UA vs. AA: Which FF Plan is Better?

March 4, 2007 5:45 PM

In the next couple of months I am going to start flying frequently (probably weekly) between Chicago and New York and Chicago and DC. I am currently a member of US Airways Dividend Miles, but they don't have enough flexibility in flight schedules for me. I am trying to decide whether to sign with United or American (I'd like to stick to one airline whenever possible to get status, and I'll likely pick up their credit card as well). So, I'd love to hear feedback on the two programs: which treat their customers better, which have more perks (more upgrade availability), etc. Thanks in advance!
posted by jules1651 to travel & transportation (19 comments total)

You should search for this sort of discussion on the relevant two forums at FlyerTalk where it has already been discussed at length. The answers will probably be better informed than your average MeFite, and less anecdotal.

Knowing how much mileage you plan on flying this year will also matter.
posted by grouse at 6:04 PM on March 4, 2007

My personal experience favors American, though I've disliked everything to do with United for several years. Continental, however, beats either one.
posted by fourcheesemac at 6:06 PM on March 4, 2007

Based on experience with NY-DC legs, as well as Chicago-DC legs, I would advise United because of the number of code shares they fly with US Air and their hubs at O'Hare and Dulles.

I would second the advice to check in at FlyerTalk, though.
posted by wildeepdotorg at 6:08 PM on March 4, 2007

When I first started flying for work, my boss at the time said to always sign up for the airline and hotel cards since you never know how much you might end up flying one over the other.

So get sign up for both. Getting elite status will be tough if you're in coach on those relatively short hops.

I'm platinum with American. I get treated OK. A lot like all customers were treated back in the day. If you fly first or business class internationally, the staff at the Admirals Club look out for you to make sure you make your connections. I fly American because it is the preferred carrier of my employer. Now it is where I have most of my miles and status. I have a love/hate relationship. Some of the flight attendants in coach act like you're doing them a favor by getting on the plane.

I've found upgrades can be used whenever I've wanted them. And I get an occasional bump to first class w/o asking. But the real higher end VIP get more than I ever will.

I haven't been on United until they fucked me over in Denver once and I swore never to fly them again.
posted by birdherder at 6:13 PM on March 4, 2007

United is a quirky system. Upgrades to some extent on dependent on status. The thing to consider is that both US and United are code share partners and both are in the Star Alliance. This means you can easily use your US Air miles for United flights and upgrades. I've been a top tier flyer on United for many years and despite some customer service problems from time to time I've never thought of changing. Once you are in the air you get treated great (unless you're in coach) particularly on international flights.
posted by Xurando at 6:30 PM on March 4, 2007

I've been enrolled in both airlines' FF plans over the past few years and I don't think there's enough difference between the two to make that a determinant. Look a little deeper, at the service itself.

Judging from your description, it appears to me that you'll be originating from Chicago, meaning O'Hare. I have given up entirely on flying out of United from O'Hare if possible. I find their security even more onerous and slaughter-house like than nearly anyone else's security anywhere else I've flown. Whereas United appears to force all passengers through one or two main security check-points at Terminal 1, American seems to have more but smaller check-points at Terminal 3.

It may also be that, since O'Hare is United's main hub and they handle the largest passenger volume at ORD, they simply handle more people than AA, but I definitely find American easier to deal with. Even AA at DFW, their main hub, isn't as bad.

Also if you are using the remote parking lot at O'Hare and taking the people mover in, AA is two stops closer on the line than UAL.

One other thing that causes me to lean toward AA is simple comfort on the plane. UAL has two "sub-classes" of seats in coach. The one toward the front has about 3 more inches of leg room than the one toward the back. I'm not a big guy, but sitting in the back of a UAL flight makes me a little claustrophobic because of this. Uncomfortable at the very least. AA seems to have a uniform, and largely roomier, interval between seats throughout the coach cabin, so you aren't penalized for sitting toward the back.

I now tell the travel agent I book through to use United only if there are absolutely no other options.
posted by hwestiii at 6:36 PM on March 4, 2007

I nth the recommendation to check the FlyerTalk forums; they have been an invaluable source of information for me over the past few years as I went from flying once or twice a year to once or twice a week.

I chose American for several reasons - one, they are the preferred carrier of my employer; two, they offer an undocumented "challenge" program to allow someone to gain elite status relatively quickly (more here); and three, I felt that their upgrade system was better than United's.

I have a coworker who has elite status with both, is based in Chicago, and prefers United, but his reasons are different in that he likes the Star Alliance carriers and likes to use his miles and systemwide upgrades to go to Asia. Star Alliance has a better selection of partner airlines, in my opinion, than oneworld, which is American's alliance. However, if you are mainly concerned with domestic upgrades and service, I think American is better, but I'm sure you will find many that prefer United.

Basically, if I knew I was going to fly weekly for a long time, starting with no status, I'd choose American, purely because of the Gold and Platinum challenges detailed in the FlyerTalk thread above.
posted by bedhead at 6:49 PM on March 4, 2007 [2 favorites]

American beats United, hands down.
posted by caddis at 7:21 PM on March 4, 2007

I've flown both United and American from O'Hare, and I agree with hwestiii on all counts.

Purely anecdotal, but I fly from O'Hare to Baltimore Washington Int'l on American rather frequently. I find them to be generally on time and reasonably courteous, there are many flights to choose from multiple times a day, and usually the flights are only half full. Most of the time I have at least two seats to myself. I don't know how useful this info is (especially if you'll be flying into Dulles and not BWI), but there's my data point.

Also, I've flown United a few times to international destinations, and they have always been rude and uncooperative. Again, just my experience, but I try to avoid United if there are other options.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 7:58 PM on March 4, 2007

I have a coworker who has elite status with both, is based in Chicago, and prefers United, but his reasons are different in that he likes the Star Alliance carriers and likes to use his miles and systemwide upgrades to go to Asia. Star Alliance has a better selection of partner airlines

I'm with United and thats one reason. I do international travel and its great to fly Star Alliance carriers, such as Lufthansa to Europe and take advantage of the miles.

I'm also unclear about something hwestii said:

One other thing that causes me to lean toward AA is simple comfort on the plane. UAL has two "sub-classes" of seats in coach. The one toward the front has about 3 more inches of leg room than the one toward the back. I'm not a big guy, but sitting in the back of a UAL flight makes me a little claustrophobic because of this

Wouldnt this be a reason to choose United? As a frequent flyer he'd be sitting in Economy Plus, not the back, and would thus have that extra legroom. I know I really appreciate it.
posted by vacapinta at 8:04 PM on March 4, 2007

I'm with United and thats one reason. I do international travel and its great to fly Star Alliance carriers, such as Lufthansa to Europe and take advantage of the miles.

Oh yes, Luftwaffe Lufthansa is a great airline. It's too bad they had to kill their internet service though.
posted by caddis at 8:14 PM on March 4, 2007

My boyfriend loves American. After spending tons of time on FlyerTalk he made the choice to a. do a "platinum run" on American (which involved a four-leg trip from San Jose to Paris by way of some surprising, random places) and b. join Qantas Club. Apparently since Qantas doesn't have lounges in a lot of airports, they have reciprocal deals with a number of other airlines. He has been extremely happy with the results of these choices. He loves the platinum perks (specifically, we are long distance, and he almost always can stand by to get to see me earlier). Keep in mind, he is 24 years old and people of our generation don't really remember how airlines used to treat people.

My dad, on the other hand, has been with United for years. When I've heard him talk about the experience in the last ten years, it's generally along the lines of "I don't know why I still fly United".

So, based on exactly two data points, I'd definitely go AA.
posted by crinklebat at 8:55 PM on March 4, 2007

There's another possibility as well, which I've seen mentioned on flyertalk occasionally. You could sign up for Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. I'll try and sort out the major points:

You can earn mileage on most major carriers. But not on United, US Airways, and a few other international carriers (check the list I linked to above)

Award availability is good if not better than most other carriers. More partner awards than most other programs (award chart)

On the other hand, elite status isn't always recognized by other carriers. This is where you should ask/look around on flyertalk for specifics.
posted by timelord at 9:37 PM on March 4, 2007

jules1651 -

Do you have any status at all with US? If so, United might be willing to do a status match if you're going to be throwing a lot of business their way.

Xurando - "United is a quirky system. Upgrades to some extent on dependent on status."

In what sense? You need to be a 1K to get CR1s and SWUs, but mileage supported upgrades are available to everyone and everybody that's a Premier or higher earns 500-milers. Upgrade pecking order is by status and then fare paid, but in no way are you shut out of upgrades if you're lower on the status list. (e.g., I cleared ORD-HKG several times when I was only a Premier. In fact I've never not had an upgrade clear on that route.)
posted by nathan_teske at 10:12 PM on March 4, 2007

Most major airlines (I know Continental, United, and American - for a fact) will match your status on a competing airline. All that's required is searching around a little with their customer service for the mileage plan people and finding out how they want your request communicated (Continental = snail mail, United = fax, for instance).

I suggest going with American's platinum challenge (if you think you'll book the miles in 90 days), then once you have it, get yourself bumped up on United and whoever else. Then avoid taking United at all costs. I've found their (and Continental's) customer service to be hands-down worse than American (I fly NY-CHI weekly).
posted by allkindsoftime at 6:25 AM on March 5, 2007

Another thing to consider is: American has a lot of flights going out of DCA, which could be huge if you're commuting there with public transportation. The other nice thing about American is that they have an amazing amount of leg space.

My dad, who's an elite flier with every major airline in the states (flies over 100,000 miles every year), used to like United, but he says they've gone downhill and he now prefers American.
posted by kdar at 6:31 AM on March 5, 2007

I'm going to have to go against the grain and say I prefer United. At first I chose United because my family lived in North Dakota at the time and United was the only carrier that offered direct flights to Fargo, but in the end I was very happy that I stuck with them because I had great experience with their flights and ended up loving the Star Alliance, especially once I moved to Europe.

Also, since you already have mileage with US Airways, you can actually use it on United since they do a lot of codeshares and are both members of the Star Alliance.

I only took AA a few times, but I was never very into it. Their terminal was older and more run-down, the planes were never quite as nice and their flight schedules were never quite what I wanted, though I'm guessing that's just because of where I flew.
posted by atomly at 1:20 PM on March 5, 2007

I'm bedhead's Chicago-based friend who is AA Platinum status and United 1K status. Like her, my company has a contract with AA. That means I fly them more than UA, but...

UA pluses: MUCH better alliance partners. 13 of the Star Alliance airlines serve O'Hare. Star Alliance itself is much bigger, which means higher odds of flying UA partners internationally. With Star Gold status (= premier exec), you can get into a lot of lounges and first/business class check-in lines. So my preference to United really is mostly about their partners (and in fact, I flew 65/35 partners vs. UA itself last year). The inter-line connections for international out of O'Hare just make a ton of sense, too -- both Europe and Asia.

As for UA itself -- at O'Hare, they've added a new security entrance at the far left end of T-1. So the complaint from hwestiii above isn't a factor anymore...the lines are fast. Also, iif you do fly United and you end up in economy, the Economy Plus section on every plane does give a bit more legroom. Even many of the United Express planes have E+, and some even have a first class section for upgrades. That's a big difference vs. American, and esp. vs American Eagle. Also, if you travel a lot domestically, you'll like the fact that UA flies a variety of aircraft on domestic routes -- not all Super 80s all the time.

United also has a few other minor perks that I like. One is that once you set up your profile for them to call or txt you before a flight, it's set for all your flights. American makes you create a flight status notification for every flight. Another is that United still uses cardboard boarding passes as opposed to thin paper at AA's self-check-in. I know that's very minor, but it makes the whole thing seem more professional. And United's website has had a recent upgrade, so most everything that I didn't like about it has been addressed.

If there's any downside to United, out of O'hare, it's that you really have to fly a lot to be someone special. Even 1Ks are common. They have a special "global services" status above that, by invite only. With there being that many premier fliers out of ORD, sometimes getting an upgrade is tough. And they only fly "Ted" all-coach planes to some destinations.

I'm 2 million miles into American and lifetime platinum status. Their service level has gone downhill, in my opinion. I've had more delays and problems on AA in the last two years than anywhere else. Economy class is tighter, esp. on the regional jets. And partners... well, American's primary partner as far as us Chicagoans are concerned is British Airways. Connecting at Heathrow is a fate worse than death. A one-bag limit is strictly enforced, and connections routinely take 90 minutes. I'd much rather connect at FRA/MUC/ZRH/CPH/etc. Star Alliance hubs in Europe than LHR any day. And for Asia, American and it's partners have limited routes -- you connect at Tokyo and that's about it. One thing that favors American is that oneworld gives you elite bonus miles on all oneworld airlines, whereas United only gives bonus miles for United and Lufthansa flights. So you'll earn more miles on oneworld if you fly a lot internationally. And oneworld has a status level for 100K fliers (emerald), which gives you more perks than Star Alliance gold.

I think there are reasons for each airline to be favored in discussions like these. Schedule, partners, lounges ,amenties. After my biggest flying year ever in '06, there's no question for me that my preference is sticking with United.
posted by ka9taw at 1:29 PM on March 5, 2007

Wow, thanks folks. Tons of great info here. I am leaning towards American because of the status challenge. Sounds like fun! I will also heed the advice to head over to flyertalk. Thanks again.
posted by jules1651 at 2:49 PM on March 6, 2007