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Airlines and Airline Miles

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GolferGal

GolferGal

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Do you have status with an airline? What are your thoughts on Airline miles?

We have been American Airline status holders for a while now. I like the added perks, but lately it seems like getting an upgrade to 1st class is getting harder and harder. I enjoy the AA hubs, and their prices are generally lower so it's overall been good to us, but I read an article the other day that it ranks last in customer satisfaction, and Delta ranks first. I was shocked by that because in the past I wasn't a fan of Delta. I hate their website, and I HATE the Atlanta airport, and you aren't getting any flights out of my main airport without stopping in ATL first. That's one of my biggest issues with Delta.

United is a decent option, but their fares are so much higher, and I am not a big fan of the Houston airport either.

I have never flown JetBlue but I have heard nothing but great things about them.
 
Probably the best business model for an airline and it is not mentioned. Southwest. They make sense. You get out early and you can get a deal. Book last minute and you pay dearly. Want good seat pay for the early boarding. Johnny come lately you be rubbing elbows on both sides...They have a good rewards program too. What dings them is that they reject the travel option searchers like kayak. You have to go look directly.
 
I will say, I was a big Delta hater, but having been forced to fly them quite a bit for work over the past year, they have made some improvements in my eyes.

Their app, as an example, is better than any other in the Airline business, in my opinion.
 
I’ve never flown enough to have status with any airline. That said, the premise of those programs definitely make sense!
Anything I’ve read/heard in Canada always points to Star Alliance as being a marquis brand, with decent perks and flexibility globally.
 
I just recently joined SWA. So far, so good. I like that there's no penalty for cancelling or rescheduling.
 
I love Delta up here in the Midwest. Our family never upgrades to first class, but we take advantage of our miles quite regularly to get away.
 
I'm a million mile flyer on United, so I have their "Gold" status for life. They were at one time just about the best miles program in the US, unfortunately they aren't any more, and haven't been for quite a few years now. The "Gold" status perks are still pretty good, but earning miles is a joke, based on dollars spent rather than miles flown. Using miles is almost as bad, with few seats available without using a ton of miles.

Otherwise I think most of the airlines are pretty equal, all but Southwest use pretty much the same business and operations models. Personally I will not fly Southwest unless it is a direct flight. They are rarely less expensive, and that "A" boarding pass is completely meaningless when your first flight runs late and your connecting flight is already boarding.
 
OldeDude said:
Otherwise I think most of the airlines are pretty equal, all but Southwest use pretty much the same business and operations models. Personally I will not fly Southwest unless it is a direct flight. They are rarely less expensive, and that "A" boarding pass is completely meaningless when your first flight runs late and your connecting flight is already boarding.
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Im with you here. Not a fan.
As to most being equal, they really are. I choose it based on the hub I have to connect with.
 
I don't travel enough any longer to reach any meaningful status. My wife traveled extensively for her families business before they sold it and hit platinum with Delta. With her property management, she runs everything on AMEX and accumulates beaucoup miles every year and maintains her status. So that is what we fly. We've looked at changing but you can't get really get anywhere but Atlanta, Minneapolis, Dallas, Houston or Charlotte from Memphis.

I like the extra room in Delta's Comfort Plus. It seems to offer a little more space than similar seating from American or United.

ETA: I'm with @OldeDude and JB. Not a fan of Southwest.
 
I'm United Premier 1K. I'm hoping I'll get invited to Global Services this year.

1K is pretty great, though they're making it much tougher to achieve. I get instant upgrades on most flights, and if not instant it's >96 hours prior to departure. 3 checked bags up to 70 lbs for me and any one traveling with me (this is a big perk when you're traveling with golf clubs and cameras @GolferGal.)

International upgrades happen more frequently than domestic, so that's also a plus.

Another note on United. You don't have to go through Houston. In fact, I refuse to fly through that terrible airport. Just uncheck it in your search, and they'll put you through other hubs (Newark, Dulles, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, etc.)
 
With 1K status, I earn 11x miles over a non-status member, and those miles add up very quickly. I have hundreds of thousands of award miles sitting in my account just from last year alone, and I use them pretty frequently.

Plus you get to order your meals before anyone else, which means you'll never be stuck with the crappier of the crap food.
 
I use AA, primarily for pet transport reasons.
Wife uses Southwest business travel and we use her points for leisure travel.
The southwest seating sometimes is a PITA but usually works in your favor if you get an A boarding assignment.
 
I'm Platinum for life on American. So, most of my flying is with them.
 
Space Bandito said:
I get instant upgrades on most flights, and if not instant it's >96 hours prior to departure. 3 checked bags up to 70 lbs for me and any one traveling with me
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I'm pretty sure we get that upgrade feature with Delta or Delta AMEX Reserve. I know we get the 3 checked bags up to 70 lbs.
 
I'm a member of AA and United. I like United better because the miles I earn don't expire and they reimburse for TSA PreCheck.
I took them both because I travel enough on vacations that the free bag and getting on early ends up offsetting the $100 fee for me.
 
I have status on Delta & they have been the airline I’ve flown with for the past 10 years. They haven’t always been the smoothest, but are getting better. I get upgraded quite frequently & can move into Delta comfort after purchasing a main cabin seat.

Award flights are reasonable as well & with status can be cancelled up to with 72 hrs without penalty. Good perks as I had so many drink tickets I think I gifted them to 15 passengers on my last flight as they were set to expire.

They just gained a few more accolades when I just booked our flights for President Club trip, which were main cabin. Once tickets were issued I moved my wife & I into Delta comfort for all segments! Win!!!!
 
My wife and I are Diamond & Platinum with Delta and our three children have gold status which works perfectly with Delta having over 60% of the flights in and out of the Minneapolis airport. Delta is much better overall as an airline that they were 20 years ago and we rarely have an issue or run into a crabby ticket agent or flight attendant that were common with Northwest/Delta back in the day. My wife worked there when we first go married and has logged over 2 million miles with them so we have seen the improvements, lol.

We can fly direct almost to almost any major city in the U.S. including Honolulu. Most of my trips(monthly during the winter) are to Ft. Myers to visit our condo and we make it to California a few times a year to visit our college age daughter.

The miles to redeem a free ticket like any airline vary widely with the the seasons/holidays. My son returned from Ft. Myers yesterday and his round trip ticket was 18,000 miles. We bought the same direct flights for our daughters friend at spring break in March and it was 125,000 miles!
 
Space Bandito said:
With 1K status, I earn 11x miles over a non-status member, and those miles add up very quickly. I have hundreds of thousands of award miles sitting in my account just from last year alone, and I use them pretty frequently.

Plus you get to order your meals before anyone else, which means you'll never be stuck with the crappier of the crap food.
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I made 1K on United one time, and traveling that year was a completely different experience! I absolutely know that they held a flight out of Baltimore for me one time. I had called on my way to the airport, told them I was likely going to be late, and asked for re-booking options. They said not to worry if I was too late they would take care of me, but see if I could make it. I ended up boarding a full plane, about 15 minutes after they should have closed the door, and they closed the door behind me once I was in my seat. I was upgraded more often than not, the other perks were substantial, and I was just treated different (better).
 
tahoebum said:
My wife and I are Diamond & Platinum with Delta and our three children have gold status which works perfectly with Delta having over 60% of the flights in and out of the Minneapolis airport. Delta is much better overall as an airline that they were 20 years ago and we rarely have an issue or run into a crabby ticket agent or flight attendant that were common with Northwest/Delta back in the day. My wife worked there when we first go married and has logged over 2 million miles with them so we have seen the improvements, lol.

We can fly direct almost to almost any major city in the U.S. including Honolulu. Most of my trips(monthly during the winter) are to Ft. Myers to visit our condo and we make it to California a few times a year to visit our college age daughter.
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I envy you living in a hub. I made Diamond the last two years on segments...OUCH!

Agree with your statement and can’t say the last time I’ve ran into a grumpy flight attendant, ticket or gate agent, or pilot.

My last flight the pilot introduced himself to each passenger on the plane after they were seated.
 
mmaynard11 said:
I envy you living in a hub. I made Diamond the last two years on segments...OUCH!

Agree with your statement and can’t say the last time I’ve ran into a grumpy flight attendant, ticket or gate agent, or pilot.

My last flight the pilot introduced himself to each passenger on the plane after they were seated.
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It's amazing being 12 miles from a hub airport. We can leave our house and be sitting on the beach at our condo in Naples Florida 1,500 miles away 5.5 hours later. We can joke now that it often took my wife 4.5 hours to drive the 150 miles home each week from her workplace in San Jose to Sacramento.

My wife worked at Northwest before they were bought by Delta as a flight attendant, flight attendant trainer, and in corporate HR back in the early 90's. Her dad was a pilot for Northwest/Delta from 1965 until 2000 so we have seen all the changes/improvements. :)
 
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GolferGal said:
Do you have status with an airline? What are your thoughts on Airline miles?

We have been American Airline status holders for a while now. I like the added perks, but lately it seems like getting an upgrade to 1st class is getting harder and harder. I enjoy the AA hubs, and their prices are generally lower so it's overall been good to us, but I read an article the other day that it ranks last in customer satisfaction, and Delta ranks first. I was shocked by that because in the past I wasn't a fan of Delta. I hate their website, and I HATE the Atlanta airport, and you aren't getting any flights out of my main airport without stopping in ATL first. That's one of my biggest issues with Delta.

United is a decent option, but their fares are so much higher, and I am not a big fan of the Houston airport either.

I have never flown JetBlue but I have heard nothing but great things about them.
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I would recommend Alaska Airlines and their mileage program for west coasters. Not just because my state is their namesake. Their service is still awesome, and their mileage program doesn’t have a ton of constraints.
 
I've hit Gold on Delta the past two years. I have gotten a few First Class upgrades, but it is entirely dependent on where I am going as my normal route is full of consultants who travel more than I do. Main reason I tolerate Atlanta is that so many of my other connection points into Chattanooga are only once or twice a day, so if you miss one you are stuck for many hours or overnight. If I make it to Atlanta, I can rent a car and make it home. Delta's app is pretty nice, and our experience with flying on a miles redemption was pretty seamless (and they took good care of my wife when they lost her bag for a couple of days).
 
I am Mosiac with Jetblue and Platinum with United, last time I checked I was gold on AA down from Platinum for many years, once they bailed out of Puerto Rico they don't have the Caribbean flights I use.
 
AK-Bryan said:
I would recommend Alaska Airlines and their mileage program for west coasters. Not just because my state is their namesake. Their service is still awesome, and their mileage program doesn’t have a ton of constraints.
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I agree with this and their partnership with AA works really well.
 
I am a member of most but I am Mosaic on JetBlue. I like JetBlue as there is more room in the seats even in non premium seats and with Mosaic you get 2 bags for you and everyone traveling with you and get to board first so you don’t have to worry about finding a spot for your bags. Generally you can get an upgrade to an even more space seat at the airport at no cost. For me out of Boston JetBlue has the most direct non-stop flights so I can get to most of the places I need to go.

For non-Mosaic JetBlue has recently reduced the perks like free bags, reduced change fees etc so I don’t think it is as attractive.
 
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