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I travel a lot for my day job as a senior vice president of sales for a media and events company focused on data and AI executives. I’m usually flying several days a week domestically and looking for the flights that work best for my schedule. This often means a mix of American, Delta, and United Airlines. I started the year planning to maintain United Premier 1K® and Delta Platinum Medallion status. As it progressed, I managed to snag American Platinum Pro® (and am on my way to Executive Platinum). Here’s how I make this shuffle work for me.
I Live in Two Cities
My residence is in Chicago, but I spend winters in Tampa. This means that most of the year I am flying to/from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) where both American and United maintain a hub. This gives me lots of choices. That coupled with the need to travel to several Delta hubs like Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) means that I often can fly any of the three airlines based on schedule (and price). When I’m in Tampa, there is no one dominant carrier from Tampa International Airport (TPA) and aside from American, Delta, and United’s hubs, I am often connecting for many routes.
Price Matters, but Schedule Matters More
I fly First or Business Class on every flight. The seat, Wi-Fi, meals, and service are all running pretty comparable. When I book travel, it comes down to getting me where I need to go as quickly as possible with the need to be in certain cities in time for dinners and events. Price matters, but getting me there with enough time is the most important part.
Why Do I Care About Status?
While I’m not chasing upgrades, I do find the other benefits that American, Delta, and United offer valuable. Here are those that I value most from each carrier:
American Airlines
- oneworld® Emerald℠ status: This grants me access to some incredible lounges around the world
- 80% more Loyalty Points and miles
- Free same day changes
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro® service desk: In irregular operations I hate waiting on hold
Delta Air Lines
- Choice Benefits (I’ll likely take the $400 statement credit on the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card)
- Nine miles per $1 spent on airfare
- Waived same-day confirmed fees for flight changes
- Dedicated Medallion phone line
United Airlines
- PlusPoints (these are more valuable to me now that they can be converted into more than just upgrades)
- 11 miles per $1 spent on airfare
- Confirmed flight changes within 24 hours of departure
- Premier Priority Desk phone line
These benefits save me time and make it easier to earn miles throughout the year.
Anthony’s Take: The combo of American Platinum Pro®, Delta Platinum Medallion, and United Premier 1k® gives me access to the benefits that matter the most. I could combine all of my spend into one program and have a good shot at United Global Services (I held that status for a long time), but aside from better upgrade space with PlusPoints thanks to the PN fare bucket and the dedicated check-in areas, I saw no real benefit. This triple threat lets me fly any of the three and offers me benefits that matters most.
(Image Credits: American, Delta, United, and ryan haft via Unsplash.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
2 comments
Yes, if somebody will pay for the roughly 15-25k in direct spend for tier 3 status at each airline, you can get status that way. Wow such a surprise.
If you’re counting unpublished statuses (GS, CK, 360) then I have 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd or 2nd. It’s a mix of work paying and personal trips as I do a lot of those.