Being a top elite member at both American and United/Continental Airlines and having flown over 250,000 miles last year on them, I feel that I have a good grasp about the differences that have in their loyalty program and their flight experience. The new combine United Airlines has a more extensive route-map out of all the US carriers and is the biggest airline after dethroning the merged Delta-Northwest Airlines. American Airlines is in the middle of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy so it will be interest to see what happens the next 2 years.
United Airlines
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American Airlines
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Hubs
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SFO- San Francisco
LAX- Los Angeles
DEN-Denver
IAH-Houston
ORD- Chicago
CLE-Cleveland
IAD-Washington DC
EWR- New Jersey/New York
NRT- Tokyo
GUM- Guam
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DFW- Dallas/Fort Worth
LAX- Los Angeles
ORD- Chicago
JFK- New York
MIA- Miami
Focus Cities: SJU- San Juan, Puerto Rico
RDU- Raleigh/Durham (LHR flight)
LGA- New York
BOS- Boston (LHR/CDG flights)
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Mainline Aircrafts
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Airbus 319
Airbus 320
Boeing 747
Boeing 757
Boeing 767
Boeing 777
Boeing 787 (expected)
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Boeing 737
Boeing 757
Boeing 767
Boeing 777
McDonnell Douglas 80
Boeing 787 (expected)
Airbus 321 NEO (expected)
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Routes
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Asia (Good- NRT Hub)
Micronesia (Strong- Guam Hub)
Hawaii (Strong)
Australia/New Zealand (Cairns/Sydney/Melbourne and Auckland planned)
South America (Good)
Caribbean (Good)
Africa (Lagos/Accra and Cairo planned)
Middle East (Kuwait City/Dubai/Bahrain/Tel Aviv/Riyadh/Istanbul)
Europe (Extensive)
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Asia (Limited- NRT/PVG/PEK only)*
South America (Extensive)
Caribbean (Good)
Europe (Good)
Hawaii (limited to DFW/LAX/ORD seasonal)
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Elite Tiers
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Premier Silver
Premier Gold
Premier Platinum
Premier 1K
Global Services (invitation only)
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Gold
Platinum
Executive Platinum
Concierge Key (invitation only)
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Alliance Partners
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Star Alliance
(Adria, Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Blue1, British Midland Airlines‡, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EgyptAir, Ethiopian, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways,
Elect members
(COPA, TACA & Avianca joining 4/2012) (Shenzhen Airlines Joining late 2012) (EVA Air joining 2013) |
OneWorld Alliance
(Air Berlin, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Elect Members (Kingfisher Airlines on hold) (Malaysian Airlines joining late 2012) |
Joint Business Venture
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Lufthansa (Trans-Atlantic)
All Nippon Airways (Trans-Pacific)
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British Airways (Trans-Atlantic)
Iberia (Trans-Atlantic)
Japan Airlines (Trans-Pacific)
QANTAS (Trans-Pacific)
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Upgrades
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Complimentary Domestic Upgrades for North & Central America and Northern South America and Intra-Asia/Oceana
(except BusinessFirst Hawaii flights from DEN/EWR/IAH/IAD and NRT-BKK/SIN and HNL-GUM)
Regional Upgrade- All the above plus P.S. Flights and Hawaii-DEN/EWR/IAH/IAD
Global Premier Upgrade- Any flight (with fare class restrictions)
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Gold/Platinum- 500 mile stickers required for Domestic / Canada / Mexico / Central America
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Executive Platinum- Complimentary for Domestic / Canada / Mexico / Central America
System Wide Upgrades-good for 3 segments for one-way trip and no fare restrictions
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Million Miler Program
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1 Million- Premier Gold
2 Million- Premier Platinum
3 Million- Premier 1K
4 Million- Global services
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1 Million- Lifetime Gold, luggage Tags / 35,000 award miles
2 Million- Lifetime Platinum, luggage Tags / 4 System Wide Upgrades
Each additional million- Luggage Tags / 4 System Wide Upgrades
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Elite Benefits
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All Elites
Premier Access
Complimentary Domestic Upgrade
Free Companion Upgrade
Drink Vouchers
500 mile minimum guarantee on flights
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All Elites
Priority AAccess
Free Stand By
Waived Quick Award Ticketing Fee
2 Free baggage domestically
Dynamic Air Awards
500 mile minimum guarantee on flights
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Premier Silver (Star Silver)
25% bonus for flown miles
Upgrade clears on day of travel
Free Economy Plus seat day of travel
1 Free baggage domestically
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Gold (OneWorld Ruby)
25% bonus for flown miles
Upgrade clears within 24 hours of flight
Free priority seat at booking
Business Class Check in counter
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Premier Gold (Star Gold)
50% bonus for flown miles
Free Stand By
Free Route Change
Upgrade clears within 48 hours of flight
Free Economy Plus seat at booking
2 Free baggage domestically
Priority Baggage Handling
International Business Lounge Access
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Platinum(OneWorld Sapphire)
100% bonus for flown miles
Upgrade clears within 72 hours of flight
Free priority seat at booking
2 Free baggage domestically
International Business Lounge Access
First Class Check in counter
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Premier Platinum (Star Gold)
75% bonus for flown miles
Free Stand By
Upgrade clears within 72 hours of flight
Free Economy Plus seat at booking
2 Free baggage domestically
Priority Baggage Handling
International Business Lounge Access Free Route Change
Free Award Changes
Free Award Redeposits
Global Entry fee reimbursement
2 Regional Upgrades
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Executive Platinum (OneWorld Emerald)
100% bonus for flown miles
Upgrade clears within 100 hours of flight
Free Exit Row/Priority seats at booking
Priority Baggage Handling
International Business Lounge Access
Dedicated Call Center
First Class Check in counter
Free Award Routing Changes
Free Award Redeposits
8 System Wide Upgrades
Free buy-onboard food and drinks in Main Cabin on all American Operated and American Eagle Operated Flights
Expanded SAAver Award availability
Advance seat requests on all British Airways and Cathay Pacific operated flights
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Premier 1K (Star Gold)
100% bonus for flown miles
Free Stand By
Upgrade clears within 96 hours of flight
Free Economy Plus seat at booking
2 Free baggage domestically
Priority Baggage Handling
International Business Lounge Access Free Route Change
Dedicated Call Center
Free Award Changes
Free Award Redeposits
Global Entry fee reimbursement
4 Regional Upgrades₸
6 System Wide Upgrades₸
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Award
Rules
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No fuel surcharges on any award flight
Any routing permitted as long as it does not exceed more 15% of the Maximum Permitted Mileage
Two stopovers and/or open jaw allowed on roundtrip travel
Chase credit card holders are eligible for free domestic upgrades on economy cabin redemptions (space permitting)
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Redeeming AAdvantage miles on British Airways flights incurs fuel surcharge.
Routing using miles is limited to actual published revenue ticket routing (PVG-NRT-HNL-DFW is not permitted since Japan Airlines nor American Airlines do not publish this routing for purchase) OneWorld Award (based on flight distance zones) allows up to 16 segments (great for travel within Europe) over a one year period US to Asia 2 (HKG) can connect in Asia 1 (NRT) but US to Asia 1 (NRT) cannot connect in Asia 2 (HKG) as one award (will require 2 separate awards)
Free 1 year stopover allowed only at US gateway for international itineraries (LAX/DFW/ORD/MIA/JFK/RDU/BOS) otherwise it requires 2 awards
US to India is valid for Crossing the Pacific Ocean only (traveling transpacific by connecting in LHR but if using AUH or NRT or HKG requires 2 separate awards)
US to Australia cannot connect in Asia
US to Africa can connect in Europe only
South America to Asia requires 2 separate awards
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*ORD-DEL (Chicago to New Delhi) route discontinued as of March 1, 2012
† Recently Defunct Airlines
‡British Midland Airlines sold to IAG (parent company of British Airways and Iberia)
₸ Can earn additional for flying above thresholds
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