<p>I live in the Inland Northwest, so Alaska has been our primary airline. Since D has been in school in the east I started flying Continental and liked their One-pass program. I use my accumulated miles for upgrades and with One-pass you know at the time of booking if this is possible. Now that United has TAKEN OVER Continental (not really a merger), One-passs benefits have been eliminated. There is NO WAY to be guaranteed an upgrade with Uniteds mileage program and if you have 2 flights to your destination you might get upgraded on one flight (usually the shorter one) but not receive an upgrade on the 2nd flight. UA will still deduct the 15,000 miles. </p>
<p>I HATE Uniteds mileage program.</p>
<p>Twenty years ago we purchased life time memberships in UAs Red Carpet sooo we will probably continue to fly UA but not as often.</p>
<p>Oldfort AMEX platinum will get you into the Delta and AA lounges, but not Alaskas Board room.</p>
<p>I flew AA (JFK to SEA) and it was very pleasant plus I was able to get Alaska points.</p>
<p>I may look into flying Delta but Im not fond of Atlantas airport and having to connect in SLC in the winter can be a problem.</p>
<p>TutuTaxi - that’s why I started this thread. I wanted to vent. Those lounges used to have nice wine and food, now United/CO lounges charge for “premium wine.”</p>
<p>Emirates lounge at JFK is one of the best, BA also has good lounges for its customers. Singapore airline provides good service on flight. It appears American airlines no longer care about customer service, it is all about what is cheapest and how they could put additional surcharge for every little thing. I don’t think that many international travellers would choose an American airline if they don’t have to.</p>
<p>I don’t even care about free food or wine. BUT it would have been nice to have a quiet place to relax between flights (not our fault that we have to be there for HOURS to make an international connection…that is the AIRLINE schedule issue). But you know…we can buy a lot of good food and internet connection in the terminal for a lot less than the $250 they were going to charge us for the lounge. It would have been a nice convenience.</p>
<p>The “best” frequent flyer program really depends on the routes one is flying and what they want in terms of elite benefits. For those flying 100,000+ miles a year and wanting cheap business class upgrades on flights to Europe and Asia, United or American (limited Asian network) are good choices. Delta could also be a good choice, but it restricts complementary upgrades on international routes to Y, B, and M fares that are often more expensive than the “Y-up” fares that allow anyone an instant upgrade to BusinessElite. Lounge access will also be included for those flying in coach internationally (business class fares for international travel often include lounge access).</p>
<p>For those primarily flying domestic and/or Canada/Mexico/Caribbean routes or only flying enough to earn low or mid-tier status, there are a lot more options. Since most of my flights are around or between the west coast and the southeast, I have elite status on Alaska Airlines. Thus allows me to get priority check-in, boarding, and seating, along with 2 checked bags, when flying Alaska, Delta, or American (the latter was just announced last week) and am eligible for complementary upgrades on Alaska and Delta. This allows me a better selection of flights, connection points, and prices compared to sticking with a single alliance. In December, I will be flying Delta, American, and Alaska on the same day and am glad that all of those recognize my elite status.</p>
<p>While many elite benefits may seem trivial to the occasional flyer, one really begins to appreciate them once they have elite status. For example, I usually fly over holidays and school breaks. It is really nice to be able to skip the lines for check-in, board the plane at my leisure while there are 100+ people in the general boarding lane, and occasionally get to sit in the pointy end of the plane with wider seats and free drinks and snacks. When flights are delayed or cancelled, the airlines will usually rebook their first class and elite passengers first, occasionally putting them on another airline if necessary.</p>
<p>thumper1, many airlines will sell single-day lounge passes, sometimes at a discounted price to elites and people with the airline’s credit card. Lounges are especially useful during long connections and/or flight delays when you don’t want to spend many hours in the terminal.</p>
<p>My husband had this with USAir…but it seems that the only thing left is the two checked bags. AND only on USAir, not on the other Star Alliance carriers. He used to also have free use of the USAir lounges and could take me as a guest. That has gone away too.</p>
<p>O’Hare is also a hub for American Airlines, and Midway has a large Southwest presence. Of course, whether those airlines would be more useful to you than United depends on where you fly to.</p>
<p>Funny as a Continental Frequent Flyer you are feeling like United is ruining your airline… because as a United FF, I feel like Continental is ruining United… basically Smirk (sic) is picking the worst of both… and, like you, I am seriously looking for a new airline…</p>
<p>Yeah, thanks UCB. Midway is in outermongolia from where I live. I’d be better off driving up to Mitchell in Milwaukee. No. Ohare is good.</p>
<p>I doubt I will switch to American. The place I fly most is Denver, and H is married to UA at this point, as you can imagine, with that much flying on the one carrier. So, it’s the best airline for me.</p>
<p>But, the merger has changed things. I’ll get used to it.</p>
<p>scualum, I agree w/ oldfort before the merger (UA take over) I found flying CO preferably to flying UA. COs planes and boarding areas were cleaner and their personnel more knowledgeable and helpful. Now there is almost no difference - the UA mentality has been adopted by COs people. But the biggest disappoint for me, is with the new mileage program not one feature of One-pass that was more beneficial or absent in UAs program has been carried over to the new mileage program. :(</p>