I received the following question from Peter and he (and I) would love additional feedback beyond what I provided. First, his question:

I fly 200K – 250K for business (mostly China) and try to divide it between UA and AA to keep my top tier status with both. I will turn 40 soon and don’t want to spend the rest of my life in the air. That brings me to the question which FF program should I stick to when I cut down my “butt in seat miles” to about 100K-150K/year.

I prefer StarAlliance because I can use miles on more airlines to destinations that I like, but AA is getting better (customer service, meals, planes, …) and I have access to Flagship lounge, I get SWU on any fare and my domestic upgrades clear 80%, UA only about 50%. I fly LAX-PVG a lot and both airlines have great connections.

If you would pick one program, which one would it be?

I think it’s pretty difficult to narrow down a succinct “this airline over the other” answer, as each person is different and might value certain benefits of a frequent flier program and airline more heavily over others.

Here are the main considerations I replied with and asked Peter to ponder:

Lifetime Status: If he is closer to a lifetime status tier with one carrier over another, I recommended focusing his 100-150k per year on that carrier. Given the likelihood that all U.S. airlines will add a revenue requirement to attain elite status each year (a la Delta), I think it’s an important consideration to lock-in some status now, even if it’s not top-tier.

American-US Airways Merger: As we’ve seen with the Delta-Northwest and United-Continental mergers, frequent flier programs change. American is indeed very generous currently with SWU applicability on all international coach fares and has a pretty good record – based on trip reports – of excellent service (which has been my experience compared with United). Will a Doug Parker-run American destroy some of American’s allure and generous frequent flier program perks?

Alliance Strength: Peter admits Star Alliance is his preferred global alliance and I have to unapologetically agree. Star has the greatest number of truly premium carriers and I certainly value my United miles greater than my American miles for worldwide redemption opportunities.

Service Matters: American’s AAdmirals Club, particularly at LAX where Peter seems to be based, is far stellar to the United Club. Here’s a look at the Flagship Lounge, for example. And in my experience, more of American’s flight attendants seem to have a truly genuine desire to provide exceptional customer service than United’s.

I think it’s almost a “wait and see” game with how American evolves in the merger with US Airways. But if I were Peter, I’d definitely focus that 100-150k on a single carrier for top-tier status. Would it make sense to split it? What are your thoughts?

Related posts:

What the New American AAdvantage Program Might Look Like

Why an American-US Airways Merger Worries Me

How the American Express Platinum Card Can Pay For Itself

American Flagship Check-In and Lounge at LAX

With a merger announcement between American Airlines and US Airways imminent (tomorrow morning by all accounts), we’ll finally put some speculation to rest, but open the door on months of new supposition. [Edited 2/14/13: And it's official]

Of particular interest to me (and many of you, I’m sure) will be the changes to American’s AAdvantage frequent flier program. After all, earning miles and gaining status are at the core of my addiction to airlines. So here then are some guesses as to elite tiers, revenue requirements and upgrades in the eventual new program.

Elite Tiers

I, as many others do, believe American will adopt a four-tier mileage-based elite system being named Silver, Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum. This would mean a downgrade in name for 25,000-mile fliers, but it wouldn’t necessarily translate into reduced benefits from what they have today.

Adding in a 75,000-mile level as the new Platinum would likely shed some benefits away from current 50,000-mile fliers, also downgraded in name to Gold. I think they’d still be oneworld Sapphire, but their bonus award mile amount would probably drop from the current 100 percent.

And as for the new Platinum 75,000-mile level, I imagine American would provide marginally better benefits than Gold, such as better upgrade priority and bonus award miles. It’ll be interesting to see if they follow the US Airways model of 25/50/75/100-percent bonus award miles by status, similar to United.

Evolving to a four-tier elite program will also help even out the ranks when combining the two programs. And I’m certain American’s unadvertised Concierge Key program will remain.

Revenue Requirement

If you subscribe to InsideFlyer, Randy’s opening remarks in the February issue point to an opportunity for the merged carrier to pull off adding a revenue requirement for elite status at the same time as officially operating as one airline.

And I tend to agree. It’ll certainly take time to reveal the eventual new AAdvantage program, but when it debuts (probably in 2014), I wouldn’t be surprised at a Delta-esque spend requirement for each elite level – particularly with Doug Parker at the helm.

And I think United will announce something similar beginning in the 2014 year, effective with 2015 status.

Upgrades

One of the great things about Executive Platinum status right now is the “protection” of being the only level with unlimited complimentary upgrades. Other levels currently have to use 500-mile e-stickers for the privilege to upgrade.

But just as US Airways offers unlimited domestic upgrades, American will likely evolve AAdvantage to do the same and become competitive with United and Delta. Not necessarily good news for the Executive Platinums out there, I know, but I truly believe it’ll happen.

As far as American’s generous e-VIP (Systemwide) upgrade policy allowing all purchased coach fares to upgrade into business internationally, I think that will change, too. It wouldn’t surprise me if a minimum fare class requirement were instituted with the new AAdvantage program.

It will certainly be interesting to watch everything unfold in the next several months to a year, beginning tomorrow.

Related posts:

Why an American-US Airways Merger Worries Me

Delta’s New Medallion Qualifying Dollars Revenue Requirement

Cathay Pacific today announced the completion of their renovations to The Wing First Class Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport. I visited when renovations began in 2010 and offered a review in this post. They’ve certainly spruced things up by the looks of it.

First class, oneworld Emerald and Diamond Marco Polo guests are now greeted upon entry and treated to a drink at The Champagne Bar before heading into the main part of the lounge.

The Wing First Class Lounge Hong Kong

The furniture in the main seating area has been replaced (thankfully from the worn and tired offering when I visited), but do I see limited end tables and other laptop friendly fixtures?

The Wing First Class Lounge Hong Kong Seating

That could, of course, be negated by the generous amount of work desks and a separate business center I used during my visit in 2010, though I tend to enjoy staying put on a comfy chair or sofa. I wonder if power outlets have increased in the more loungy area?

The Haven – a first class buffet and dining area – has doubled in size, a noted improvement from my visit when tables filled to capacity rather quickly. And food options have reportedly improved with a reinvented à la carte menu complemented by recommended wine pairings.

The Haven Dining Area

Most improved by the looks of it is The Cabana – five individual rooms providing a shower, separate bathtub and day bed. I’m not certain if they’ve enclosed them fully as when I visited, the “back porch” where the day beds were previously located sat out on a communal area between the five. There were screens/walls stretching out into the rocky area separating each adjacent cabana (without fully enclosing them) and sound was an issue.

The Cabana at The Wing

Overall, it looks great and definitely more first class than the ANA Suite Lounge at Narita I reviewed yesterday.

Related posts:

Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific’s The Wing First Class Lounge Hong Kong

Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific’s The Pier First Class Lounge Hong Kong

Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific’s The Arrival Lounge Hong Kong

• Twitter has been abuzz today covering American’s inaugural Boeing 777-300 flight. AAdvantage Geek has a great post reviewing his walk-through and be sure to follow @airchive for real-time flight updates.
• Meanwhile, another 777-300 inaugural was grounded. Aeroflot had planned to launch flights tomorrow, but forgot one minor detail… the “type certificate” from the Russian government. Oops. The inaugural has been postponed.
• Iberia Airlines unveiled their swanky new business class dubbed Business Plus. The cabin looks fantastic and features all-aisle access, fully flat seats and a nifty entertainment system. The new cabin will debut on the airline’s freshly delivered A330s, the first to enter service in February.
• Sticking with oneworld carriers for a moment, Malaysia Airlines becomes the latest oneworld alliance addition. And in celebration of the occasion, American Airlines is offering double redeemable miles for flights on the carrier from February 15 to April 15.
• The European Court has ruled that airlines must compensate passengers for severe delays or cancellations in the event of weather or natural disasters, not just mechanical related issues. I’m not so sure I agree… imagine the expense!
• Frontier Airlines will launch Denver to Cincinnati service this May. Six weekly flights aboard Airbus A320 jets will begin May 16. CVG has historically had some pretty high airfares… we’ll see if this brings them down a bit (in competitive markets).
• Boston certainly has had its share of aircraft incidents (glad my 4 flights last week to/from BOS were without troubles). A Delta Air Lines MD-90 evacuated its passengers on a taxiway due to a brake fire, possibly before the aircraft even took off.

Related posts:

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 30, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 29, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: January 28, 2013

Reader Cristian sent me the following email:

I have 150k miles with American Airlines, but have recently moved to the UK, and am thus considering joining British Airways’ Executive Club. I fly regularly from the UK to California, and from the UK to Europe – almost always on British Airways.

Do you think there is any advantage to keeping my American Airlines frequent flyer program going? And assuming you recommend a fresh start with British Airways, do you know if there is a way to transfer my American Airlines miles to my British Airways account (as they are both part of the oneworld alliance)?

First, I would absolutely open an Executive Club account with British Airways. I’ll get to my reasoning for that in a moment. But to answer your question whether to keep your AAdvantage account going or switch to Executive Club collecting Avios depends on how you want to redeem your miles. And if achieving elite status is important to you, it might take longer to reap better benefits if you post exclusively to British Airways versus American.

As to mileage redemption, one of American’s advantages is reduced North America to Europe off-peak coach award levels at 40,000 miles. The lowest rate for using British Airways Avios at any time is 50,000 for the same award (except for NYC/BOS/WAS, which is 40k as John777 notes in the comments). That said, you could use fewer Avios on flights if you’re willing to add in a co-pay (think cash+points). Another advantage with American is for N.A.-UK/Europe first class award redemptions. You’d only need 125,000 miles on American for a first class award versus 150,000 Avios on British Airways. And as other readers mention below, beware of the fuel surcharges on British Airways awards.

British Airways Avois have advantages, too. Besides the aforementioned cash+points scheme, you’d only need 9,000 Avios for a roundtrip coach flight from London to Frankfurt versus 20,000 American Airlines miles. London to Rome would be 15,000 Avios versus 20,000 American miles. And both programs currently earn 1 Avios (BA) or mile (AA) per mile flown on the cheapest coach tickets.

If elite status is important to you, flying British Airways and posting to American on the cheapest coach tickets will get you oneworld Sapphire status faster. American’s program requires 50,000 miles to hit that level versus 600 tier points with British Airways. To break that down, it would only take 4.58 LHR-LAX roundtrips to hit Sapphire in American’s program versus 8.57 roundtrips posted to British Airways. Sapphire status grants you priority check-in, boarding, lounge access and other perks when traveling internationally.

Finally, the reason I mentioned that you should open up an Executive Club account is simply to take advantage of bonus Avios opportunities. British Airways recently brought back its credit card for U.S. residents that offers large bonus Avios. If you can still maintain a mailing address in the U.S., consider applying for this card.

And sadly, no… you can’t transfer your AAdvantage miles to a British Airways account.

Readers: Any other advice you’d provide to Cristian?

Will Qantas also axe oneworld alliance membership? That question hasn’t been answered, but very significant news tonight/today was announced from Australia courtesy of my friends at Australian Business Traveller:

Stay tuned for further updates.

In other airline, hotel and travel industry news this week…

• EVA Airways has come out and acknowledged they are “in aggressive talks” to join either the oneworld or Star Alliance by 2013. Here in the U.S. they fly to Anchorage, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York’s JFK. To me, Star seems more fitting with United Airlines’ stellar connection opportunities from LAX, SFO and SEA. American would have a slight advantage at JFK, but I feel the West coast presence would be the biggest draw. They also have a huge presence in China with service to 25 cities via their Taipei hub. It’s gotta be Star.
• The U.S. Department of Transportation is keeping a close eye on airlines and their social media outreach on Twitter. Current rules requiring tax and fee disclosures must be adhered to even with the 140-character limit. Airlines must link any tweets with airfare advertisements to “a place on a separate screen where the nature and amount of taxes and fees are prominently and immediately displayed.” Come January 24, 2012, all-in fares inclusive of all taxes and mandatory fees will be required on all advertising, no matter the medium.
• The DOT also this week granted antitrust immunity to American Airlines and Qantas. Both carriers can now set prices, schedule flights and provide enhanced benefits, connections and other services to travelers between the U.S. and Australia. An interesting tidbit from the article reveals that Qantas holds a 40% share of the U.S.-Australia market, followed by United Airlines & Air New Zealand holding 27% and Delta Air Lines and V Australia with 22%.
• AAdvantage geek was first to report that American Airlines introduced new Flagship Check-in at Los Angeles International Airport with a rather hilarious “illustration” of the new layout at LAX. It’s available to Concierge Key, paid First Class and those who buy American’s Five-Star Service travel assistance. I have a feeling I’ll try it out for a couple of reasons. One, I love the elitist experience (yes, I’m that shallow) and two, just to review it for my blog.
• American also expanded their agreement with the Transportation Security Administration and the trusted traveler program with the inclusion of additional airports. Las Vegas McCarran, Los Angeles International and Minneapolis-Saint Paul airports will be included next month in the test program to expedite “vetted” travelers through security. I received an invitation, but will pass since I’m gung-ho on achieving United million-miler status next year and won’t be flying American with any regularity.
• American also launched an aggressive new television campaign with online contests and more, but I came across a neat non-contest ad featuring one of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey. There are three new ads starring Mr. Spacey that highlight the “philosophy of understanding the individual flyer.” Here’s one of them:

• Global Distribution Systems are a hot topic in the airline industry this year with American being the forefront challenger of their traditional booking methodology. Those issues aside, GDSs are making bank and two of them this week reported stellar third quarter results. Amadeus posted a net income of €136.8 million, or approximately $186.4 million, and Travelport (Apollo, Worldspan & Galileo) enjoyed a $51 million net income this past quarter. Not too shabby.
• Finally, Asiana Airlines is reporting it will expand its long-haul routes and desires to become a world top-10 carrier in revenue and profit by 2015. A Star Alliance carrier, Asiana will take delivery of its first Airbus A380 in 2014 that will be used on Seoul to U.S.A. routes. I’m certainly saving some of my miles for an opportunity to ride on an OZ A380 and hope they don’t restrict award space on that bird in premium cabins as so many other carriers do. Separately, I’m flying Asiana in First and Business Class later this month, so look for a trip report soon.