TxTravelPro

I am based in Dallas. I travel for a living. I have flown AA almost exclusively for my whole life... using codeshares ONLY when there is no way to stay on AA.
Last week my DFW based company told us we could no longer fly AA.
WHAT????
I have been Platinum for 11 years. I am Plat through 2012... it's a bummer but at least I am not the VP that has a mileage run next week to NRT and back so he can remain Exec Plat. That trips gonna suck knowing that he cannot fly AA for business anymore.
Anyhoo, I need some feedback on who is the best of this lot.
I have requested elite matches from CO, UA and DL.
I will pretty much have to connect on every trip I take, unless it is to their HUB cities.
So, I am concerned about luggage and schedule issues.
Flying direct I never really worried about all that stuff (where's my kleenex?).
So I am usually traveling to NYC, LHR, HKG, SFO, PHX. Just sort of all over.
In Jan/11 I have trips to MSY, CHS and NYC.
Who is my best bet?
What airport is best for connections?
Who has the best FF program?
Any thoughts, comments are welcome!!!
Thanks, in advance!!!

Seamus

Sucks to be subject to such draconian corporate travel policies, but it is not the end of the world. I faced the connection issue when relocating from Houston to SA and have survived. In fact, because CO has a 500 mile minimum on all legs (at least for gold and plat elites) it actually enhances FF mileage. How's that for rationalizing?

Of the lot, my bias is to go with CO. I'm a longtime CO devotee anyway, but since they are in the process of completing their merging with UA you can rack up mileage credit from either CO or UA into a single FF account. DL would be a last choice - their reputation for poor customer service is, IME, well deserved.

qwovadis

UA/CO now merging would seem your best bet

although recent negatives for me long flight delay

in HOU on CO with no apology or comp due to a flight

crew screw up scheduling up not weather does not bode well

for me for improvement after the merger.

But DL too much ATL lots of new charges also so

UA/CO for me

TxTravelPro

Thanks so much! This and reading other posts have helped me make up my mind.
Seamus, can you explain the 500 mile comment?
Does that mean that I will not be able to get credit for all the DFW-IAH segements?

TxTravelPro

PS... what sort of connection time do I need to allow in IAH?
CO is selling a 55 minute connection, but that makes me nervous.

Seamus

Re: 500 miles credit - you will get miles for those short hops. If non elite you get the actual air miles, if elite you get a minimum of 500 per segment flown. The 500 minimum also applies to elite qualification miles, so every RT with a connection you take earns an additional 1,000 miles over a nonstop, which helps with re-qualifying for elite each year.

rkkwan

Basically your choice is DL or CO/UA. CO/UA will be better since they have more hubs closer to DFW - IAH, ORD, DEN. If you go with DL, they don't have much longhaul flights out of MEM, and they're cutting back on CVG, so, you'll be connecting mostly through ATL (and sometimes DTW or MSP).

Miles are not too hard to use on UA, but less so on CO. How it turns out in the long run is not clear, though DL Skymiles are hard to claim anyways.

One other note is that if you live closer to DAL than DFW, CO does have plenty of DAL-IAH flights when you need to connect there. That can be another plus.

cynstalker

I'm just being nosy - why don't they allow you to use AA anymore?

TxTravelPro

Thanks again for all the additional help.
I wish I understood all the reasons for the AA problems.
It is not really being communicated. We were just told to stop and really have no alternative but to stop

Gardyloo

For me it would come down to alliance partners. IMO Skyteam is a grim excuse for an alliance, while Star is huge, has lots of regional players, and offers multiple carriers within North America, something that neither Oneworld nor Skyteam can really provide. And elite status with UA/CO has decent reciprocal benefits with other *A airlines.

If you've been Platinum with AA for 11 years, I'd have to assume you're getting pretty close to 2 million lifetime miles, which for the time being confers lifetime Platinum status with AA. So changing your flying patterns to UA/CO won't really hurt you that much with AA in terms of baggage fees, seat selection, ability to buy sticker upgrades etc.

Cranachin

Delta won't give you platinum status - probably just silver.

Don't know about UA/CO.

joannyc

Last time I used points on UA, it cost me 100,000 to fly roundtrip from New York City to Germany (into Munich, out of Frankfurt). That ticked me off. How many points does DL charge?


I flew DL this year NYC - BRU - NYC... surprisingly, had a great flight both ways. Didn't use points... ran out of those years ago and don't have any status with them anymore. Aisle seat in exit row on way out. Aisle seat on way back. Free wine and beer and first checked bag.

But, the UA/CO merger offers more flights to you.