on AA. UA also seems to attract a more professional, law-abiding customer base, at least here on the west coast. They also haven't torturized their domestic cabins to the same extent as AA, and as Gold or Silver, you'd likely be able to score an E+ seat on most if not all flights.

I was originally driven away from UA by their ridiculous PQP qualification scheme, and you might want to take a look at that to see how it squares with your travel patterns. Though who knows if they'll ever return fully to the published standards. Value of the frequent flyer miles is also low and dropping, if that's important to you.
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Old Aug 30, 2021, 3:36 pm
  #118  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
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I've had status of varying levels with both airlines, and in fact still do...Gold with UA and Executive Platinum with American. I find American to be way better for Executive Platinums than 1Ks with United. At the lower elite levels, I think it is somewhat of a wash, but you are indeed more likely to have an E+ seat on United than with AA given the relative size of each E+ section. I find UA to be a much better experience in Y than AA's miserable Oasis seats, too. Just realize as a Silver or Gold out of ORD with UA, upgrades are pretty much non-existent on most routes. I also find UA's MP program to be worse for redemptions that AA's as of late (words I never thought I would utter) as MP got Kirby'd in a big way during the pandemic. I also find UA's ORD terminals to be much more chaotic than AA's ORD terminals, but YMMV.
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Old Aug 30, 2021, 3:39 pm
  #119  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Chicago
Programs: AAdvantage EXP | United Silver | HH Diamond | Bonvoy Platinum | Hyatt Explorist
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Originally Posted by Kacee
UA is a more functional airline right now - more reliable, much better app and IT overall. While it's not notable for outstanding service at the gate or inflight, IME you're more likely to experience truly unpleasant service on AA. UA also seems to attract a more professional, law-abiding customer base, at least here on the west coast. They also haven't torturized their domestic cabins to the same extent as AA, and as Gold or Silver, you'd likely be able to score an E+ seat on most if not all flights.

I was originally driven away from UA by their ridiculous PQP qualification scheme, and you might want to take a look at that to see how it squares with your travel patterns. Though who knows if they'll ever return fully to the published standards. Value of the frequent flyer miles is also low and dropping, if that's important to you.
Thank you for an incredibly thoughtful response! RE:PQP at least UA lets the following count towards "spend" that AA does not:
  • Most Economy Plus purchases
  • Most preferred seating purchases
  • Paid upgrades on flights operated by United and United Express
  • MileagePlus Upgrade Award co-pays
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Old Aug 30, 2021, 3:57 pm
  #120  
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Originally Posted by UAPremierGuy
I find American to be way better for Executive Platinums than 1Ks with United.
IME there's been a big shift the past three to six months. AA has killed advance upgrade space on the premium t-cons and my upgrades have stopped clearing at T-100.

Overall, I put AA just barely ahead of WN on the "truly unpleasant to fly" scale. UA is much better (with AS the clear winner IMO).
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