dtremit

Good point, but a lot of bad examples. The flight paths from BOS/MHT/BDL/PWM to CLT all overfly PHL, and it's not any less convenient than CLT for any flights from ALB/SYR/YYZ/BWI.

There are certainly some city pairs where PHL or ORD is inconvenient, but very few where both PHL and ORD are terribly inconvenient. To use your example, CVG-PHL-BHM is ridiculous, but CVG-ORD-BHM is only about 150 miles further than routing via CLT. That's about a 15-20 minute difference, in reality.

The real loss if you give up CLT is the intra-south flying -- you'd pretty much be ceding those trips to DL. No one is going to fly from MSY to GSO via MIA or PHL.

tegelad

Hi there,

First post in the US Air forums, long-time Continental then AA flyer who had to start flying UA due to AA not covering the city I need to go to. I made the observation while being stuck for 5 hours at an airport that US Air flew there, and thought hey I wonder if I got status on US if it would transfer back to AA, then I saw you could buy up ...

Any ideas on the best time to pick up the Preferred Buy up for this (now, October, Jan of next year)? I was originally planning on having my platinum AA status fall to Gold; however, AA nixed that, and I am 40K from 1MM lifetime on AA, and with the current travels should have UA 1K by year end.

Thanks for any and all advice!

+-ADT

BoeingBoy

You actually have two US programs - the Buy Up and the Trial. The problem with the Buy Up is that you'll get the status but I'm not sure you'll get miles. Also, doing it now may get you the status only through Feb 2014. Hopefully someone else will comment on that. At some point the US and AA FF programs will be combined so getting the miles may be important in getting to MM status.

Depending on how much you fly, the Trial Preferred might be better. You pay a fee (though less than buying status) then fly X miles on US/USX within 90 days (the number of miles needed depends on the status level you want to achieve. It's too early in the year for the Trial to give you status beyond Feb 2014 but waiting till July/August would give you the status through Feb 2015.

For either program I'd recommend waiting till your US status would be good till 2015 since it's unknown when the two FF programs will be combined. Of course, any US miles you get would combine with your AA miles when the programs combine, but it'd be a shame to pay for status then lose it before the programs merged.

Jim

DaveAZ

Hi all: I have a trip to Thailand in mid-September. I need to fly a US carrier. The best way to do this on a US carrier is on United. That will also be good for miles if US Air is still in the Star Alliance then. Thoughts on this? Think I will get the miles, or will the merger screw that up? Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Fanjet

Since the merger isn't expected to get final approval until probably after you started the trip. And DP has stated that US will leave Star 3-6 months after that. I think you should be safe.

Biggie Fries

I agree with you in general and hope you are right.

But as for no one ... I was flummoxed earlier this spring when half a MSY-CLT flight I was on (and a full up one at that -- no upgrades for me!) were Venezuelans .... Asked them what was up, and it turns out it was election day for them. Chavez had apparently closed the MIA consulate to discourage voting by ex-pats (at least that was what I was told), so they had flown to MSY to vote at consulate there. Via CLT! Go figure. Closest evidence I could come up with of the possibility of a demand for GSO-MIA-MSY.

crazyMRer

I am one of the consumers that would benefit from this merger.

My primary airports: MHT (15 minutes) and BOS (1 hour).
Airline status: Lifetime AA mid-tier (Platinum)

I used to do 3 trips/month but now only about 8 trips/year. I currently fly mostly from BOS on a mix of carriers for non-stops, preferring AA when I would have to connect anyway. The merger would multiply my non-stop options on the airline I have status with from BOS and also give me some status flights from MHT.

For people like me, AA+US would have far more positives than negatives.

muirhejsff

Looking to book some award travel in 3Q 2014.. let's say August 2014. I'd assume 331 days out the booking space opens up, which I'll want to jump on in September 2013. I'll want to use my combined US Airways + AAdvantage miles to book, as I don't have quite enough AAdvantage miles alone. Is this unrealistic? If so, I suppose I should hedge my bets and make sure my AAdvantage miles are topped up enough prior to September.

Thoughts/suggestions?

BoeingBoy

The short answer is that no one can say with absolute certainty. But a year after the merger it's likely that you'll at least be able to use AA miles to book a US flight and vice versa. There's a pretty good chance the two programs will be combined.

If any of those flights will utilize *A, it's more iffy - at some point alliance redemptions will switch from *A to OW. Some are of the opinion that once issued a ticket is valid, even if the ticket is for travel 330 days in the future. I can see the possibility that beyond some point in time you would be offered OW alternatives or allowed to cancel your flight without penalty.

Jim

muirhejsff

Thanks this is really useful info. Sounds like best to stock up on some AAdvantage as the merger approval probably doesn't come with any of the systems integrations ready to go.

BoeingBoy

It would depend on the carrier. For travel on AA metal I think that you'll be fine - you'll be able to at least use US miles for either AA or US flights. Remember that most changes can't take effect till after the merger (looks like this August/September but it depends on regulator approval). So it might be wise to wait until after the merger to purchase tickets for fall 2014. Waiting is your friend - the longer you wait the more that will be known for sure.

Jim

saranyc

Interesting on the 3-6 month time frame. I assume that you'll be able to book out beyond 3-6 months on star Alliance partners assuming they still haven't left? Was thinking of a trip to Asia via Europe next fall and would like to book it this Oct.

PhoenixCMC

I have an end-of-October through mid-November trip to Asia booked in Business Class on a European *Alliance carrier that was booked in early January (before the merger was announced). It's approx 30K PQMs that I am counting on to maintain my DM status.

I'm feeling a bit more comfortable now that this will be no problem than I was initially, because -- unless the merger finalized this month and the withdrawal from *Alliance was limited to 3 months -- I'm inside the window . . . but still a bit nervous.

saranyc

Well considering that debt holders are owed money (that they lent to the company) and could theoretically force the company to liquidate in order to pay them back, the downsides of a merger are probably better than the alternative.

Jasper2

Debt holders are like any other stake holders. The court ultimately decides who gets paid, how much, when, and in what form. Yes, there is a pecking order (bondholders, shareholders, creditors, employees, etc.) But there is no "theoretical." The only unanswered question is "Will the Justice Department approve." Everything else is already lined up.

I think it's a fair conclusion that all that is left is for the ink to dry.