# AU Members with Frequent Flyer Affinity Status



## WWW

Member request from jiml:
Interesting sidebar to this conversation is how many AU'ers are also frequent flyers. Stories to be told elsewhere of course. 

I'll start this off

WWW FF with Delta Airlines as a revenue customer and a 29 year retired employee.
Space Available employee travel is great like some of you railroaders getting passes -
But when you have to be somewhere as in not missing a cruise ship I buy a confirmed ticket.
This past few months haven't flown anywhere - grounded - no cruises - no rail excursions -
self restricted (not quarantined) just to be safe staying home away from potential virus threats.
Have a half a million revenue miles in the bank but until vaccinated not going anywhere.


----------



## Trogdor

I was a frequent business traveler and UA Platinum until March of this year. Haven't been on a plane since (and, in fact, have only left the State of Illinois 2 or 3 times since then).

It's anyone's guess what the future will hold. Since many of our clients seem to have adapted to the virtual/remote assistance setup, travel may be significantly reduced (especially as they realize they can get more support hours remotely when they're not paying for travel and per diems).


----------



## jis

I am a UA Lifetime Gold. Have not flown this year after Feb 18, when I returned from India.

Additionally I am a member with no status of the following:

Delta
Singapore Airlines
Lufthansa
Air India
Vistara
Before I retired I was regularly doing 100K+ each year. After retirement that was down to 50K or so of which one annual trip to India accounted for close to half of it, if I included all the internal flying in India. This year is around 20K of which about 16K is on UA, the rest on Vistara and IndiGo in India.

2021 will most likely be zero, or if non-zero then something under 10K since there will be no trip to India or likely any other foreign destinations this year. 2022, we'll see how it goes.


----------



## jiml

American Airlines Lifetime Platinum - 2MM
Air Canada - lowest status, and they treat me accordingly
Delta - member, no status
United - Silver through hotel membership

Switched to AA following their attempted takeover of Canadian Airlines (CP), which was thwarted by the government and resulted in CP Air being absorbed into Air Canada. Been with AA ever since, although most business travel was on AC - for which no miles were accumulated at corporate rates. Now retired, so 90% of travel is leisure. I have mixed feelings about the direction AA is headed, but have to say they have always treated me very well. Last flights YYZ-BUR and SAN-YYZ with Surfliner bridge in between - Fall 2019.

The genesis of this discussion, as noted above, was airport hotels and airline strandings. Delta likes to leave me in MSP, AA has done MIA and ORD (for 3 days!) and AC in London.


----------



## IndyLions

My flying has been hit or miss throughout my career. I’ve been primarily a Northwest Airlines and subsequently a Delta guy after the acquisition.

Prior to 2001, I racked up some decent miles through annual or biannual international business travel to Europe and Asia. That funded my honeymoon, 10 year anniversary trip, and a family trip to Hawaii.

In most of the past 20 years, most of my air travel has been on low cost carriers. It was primarily because that was best for the business, cost-wise - and I didn’t fly the routes that rack up the miles.

I decided late last year that life is too short for low cost carriers. I’m no Prima Donna to be sure - but in my 50’s I’m going to travel the way I want to travel. If it’s too expensive to justify, I won’t go.

So most of the (albeit limited) travel I’ve had this year has been on Delta - with one flight each on American and United. I’ve actually been upgraded on two different trips to first class - which I consider miraculous since my current status with Delta is pretty low.

I also picked a lousy year to opt in to a SkyClub membership thru American Express - although I’ve been able to sample the clubs in MSP, ATL, and the spectacular new one in SLC.

Of course, my preferred travel mode is Amtrak - but I’ve discovered that by changing my travel standards and attitude - air travel can be enjoyable again.


----------



## Palmland

Before retiring I collected a large number of miles on Eastern that was transferred to Continental / UA. A chunk of that I used for first class tickets to Europe for my son's honeymoon. I think i still have a few United miles that I should probably just cash in. I also collected Piedmont miles that became USAir/ US Airways/ Amereican. We only fly on them if we have to, usually international but still have a bunch of miles for post Covid with a Bermuda trip planned and close to enough FF points for Europe business class.

For domestic travel we prefer and have FF miles for Delta and Southwest - our favorite for its flexible policies, consistently good staff, and nice airport terminals (glad they pulled out of EWR). We have figured out how to game the system to always be in the A or early B boarding group and have always had our pick of seats. We like not having some of the seats blocked for different price categories as do the legacy airlines. Since time is not an issue we almost enjoy the plane change if no direct ones. It helps break up a long flight and a opportunity for a good meal (we especially like Houston-Hobby). Of course this all assumes COVID goes away.

I can't recall a trip where a rail segment is not a portion of it, usually one way plane, the other via train. While we thoroughly enjoy first class air it's just not worth it for us for a two or three hour domestic flight with our nose buried in a book. I'd rather spend that money at destination (or on Amtrak- if they get back to decent service).


----------



## Dakota 400

I am a member of Delta's program, but no status. I do have enough miles for a free flight domestically and, I think, internationally. I would have more if I had not used some for upgrades.

I have lived a fairly "charmed" life as far as getting stranded at an airport. The one time I did was at DFW by AA. Plane landed on time; plenty of time to make my connection to CMH. Rather than proceeding to the terminal, we sat on the tarmac. And, we sat.....and sat while the clock was ticking. Why? No gates were available! When we did get to a gate, it was almost flight time for my connection. By the time I got to the proper gate, the door was closed (but the plane was still there and I got to see it pull away while speaking with the Agent). AA provided an overnight with dinner and breakfast meal vouchers at the airport Hyatt. The agent was able to route me the next morning to DCA, which was my ultimate destination for that trip. All went well the next morning until I discovered that my luggage had not gotten re-routed and went to CMH. The luggage for sent to where I was near Washington, arriving just after Midnight on New Year's Eve.

The other time was a "close call" at ORD on UA after an Amtrak trip. Poor Spring weather on flight day. Arrived at ORD and got to the gate. The plane to DAY was at the gate. Boarding time came--and went. I sat. The Gate Agent did a good job of keeping us informed. There was no crew for the plane. The crew was trapped at Milwaukee because their flight could not leave due to the weather. We waited; it kept getting later and later. At some point, snacks and bottles of water were offered. Finally, an announcement was made that the crew's plane had taken off. The crew finally arrived and received a round of applause from those of us waiting for them. Boarding promptly started and the rest of the trip was OK.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

It took over thirty seasons of _The Amazing Race_ television show to reach one million miles, so hats off to members who managed lifetime status with a North American carrier. I've never been loyal to a single carrier or hotel chain but I have been loyal to _products_ like MRTC and MCE. Unfortunately those services seem to change or vanish without any rhyme or reason. I've had status with Southwest, American (still active), United, Hyatt, and Hertz but free flights and hotel nights were my primary focus. The status I've earned through travel and spending was mostly incidental to other goals. I live in a spoke city with limited status benefits and several factors (schedule, routing, location) benefit from flexibility more than status. Oddly enough the "status" that probably helped me the most was in the form of unpublished benefits for routine users of opaque booking services. Being able to cancel an accepted bid or purchase that didn't go the way you expected was incredibly helpful and a real lifesaver. The best benefits in the business are F&F discounts although modern versions are not nearly as easy to use as before.


----------



## NS VIA Fan

My Frequent Flyer Status goes back to 1985 and CP Air's “Travel Bonus Program” . When Canadian Pacific Airlines was taken over by Pacific Western......it became Canadi>n Airlines “Plus” (note how they handled the “a” or “e” in Canadian) Then Canadi>n was absorbed by Air Canada and my miles went to their Aeroplan Program.

I've had a lot of free flights over the years going way back to when a “free” flight meant just that! No surcharges!

I also had a few Pan Am World Pass miles that eventually became Delta Sky Miles.. Don't know if they're still out there in cyberspace or not!


----------



## trainman74

I used to work for a large Silicon Valley company that, in 2008, signed a big business travel contract with United, and allowed any employee who wanted it to get their lowest level of Premier status (Premier Associate -- I don't think they have the equivalent anymore). I went to Australia in 2009 while they were offering double Premier qualifying miles, and wound up going up two levels to Gold. I managed to keep it for a couple years, and I think I went down to Silver for another year past that... but then I got laid off in early 2012, and have had various long periods of unemployment throughout the decade, so I've never really had a chance to travel extensively enough to regain status. (United also made Premier status levels harder to get by adding a "qualifying dollars" component to "qualifying miles.")

I've still been mostly loyal to United since then because I know the way things work, but I've also taken Southwest a couple of times (including the one time I got to fly for business), and it was perfectly adequate. I actually haven't flown since Christmas/New Year's 2017-18 -- over three years between plane trips is definitely a record for me.


----------



## gswager

I'm a loyal with Delta for years with no status. Second one would be Alaska airline despite going the "wrong way" trip to Seattle or Portland before reaching the destination.


----------



## flitcraft

I'm currently MVP75 with Alaska, my primary carrier, and I have miles banked with American, British Air, and United, but no status these days. I used to be Premier Executive with United, but they reduced service to Seattle, so now I just fly United to burn my miles--still about 400,000 to go. American I never had status with, but I did formerly with USAir, so now they are American miles. British Air I joined because, with a British husband and my not infrequent business trips to the UK, that seemed sensible at the time. Still burning those Avios... Alaska will be joining One World this upcoming year, so assuming that travel starts becoming plausible in the near-term future, I'll be concentrating my international flying on their partners. I do hope that they can keep their current non-OW partners like Emirates, Singapore, Hainan, Icelandair, etc.


----------



## jiml

flitcraft said:


> I'm currently MVP75 with Alaska, my primary carrier, and I have miles banked with American, British Air, and United, but no status these days. I used to be Premier Executive with United, but they reduced service to Seattle, so now I just fly United to burn my miles--still about 400,000 to go. American I never had status with, but I did formerly with USAir, so now they are American miles. British Air I joined because, with a British husband and my not infrequent business trips to the UK, that seemed sensible at the time. Still burning those Avios... Alaska will be joining One World this upcoming year, so assuming that travel starts becoming plausible in the near-term future, I'll be concentrating my international flying on their partners. I do hope that they can keep their current non-OW partners like Emirates, Singapore, Hainan, Icelandair, etc.


Alaska is the best airline in North America by quite a bit. Although they no longer fly to my area, I will be looking for ways to exploit the new partnership for connections to them.


----------



## Bob Dylan

Back in the day when I was a Frequent Flyer I flew often the Old Eastern Shuttle in the NEC and received lots " Flight Coupons" that could be Sold or used on other Airlines.

Everytime we landed in New York or Boston, hustlers would buy the Coupons ( for a Discount), I probably got about $1,000 by selling them, and also had numerous Free Flights all over the US and even to the Bahamas.

Eventually I convinced my boss to get the OK to ride Amtrak on the NEC( the Metroliners were great !!)

I also became one of the early members of AA Advantage and chose American for most business flights which led to me being able to use the Admirals Club and upgrade to FC often, plus get Free Flights.

I haven't flown since Oct of 2018 when I flew United to Newark for the AU Gathering in NYC!( and took the Pennsylvanian,Cap Ltd and Texas Eagle home on AGR Points!)


----------



## saxman

I spent 12 years bouncing around the world by non-revving and jumpseating. While domestic standby was never that stressful for me, nothing prepares you for the nerves and rush you get when coming home from overseas. Will I get that last business class seat or am I stuck in a middle for the next 12 hours? Or not at all.

Now, I've joined a charter airline where my company has to position me all the time for my flights, so now I get to join the frequent flyer game. Due to COVID, most airlines reduced the required flying to reach status so I got lucky in that regard. This year I made 1K on United without much trouble. Since moving back to DFW though, I recently got to Platinum on American. This is good, because I have a feeling I'll be taking them a lot more now.

In 2017, I started churning credit card points and took a really nice round the world trip to Australia and Singapore using all points. The highlight, of course, was taking Singapore Air around the long way, Singapore to Houston with a stopover in Manchester, all in business class. Hopefully we can take another trip like it soon.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

jiml said:


> United - Silver through hotel membership


I was thanked for reaching Silver status on UA and honestly thought they were confused or messing with me. Guess it must be tied to something else I have. 



IndyLions said:


> I decided late last year that life is too short for low cost carriers. I’m no Prima Donna to be sure - but in my 50’s I’m going to travel the way I want to travel. If it’s too expensive to justify, I won’t go.


I had the same reaction to shrinking pitch and increasing age. 



NS VIA Fan said:


> I've had a lot of free flights over the years going way back to when a “free” flight meant just that! No surcharges!


According to an article I read many airport fees originally ignored non-revenue passengers in the days of paper tickets. Then around the time the TSA was created the rules changed and every second party passenger had to pay airport related fees regardless of the circumstances. Airlines that had covered a few fees here and there had no interest in paying every fee every time and changed their own redemption rules to collect those fees from the traveler.



jiml said:


> Alaska is the best airline in North America by quite a bit.


What do you like about them? I haven't flown Alaska much but to me it seemed Premium Class wasn't that different from Comfort Plus or Main Cabin Extra while their version of First Class had the worst legroom among domestic airlines (before the AA revamp). I've heard good things about checked luggage times but I rarely check anything.


----------



## flitcraft

Alaska's frequent flyer program still has mileage based accrual, with no spend requirements. Redemption rates are also better. The cobranded Alaska credit card has an annual 99 dollars plus taxes companion fare anywhere they fly, no blackout dates. While this last item is impressionistic, I find their gate staff and flight attendants more customer friendly than United and American staff.


----------



## jiml

flitcraft said:


> Alaska's frequent flyer program still has mileage based accrual, with no spend requirements. Redemption rates are also better. The cobranded Alaska credit card has an annual 99 dollars plus taxes companion fare anywhere they fly, no blackout dates. While this last item is impressionistic, I find their gate staff and flight attendants more customer friendly than United and American staff.


They also include lounge access with any front-cabin ticket regardless of how obtained (upgrade, etc.), unlike most other domestics which require an annual fee.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

flitcraft said:


> Alaska's frequent flyer program still has mileage based accrual, with no spend requirements. Redemption rates are also better. The cobranded Alaska credit card has an annual 99 dollars plus taxes companion fare anywhere they fly, no blackout dates. While this last item is impressionistic, I find their gate staff and flight attendants more customer friendly than United and American staff.





jiml said:


> They also include lounge access with any front-cabin ticket regardless of how obtained (upgrade, etc.), unlike most other domestics which require an annual fee.


These are all good points but they may not be enough for someone in Texas to connect through Seattle for most domestic trips. I have the same issue with Delta in Atlanta. It does sound like I should put more effort into crediting Mileage Plan though. I previously considered connecting from AS to JL at SEA but those routes were priced at a premium despite offering limited options (compared to SFO/LAX) and regional (angle-flat) seating. You could book a better experience through SAN for much less so that became my gateway of choice. Now I'm wondering which of the long+thin routes will remain after C19.


----------



## flitcraft

Devil's Advocate said:


> These are all good points but they may not be enough for someone in Texas to connect through Seattle for most domestic trips.... Now I'm wondering which of the long+thin routes will remain after C19.


 You are quite right that Alaska wouldn't work for anyone off the West Coast. Just like United stopped working for me when they decided to downgrade the number of flights to and from Seattle. Well, that and Jeff Smisek's reign of terror as CEO of United, with his smarmy "We're going to make some changes, and I think you're going to like them." Every single one of them was a downgrade--only a serious masochist would have liked them. I happened to be onboard a United flight when the pilot came on to announce that Smisek has resigned as CEO of United, and the whole front end of the plane erupted into cheers, including one of the flight attendants, who called out "The drinks are on me!" (I didn't take her up on it!)

You are right to be concerned about flight reductions post-COVID, though. Until the load factors creep back up to where they were pre-COVID, I suspect most of us are going to have to change planes more often to get where we're going.


----------



## jiml

Devil's Advocate said:


> These are all good points but they may not be enough for someone in Texas to connect through Seattle for most domestic trips. I have the same issue with Delta in Atlanta. It does sound like I should put more effort into crediting Mileage Plan though.


You're not one of us crazy people that ever did a "mileage run" - going from Point A to Point B by the most circuitous route to accumulate airline miles? It was quite the fad several years ago, but I'm too old to do it anymore.

On the subject of Alaska's "usefulness", they do have some interesting routes (including transcontinental) that are competitively priced vs. the majors. Even before their network and plan were fully integrated with American's, AA would sell you a ticket partially on Alaska that made sense on further thought. We were able to return from a trip to San Diego with SAN-BOS on AS, then the short hop from BOS-YYZ on AA for around $500 in Business Class. The AA-only routing was over $1K. Of course that may not be something you'd need and I'm not sure they serve Texas at all, for example. Recent reviews by respected reviewers like Jeb Brooks and Paul Lucas have given AS high marks for their service, so a small detour might be worth looking at. YMMV.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

jiml said:


> You're not one of us crazy people that ever did a "mileage run" - going from Point A to Point B by the most circuitous route to accumulate airline miles? It was quite the fad several years ago, but I'm too old to do it anymore.


Mileage running was mainly about earning and maintaining status (IIRC) but most tiers aren't that helpful. If AA was honest about the benefits of the Gold status they would have a single bullet point that says "Helps you earn Platinum." The vast majority of my travel is leisure and I never had enough vacation time to spend it bouncing off places I didn't otherwise intend to visit. My points collecting was mainly about earning free flights and the mileage running craze was probably _Exhibit A_ for diluting adjusted earn rates and establishing minimum spend. Looking back if I had credited my last several flights to AS instead of AA I'd have forfeited status but banked an extra 30,000 miles. _D'oh!_


----------



## flitcraft

Airline status isn't worth much, frankly. Upgrades to first are nice, but unfortunately rare on Alaska from their Seattle hub under you're the highest tier, ever since they remodeled their first class cabin for extra legroom and recline, which reduced seating. Extra miles as elite bonuses and the free lounge passes are a better perk, but the best used to be the no-change-fee even for same day route changes, though now that change fees are going away, you don't need status for that. More free checked bags would perhaps be nice if I checked bags, but I seldom do. I can't imagine ever doing a mileage run just to get or maintain status--when I am done with business flying, which will be soon, I'll be done with status, and I doubt I'll really miss it.


----------



## jiml

Back when I flew frequently upgrades were plentiful and lounge access was complimentary for AA Platinums on overseas flights, including some really nice partner lounges. Like most things I think a lot of that has gone away. (I'm not near as current as I used to be.) That being said, I have not had a domestic upgrade request fail to clear into at least MCE (extra legroom) or Business/First in the last 5 years. I won't give them all the credit, since with the time flexibility of retirement I tend to pick the specific flights where the most potential exists. As I said in my initial post in this thread, I'm less of an AA fan than I used to be, but have nothing to complain about in my specific experience. Other domestic carriers are a mixed bag - even on premium tickets.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

Pitting American versus Alaska is an interesting dilemma. Alaska looks like a better experience with partner airlines I'm likely to use, but they barely serve my hometown and I'm already on the positive side of AA's earning curve. I could potentially status match after a vaccine becomes available but passing through DFW/PHX/ORD/LAX is much faster and more convenient than SEA. If anything goes wrong AA has many more options to get me back on track again. I think there's a good chance I stay with AA and only move to AS/DL if they do something really stupid or leave me stranded. Speaking of which, AA is the only airline (out of 38) that has ever left me stranded over something within their control. 

I rarely fly US airlines internationally (other than NA) and here is our good friend Paul to remind me why that is.



Other than United and American do any other mainstream airlines do the clumsy backward facing seats?


----------



## Trogdor

Devil's Advocate said:


> Other than United and American do any other mainstream airlines do the clumsy backward facing seats?



British Airways, IIRC.


----------



## jiml

Trogdor said:


> British Airways, IIRC.


Correct, and the ones on their 777-200's are particularly narrow and claustrophobic. They're disappearing with the roll-out of new Airbus models.


----------



## Shortline

I have spent way too much time in the air and on the train. About 5 or 6 years ago, I switched the vast majority of my air travel to Southwest, simply due to their Companion Pass program. I fly enough to easily hit it, so it was a no-brainer. My wife, or son have been all over the country with me on business trips. And th best part, is it even applies for award travel. So even when we fly on points, she can come free, rather than spend twice the miles. Plus, I hate gate checking bags on AA’s regional jets. Southwest flies all 737 planes, so that saves me time and convnenince even if I can only fly coach. Having free gate to gate live TV and wi-fi for A List Preferred/companion pass status is also a huge bonus for me. GoGo on AA, isn’t worth anything to me, it’s slow, and can’t be used until above 10,000 feet, and have to shut it down on descent 20 min or so before arival. Rarely pay for that garbage anymore. Southwest WiFi is typically pretty good, and wo is from the time you get on, to the time you get off.

I do miss the upgrades I got on Delta and American, but wasn’t worth trying to chase status on them, AND Southwest. Now when I fly AA or another carrier somewhere Southwest doesn’t go, I just book first class, and skip the upgrade game.

Also Select Plus on Amtrak for the time being, which, frankly, doesn’t do much at all for me. I have used the upgrades on Acela a few times, but otherwise, really don’t get any real value from it.

My travel in 2020 and so far into 2021 has decreased significantly, may not make Companion Pass this year. I Do have a 6 night round trip BHM-DEN early Feb, but not much else on the horizon. Been kinda nice staying home so much more!


----------



## 20th Century Rider

Devil's Advocate said:


> Pitting American versus Alaska is an interesting dilemma. Alaska looks like a better experience with partner airlines I'm likely to use, but they barely serve my hometown and I'm already on the positive side of AA's earning curve. I could potentially status match after a vaccine becomes available but passing through DFW/PHX/ORD/LAX is much faster and more convenient than SEA. If anything goes wrong AA has many more options to get me back on track again. I think there's a good chance I stay with AA and only move to AS/DL if they do something really stupid or leave me stranded. Speaking of which, AA is the only airline (out of 38) that has ever left me stranded over something within their control.
> 
> I rarely fly US airlines internationally (other than NA) and here is our good friend Paul to remind me why that is.
> 
> 
> 
> Other than United and American do any other mainstream airlines do the clumsy backward facing seats?



Paul does a great job in his blogs! That was a very quirky seat he was in... but the food looked great!


----------



## Devil's Advocate

Shortline said:


> I hate gate checking bags on AA’s regional jets. [...] GoGo on AA isn’t worth anything to me, it’s slow, and can’t be used until above 10,000 feet, and have to shut it down on descent 20 min or so before arival. Southwest WiFi is typically pretty good, and [works] from the time you get on, to the time you get off. I do miss the upgrades I got on Delta and American, but wasn’t worth trying to chase status [...] Now when I fly AA or another carrier somewhere Southwest doesn’t go, I just book first class, and skip the upgrade game.


Can't argue with the gate check stuff. Sometimes it's fast but other times it seems to take forever. Back in 2019 AA looked like they were moving away from Gogo. My complimentary access stopped working but performance improved. Not sure what happened since then. Most of my flights are short enough that MCE/ER is still workable if I'm honest.


----------



## DCAKen

Devil's Advocate said:


> Pitting American versus Alaska is an interesting dilemma. Alaska looks like a better experience with partner airlines I'm likely to use, but they barely serve my hometown and I'm already on the positive side of AA's earning curve. I could potentially status match after a vaccine becomes available but passing through DFW/PHX/ORD/LAX is much faster and more convenient than SEA. If anything goes wrong AA has many more options to get me back on track again. I think there's a good chance I stay with AA and only move to AS/DL if they do something really stupid or leave me stranded. Speaking of which, AA is the only airline (out of 38) that has ever left me stranded over something within their control



Alaska is joining the oneWorld alliance, so you'll be able to fly AA and earn AS miles (and vice versa). Take a look at this FlyerTalk discussion.



> American Airlines and Alaska Airlines are working together to become closer and more integrated partners with the addition of mileage accrual across both airlines. As Alaska Airlines prepares to join Oneworld in 2021, Alaska and American are expanding codeshare agreements and providing frequent flyers of both programs to once again earn and redeem miles. Starting April 1, 2020 all flights on either airline can earn miles (award and elite qualifying, as of an April 7 update to the AA web site) for the other airline’s frequent flyer program.


----------



## B757Guy

If any members have United Premier 1K or especially Global Services, please let me know. I'd like to chat about how the airline is meeting your expectations in-flight.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

American has suspended (or perhaps cancelled) most flights to my main domestic destination and this has created a bit of a problem that now requires me to mix flying and driving, spend the night in a connecting city, or leave before dawn to make it work. That is not a situation I find convenient compared to just driving the whole way. Anybody else running into similar problems? It probably wouldn't bother as much if the prices weren't so high for limited service.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

Devil's Advocate said:


> I think there's a good chance I stay with AA and only move to AS/DL if they do something really stupid or leave me stranded. Speaking of which, AA is the only airline (out of 38) that has ever left me stranded over something within their control.


My first eight flights since vaccination were booked on AA but with repeated delays, routine cancellations, flying coach on First Class airfare, and delayed reinstatement of benefits I've started moving my bookings over to DL. AA's meltdown at DFW and clumsy upgrade process is getting old so I'm giving DL's A220's and SLC hub a chance to win me over. Even sluggish Amtrak looks to be making a faster return to service normalcy than American Airlines.


----------



## Palmetto

When the US Air folks took over, it was downhill from there.


----------



## jebr

Devil's Advocate said:


> so I'm giving DL's A220's and SLC hub a chance to win me over.



Never used the SLC hub personally, but I've been generally happy with DL, and their A220 I took last month was wonderful. Wide seats even in coach, leg room was fine for me (though I'm not terribly picky on that front,) and I'm a fan of having the infotainment screens on board. I'd be happy to have that aircraft on every flight I'm planning on taking.


----------



## Palmetto

Meanwhile, AA is yanking their IFE on just about all their narrow bodies. The customer experience is certainly not high on their priority list.


----------



## jiml

Palmetto said:


> Meanwhile, AA is yanking their IFE on just about all their narrow bodies. The customer experience is certainly not high on their priority list.


That's because passengers "prefer their own devices". We're supposed to think of this as an enhancement.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

jebr said:


> Never used the SLC hub personally, but I've been generally happy with DL, and their A220 I took last month was wonderful. Wide seats even in coach, leg room was fine for me (though I'm not terribly picky on that front,) and I'm a fan of having the infotainment screens on board. I'd be happy to have that aircraft on every flight I'm planning on taking.


Glad to hear you found DL's A220 to be comfortable and well appointed. I have not yet visited the new SLC either but reviews & videos make it look nice.



Palmetto said:


> Meanwhile, AA is yanking their IFE on just about all their narrow bodies. The customer experience is certainly not high on their priority list.





jiml said:


> That's because passengers "prefer their own devices". We're supposed to think of this as an enhancement.


The _Project Oasis_ fiasco really put AA's customer service standards into perspective. Even UA seems to be moving ahead at this point.


----------



## jiml

A September flight, planned to be my first on an A220, has had an equipment change to 737MAX8. I wouldn't have chosen a MAX8 intentionally, but figure we'll have to fly on one eventually. I've heard nothing but good reports on the A220 on either AC or DL.


----------



## Brian Battuello

Had to look up "Project Oasis". Jesus H you know who. And to think I remember "MRTC" (look it up). 

Most of my airline FF points are on jetBlue. And with a bit of luck my dusty AA Lifetime Platinum card might actually be worth something on JB. God knows it isn't doing me any good on AA.


----------



## Brian Battuello

And by the way, if you have the slightest interest in frequent flyer status mythology, you must see "Up in the Air" with George Clooney. He absolutely nails the simultaneous prestige and banality of American Airlines domestic "First Class". And he gets to canoodle with Vera Farmiga. Some very underrated stuff in that movie.


----------



## jiml

Brian Battuello said:


> Had to look up "Project Oasis". Jesus H you know who. And to think I remember "MRTC" (look it up).
> 
> Most of my airline FF points are on jetBlue. And with a bit of luck my dusty AA Lifetime Platinum card might actually be worth something on JB. God knows it isn't doing me any good on AA.


MRTC = "Carty's Folly" - good while it lasted but unsustainable with everything else that happened to the airline industry in that period. 

The only thing AA Plat was good for was North American lounge access and free drinks on International itineraries. Unless you were flying some obscure domestic route with no EXP's, they'd swoop in and grab all the upgrades. The luggage tags were nice.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

Brian Battuello said:


> Had to look up "Project Oasis". Jesus H you know who. And to think I remember "MRTC" (look it up).


I was a big fan of MRTC. According to my memory it was a re-branding of a TW project after AA acquired some of their low cycle assets. Although I have switched airlines repeatedly I've remained loyal to Y+ products (MRTC > UA E+ > AA MCE > DL C+).


----------



## PerRock

Made Silver with British Airways this year; will likely loose it next year. One nice thing that BA Silver (and Gold) status does is give you lounge access regardless of where you are flying & what class you're flying in. I don't know if the equivalent AA status grants this, but also got an automatic upgrade to MCE if you book the cheap seats, as well as 2 checked bags. 

I normally don't fly enough, or far enough to qualify for any tiers most years. This year I had a limited window during late covid to visit my sister in the UK, so while tickets were cheap booked BA First to the UK and back to see her. Cost a little more than a non-covid time economy ticket, but each trip was enough to bump me up a tier.

peter


----------



## Brian Battuello

As mentioned, I've traveled 2,000,000 miles on American, with some help from their credit card. 

Now I can't find a single reason to fly on American. My only hope is that they somehow link my AA status with jetBlue so that I can get free Even More Room upgrades.


----------



## trainman74

The first few years I lived in L.A., I tended to fly American because of MRTC and because they had mainline service out of the Burbank airport (to DFW). Both of those ended up going away.


----------



## Ryan

Silver on UA because of Marriott status. Last time I was on one of their planes was a trip to Scotland in 2016, so meh.

A-List on WN because they have the lock on government contract fares out of BWI. Saves me dough on early bird upgrades, and really saved my bacon returning from San Diego last week. my Thursday afternoon flight was cancelled just before I returned my rental car (clutch move making that last minute check and keeping the car!). My A30 boarding turned into a C15 on the next flight, but The Internet taught me that they'll board A-listers between A and B, so my A30 really only turned into the equivalent of A64. Super important for needing/wanting an aisle for the long haul across the country. Next trip to San Diego will get it locked in for me for next year.


----------



## neroden

Palmetto said:


> When the US Air folks took over, it was downhill from there.


.... to add some history to this, US Air was never great, but when they merged with America West and the America West folks took over, it went way downhill. So it was the America West folks in charge when they merged with American Airlines...


----------



## railiner

How about cruise line status? 
Have good status on several of them...


----------



## Palmetto

Venetian Club on Silversea. Big deal!


----------



## caravanman

I have never flown in any work capacity, and although I join each airline mileage scheme, I never accrue enough miles to benefit. I did get a few free hotel nights though, from a hotel chain membership, which was appreciated. Flying economy class, the nicest was the Emirates A380, and the most unusual was a Burmese Fokker flight back in the 1980's.


----------



## Palmetto

neroden said:


> .... to add some history to this, US Air was never great, but when they merged with America West and the America West folks took over, it went way downhill. So it was the America West folks in charge when they merged with American Airlines...



Interesting. Thanks for reminding us of that history.


----------



## jis

In these so called "merger of equals" in which a biiig fish, apparently swallow a small, it is often the case that the management of the smaller company basically takes over control of the merged company. It is not unusual at all for this sort of thing to happen. A similar scenario is where a very large division of the even larger company is essentially merged with a smaller company and the management of the large merged division handed over to the management team from the smaller company, often in preparation for a divestiture.. Sometime those two steps are carried out in one fell swoop called "merge spinoff" or something like that.

American Airlines was one such example. Arguably the United - Continental merger was another such, where Smisek from the smaller company became the boss of the merged company.

I have lived through a couple of the complex spinoff - mergers.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

jiml said:


> MRTC = "Carty's Folly" - good while it lasted but unsustainable with everything else that happened to the airline industry in that period.


I think it was a great idea but maybe a bit ahead of its time and needed more marketing.



PerRock said:


> One nice thing that BA Silver (and Gold) status does is give you lounge access regardless of where you are flying & what class you're flying in. I don't know if the equivalent AA status grants this, but also got an automatic upgrade to MCE if you book the cheap seats, as well as 2 checked bags.


I don't know much about BA but AA status grants no access to business lounges last I checked.



neroden said:


> .... to add some history to this, US Air was never great, but when they merged with America West and the America West folks took over, it went way downhill. So it was the America West folks in charge when they merged with American Airlines...


America West was the worst US airline I ever flew and felt their call sign (cactus) was the perfect nickname for such a prickly company. The merger with US Air somehow swallowed an intercontinental business class trip worth of monkey points.



caravanman said:


> I have never flown in any work capacity, and although I join each airline mileage scheme, I never accrue enough miles to benefit.


I've been told by someone who worked in the industry that most loyalty accounts never earn enough for a single reward trip. You don't have to travel on business but you do need to keep booking the same carrier even when it results in a worse route or schedule to get across the finish line before they move the goalposts.


----------



## jiml

Devil's Advocate said:


> I don't know much about BA but AA status grants no access to business lounges last I checked.


From the Points Guy:

_Does AA Platinum get lounge access?
Mid- and upper-tier American elites (specifically *Platinum*, *Platinum* Pro and Executive *Platinum* members) can *access* Admirals Clubs on qualifying long-haul international itineraries operated by *AA* or a Oneworld partner, no matter what class of service they are flying._

I can vouch for this always being the case since I made Platinum with AA. The added bonus, before they added complimentary alcohol in their clubs, was two free drink vouchers per person in the party (although you'd sometimes have to sweet talk the desk if your companion had no status).


----------



## WWW

railiner said:


> How about cruise line status?
> Have good status on several of them...



Platinum Plus on Norwegian - Yea ! Freestyle cruising
Alaska(3) New England(2) Western Caribbean and Panama Canal

Carnival - the party ship for young folks
Alaska Mexican Riviera Southern Caribbean

Princess - stuffed shirt senior citizen formal cruising
Pacific Coastal ship positioning

Holland America - relaxed senior citizen cruising
Alaska 

*Note Carnival owns Princess and Holland America

Lots of interesting ways to combine cruising and rail trips !


----------



## Devil's Advocate

jiml said:


> From the Points Guy:_ Does AA Platinum get lounge access? Mid- and upper-tier American elites (specifically *Platinum*, *Platinum* Pro and Executive *Platinum* members) can *access* Admirals Clubs on qualifying long-haul international itineraries operated by *AA* or a Oneworld partner, no matter what class of service they are flying._ I can vouch for this always being the case since I made Platinum with AA. The added bonus, before they added complimentary alcohol in their clubs, was two free drink vouchers per person in the party (although you'd sometimes have to sweet talk the desk if your companion had no status).


Thanks for the clarification. My benefits list never mentioned this scenario and the AC sales pitch had a price for every status so I assumed it required a sub or pass. Lounge access is probably the weakest link in my flying knowledge. We only have a UA (ex-CO) lounge where I live and it's nothing special, but with Covid closures and AA's meltdown clogging the terminal with delays and cancellations I bet UA faithful wish the lounge was open so they had somewhere to sit!


----------



## jiml

Devil's Advocate said:


> Thanks for the clarification. My benefits list never mentioned this scenario and the AC sales pitch had a price for every status so I assumed it required a sub or pass. Lounge access is probably the weakest link in my flying knowledge. We only have a UA (ex-CO) lounge where I live and it's nothing special, but with Covid closures and AA's meltdown clogging the terminal with delays and cancellations I bet UA faithful wish the lounge was open so they had somewhere to sit!


The AA that I knew and quite liked is no more unfortunately. At the peak they were basically the #2 airline in Toronto after the 800-pound gorilla - Air Canada, which is a little unusual for a "foreign" carrier. They had a long and storied relationship with Canada and Toronto specifically. Now our AA lounge is closed and may never re-open. I have enough points for a BC trip for two to some international destination and then I'll re-evaluate.

Kudos on the new pic angle btw. You could have gone with "It's just a flesh wound".


----------



## NS VIA Fan

jiml said:


> The AA that I knew and quite liked is no more unfortunately. At the peak they were basically the #2 airline in Toronto after the 800-pound gorilla - Air Canada, which is a little unusual for a "foreign" carrier. They had a long and storied relationship with Canada and Toronto specifically.....



It was American Airlines that started US Customs Pre-Clearance as an experiment at 'Malton' (Toronto Pearson) way back in 1952.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

Despite the fact that much of the business travel market remains dormant here's an article about United making moves to become a more premium brand.









Can United Airlines Become Premium?


United Airlines is investing in new planes and interiors to create an airline people want to fly. Can the airline improve service as well?




onemileatatime.com





It's hard to know where this is going to end up but I welcome multiple airlines chasing the premium service market instead of watching everything devolve into a sea of no frills LCC's. Right now AA feels like a clumsy middle ground between LCC and Legacy with the bonus of routine cancellations and long hold times. AAdvantage probably does more for me than Skymiles would and AA staff have been friendlier than UA but DL's new SLC mini-hub might be a game changer.


----------



## jis

Apparently United's goal is to cut down the use of Regional Jets from 33% of domestic flights to only 10%









United Airlines orders 270 jets, its biggest aircraft purchase ever


United Airlines on Tuesday announced orders to buy 270 jets, the largest aircraft purchase in the company's history and the biggest order by any airline in about a decade.




www.cnn.com





In tandem they need to fix overall service quality and replace the grumpy subset of the customer facing personnel by more cheerful ones.


----------



## Devil's Advocate

jis said:


> Apparently United's goal is to cut down the use of Regional Jets from 33% of domestic flights to only 10% In tandem they need to fix overall service quality and replace the grumpy subset of the customer facing personnel by more cheerful ones.


American is reducing and retiring regional jet use as well. On the plus side passengers are more likely to enjoy mainline features and amenities but on the downside there will be longer de/boarding, more middle seats to contend with, and fewer flights to smaller airports. This happens to be a net negative for my situation. Instead of flying directly to my destination in the middle of the day I'm stuck with predawn flights or arriving an hour or two away. Improving the temperament of UA staff will be a tough nut to crack but hopefully they get there. No customer deserves the attitudes I've seen on UA's high seniority routes.


----------

