What’s on our minds this week? Lots of fun stuff, it turns out.
Not sure if I’m one of the bloggers Fozz categorizes as a United hater. For me, being IAD-based, the only real benefit I see with United over their competitors is the route network out of IAD. And, as they’ve shrunk, it’s less of an advantage. But, I think all 3 of you touched on the most relevant point. The ranking of the big 3 is largely situational. Out of IAD, I’m well over 95% upgrades cleared on AA as an EXP, while I’m around 50% on UA.
But, the more I’ve started flying IAD-LAX the more close calls I have. Over the past 5 years,I’m guessing virtually every upgrade I’ve missed (a small sample) was on this route. If my travel patterns continue to run in that direction, I’ll likely miss more upgrades and become slightly less happy with AA. I don’t think I’ll get better treatment elsewhere, though.