Rank the value of miles on the 6 legacy carriers
Oct 8, 2008, 9:24 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Chicago
Posts: 2,682
Rank the value of miles on the 6 legacy carriers
My order:
AA: I consider these to be the best by far. They seem to have the best availability, although on certain routes UA can either be much better or much worse. Free stopovers with open jaw, minimal fees except phone booking fee is often needed.
UA: Lower prices to Asia and Europe then Skyteam. Better availability with more partners then skyteam. Horrible booking engine leads to many ohone booking fees.
CO: bad availability on own metal, but DL and NW options make it somewhat better. Don't have as many surcharges as DL and NW so the finished ahead. I don like that you can book partner awards online.
NW: Probably used to be third. I like that you could book online and not pay late booking fee and that you could book partners. However they seem to have higher surcharges not that they are with DL, so I bumped CO ahead.
DL: Have to pay fee to book on partners. Various surcharges. Poor availability. They seem to be leading the race to the bottom.
US: awful availability on own metal. Have to pay partenr booking fee and phone booking fee to use partners.
AA: I consider these to be the best by far. They seem to have the best availability, although on certain routes UA can either be much better or much worse. Free stopovers with open jaw, minimal fees except phone booking fee is often needed.
UA: Lower prices to Asia and Europe then Skyteam. Better availability with more partners then skyteam. Horrible booking engine leads to many ohone booking fees.
CO: bad availability on own metal, but DL and NW options make it somewhat better. Don't have as many surcharges as DL and NW so the finished ahead. I don like that you can book partner awards online.
NW: Probably used to be third. I like that you could book online and not pay late booking fee and that you could book partners. However they seem to have higher surcharges not that they are with DL, so I bumped CO ahead.
DL: Have to pay fee to book on partners. Various surcharges. Poor availability. They seem to be leading the race to the bottom.
US: awful availability on own metal. Have to pay partenr booking fee and phone booking fee to use partners.
Oct 8, 2008, 11:55 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Rural TN (but WAS native)
Programs: National Executive Elite, none of the others matter
Posts: 23,823
Despite the fees and the new tier (which hasn't been a problem yet), I would transpose DL and NW for miles but I would keep the order for benefits of status.
Oct 8, 2008, 12:32 pm
#5
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Cleveland
Programs: AF/KLM Plat For Life/UA Million Miler-PremEx For Life/SPG Gold
Posts: 5,054
Slight OT..... some foreign programs offer some redemptions not available with any USA programs.
domestic R/T
QF (QANTAS) 16K r/t on AA (under 1.8K mileage cap)
QR (Qatar) 15K r/t on UA (under 2k mileage cap)
CX (Cathay ) 15K r/t on AA (under 1.2K mileage cap)
domestic O/W
AF (Air France) 12.5K on NW (no mileage cap)
CX (Cathay) 10K on AA (under 1.2K mileage cap)
QF (QANTAS) 8K on AA (under 1.8K mileage cap)
BD (bmi) 7.5K plus 50 GBP on UA, US, AC (no mileage cap)
domestic R/T
QF (QANTAS) 16K r/t on AA (under 1.8K mileage cap)
QR (Qatar) 15K r/t on UA (under 2k mileage cap)
CX (Cathay ) 15K r/t on AA (under 1.2K mileage cap)
domestic O/W
AF (Air France) 12.5K on NW (no mileage cap)
CX (Cathay) 10K on AA (under 1.2K mileage cap)
QF (QANTAS) 8K on AA (under 1.8K mileage cap)
BD (bmi) 7.5K plus 50 GBP on UA, US, AC (no mileage cap)
Oct 8, 2008, 12:35 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: n.y.c.
Posts: 13,988
I value my CO miles the highest, since I can transfer them to Amtrak, and always get 2˘-4˘ per mile with them, with no capacity controls.
(I don't considering valuing miles based on their ability to purchase a C/J/F seat to be valid, since I would not otherwise be buying the seat with $$$.)
(I don't considering valuing miles based on their ability to purchase a C/J/F seat to be valid, since I would not otherwise be buying the seat with $$$.)
Oct 8, 2008, 12:43 pm
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: A festering pit; a pustule of a fistula set athwart the miasmic swamps of the armpit of the Gulf of Mexico - a Godforsaken wart upon a dark crevasse of the World. (IAH)
Programs: UA Lifetime Gold, BA Silver, Marriott Lifetime Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold
Posts: 31,403
Agree with the OP. Also, it's not like CO has improved NonePass. It just seems that DL/NW have sunk to new lows. 
Oct 8, 2008, 2:31 pm
#9
Join Date: May 2003
Programs: AA (1MM), Marriott (LT Gold)
Posts: 1,766
IMO, this seems to be largely a theoretical discussion.
Whenever I go to the CC, the solicitations for trades for every major domestic carrier always seem to be 1:1. Perhaps, when the horse trading occurs behind the scenes, US and DL owners have to ante up 100k miles to get 90K AA miles, but you would never know that based on the CC postings.
Whenever I go to the CC, the solicitations for trades for every major domestic carrier always seem to be 1:1. Perhaps, when the horse trading occurs behind the scenes, US and DL owners have to ante up 100k miles to get 90K AA miles, but you would never know that based on the CC postings.
Oct 8, 2008, 8:22 pm
#12
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Laguna Beach CA
Programs: AA EXP/4MM UA 1MM, HY Global, Bon Lft Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 720
Pretty much agree with the ranking by the OP. Except, I would change the ranking of the top two when the member is Executive Platinum or 1K.
United seems to pull out all stops to accommodate 1Ks, while with AA status doesn't seem to matter as to availability. For 1ks with UA, redeposit and change fees on award tickets are waived offering much greater flexibility.
United seems to pull out all stops to accommodate 1Ks, while with AA status doesn't seem to matter as to availability. For 1ks with UA, redeposit and change fees on award tickets are waived offering much greater flexibility.
Oct 8, 2008, 8:39 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 209
IMO, this seems to be largely a theoretical discussion.
Whenever I go to the CC, the solicitations for trades for every major domestic carrier always seem to be 1:1. Perhaps, when the horse trading occurs behind the scenes, US and DL owners have to ante up 100k miles to get 90K AA miles, but you would never know that based on the CC postings.
Whenever I go to the CC, the solicitations for trades for every major domestic carrier always seem to be 1:1. Perhaps, when the horse trading occurs behind the scenes, US and DL owners have to ante up 100k miles to get 90K AA miles, but you would never know that based on the CC postings.
Oct 8, 2008, 9:39 pm
#14
Join Date: May 2003
Programs: AA (1MM), Marriott (LT Gold)
Posts: 1,766
October 6:
H: 25K DL Miles, W: 25K UA Miles ASAP
October 2:
W: 45k AA (or any OW) H: 40-50k NW
September 20:
H: 25 K NW W: 25 K UA or AA
September 20:
H: Ua 50k w: Nw 52.5k (Gratuitous Comment: We're getting closer to your 1:1.5 ratio)
September 12:
H: 60K DL or CO, W: 60K UA