About a year ago I zapped my AA credit cards and joined Continental's One Pass. I got CO's Master Card and the miles racked up fast. I used them for a trip the the Middle East, having no difficulty getting the flight schedule I wanted via Air France.

I'm still finding it very easy to earn miles using my Master Card, as I'm given double miles for dining and gasoline. But I'm finding it a lot harder to spend those miles. For example, in February I tried booking a June trip to Peru on CO. They said no tickets were available for award travel thru CO or any partners. (I made several different calls just in case the person on the line was mistaken) I still had some AA points left so I used the rest of those for my Peru trip.

Now I'm considering another big adventure in Chile for either late 2008 or early 2009 and once again I'm finding it very difficult to use points on CO. Although I have no AA points left, just for fun I checked AA's web site. They don't have the exact dates I need but they do have award availablity on surrounding dates which could work. Looking back I almost always got what I needed on AA as long as I booked several months in advance.

So now I'm wondering if I shouldn't go back to AA? If it's easier to get award tickets, I will forgive them for the $15 luggage charge and the crappy food for purchase.

Your opinions please, and thanks in advance.

IMO AA is a better program for many places, South America being a case in point, because of their partners. Between AA and Lan Chile, there are many more routing options than those offered by other carriers.

Alaska Airlines is also a valid alternative, since miles flown on both CO and AA (as well as Delta, Northwest, KLM, Air France, British Airways, Qantas, Cathay Pacific and others) can be credited to AS, and redeemed on the same carriers, sometimes at preferential rates even to AA's.

Thank you Gardyloo, I think you are right about South America routes. Does anyone know how AA and CO compare for Europe or Asia award travel?

I'm a CO loyalist who hates AA for past transgressions so there's my bias.
Seat availability on AA will likely decline when they remove 10% of their fleet from service as announced today (along with the $15 bag fee.)
IMO the benefits of OnePass really mount when you hit elite status.

Yes I think you made the right choice. Lost my AA miles without so much as a warning letter. Now I avoid them instead of seek them.

Continental works harder to satisfy their customer base. Directs to HNL from EWR......no one else can say that!!!

If you primarily earn through secondary channels (promos, credit cards, etc), then I think you did make the wrong choice. AA has more partners, better earning opportunities, and a <b>significantly</b> better reputation for ease of redemption. Continental, along with partner Delta, may have the worst reputation of any airline. Only United has a reputation approaching that of AA.

If you earn some/many miles through flying, then CO improves a bit, as it is much easier to get full credit for international partner travel with CO than with AA, where most partners give partial credit for cheap fares. If you can fly on AA for most/all flights, this advantage, of course, disappears.

If you fly enough to earn elite status, it is more complicated, but it is not a clear advantage for CO in that case, either.

And just so you know where I am coming from, I offer this advice as someone who has elite status with CO (a does my wife). Formerly, we were elite with AA, and frankly, miss the ease of redemption they offered. Unfortunately, the schedules don't work for us, and the partner earning thing is a deal-breaker for now.

I've always found it easier to use my AA FF miles. Even for Hawaii, there are still flights currently available for fall/early winter at 35k.

Plus, we like to use our AA miles to upgrade to Biz Class on overseas flights. While we still have to pay $300 each way, we've found it to be a good value. And only once did we not clear the waitlist for the upgrade.

P_M: CO simply doesn't release award tickets that far out. In general, 2-3 months is when you see availability; and last minute trip is one of the best ways to spend Onepass miles.

Works great for my family, as that's how we travel. Not great if you need to plan things ahead.

Case in point: Just claimed standard tickets for my parents for a last minute trip to Europe. Leaving late June, returning mid-July. Combination of CO and AF flights. Saverpass 50,000 miles in coach, vs about $1,500 if buying them in cash.

Or like last May. I need to go to HKG because my grandma passed away. No problem getting standard 60,000 awards leaving within 3 days later.

But if you want to book something months in advance, you won't see any thing.

In my experience, finding award availability on CO and DL flights to deep South America in winter season (our NA winter) is one of the more difficult awards to come by. You could try Aeromexico or Copa but you'd have to connect via Mexico City or Pamana City.

In comparison, I find redeeming to Europe on Skyteam to be much easier as there are more carriers and many possible routing combinations.

My experience has all been redeeming via DL but the partners available are very similar though that may change if CO leaves Skyteam.