Episode 65: The Current State of US Airlines

We Assess the Current State of the Six Largest US Airlines...on today’s Milenomics² (No Annual Fee Edition) Podcast

0:24 Premise of the Discussion

Everyone’s situation is different. Different hometown airport(s), different common destinations, different enthusiasm for taking on points & miles complexity to defray airfare costs, etc.

That being the case, there’s are no one-size-fits-all solutions in this game

That said, there are tendencies and trends that are worth being familiar with as it’s useful in informing moves you might make to prepare for future travel

In this spirit, we think it’s a good time to take a look at the biggest domestic carriers. We’ll analyze them both for using their miles to fly their metal, the overall state of their frequent flyer program, their co-branded credit cards, their bank point relationships, how difficult they are to earn, and their overall position in the market.

04:21 American

Could be the last remaining legacy carrier where close-in you can still find saver level awards for expensive cash fares, will have to see how this plays out with a supposed move to “fully dynamic”

British Airways Avios (and other OneWorld partner awards) can still be a good play, but AA doesn’t seem to release much partner award space

A good program to generate miles in, but if their utility becomes mostly for partner awards it significantly diminishes the value proposition for me

With no bank point transfer partners, it can be tough to generate AA miles.

Bilt transfers are possible. 

Unique in that they partner with both Citi and Barclays, though churnability has become difficult

Bottom Line: Still a lot of great partners, favorable partner award charts, and flexible change and cancellation terms. The value proposition with AA increasingly hinges on partner awards.

14:15 Delta

Booking with Delta miles provides decent everyday value with flexible cancellation terms. Not a lot of clever angles here when cash prices are high.

Issues with cancellations not actually happening. Need to follow up.

Wide variety of co-branded Amex cards with probably the best churnability of any carrier due to targeted offers and lenient approval standards

15% discount on award travel if holding one of their Amex Delta cards.

1:1 transfer partner from Membership Rewards which have been one of the easier bank point currencies to generate the past 5 years

Booking with 35% Amex Business Platinum rebate even more valuable than transferring (but beware Amex Travel hassles and harder to cancel)

SkyClub membership for everyone who carries an Amex Platinum card is a nice perk when flying, though because of this they can be crowded

Bottom Line: Weak SkyTeam alliance and expensive international awards make Delta a straightforward value proposition for domestic flights.

23:54 Southwest

A wide variety of fun (if complicated) instruments for booking flights.

Fun? I think that when things are going well they can be more 'fun' than other airlines to fly with.

“Too good to be true” Companion Pass is perhaps the longest running and evidently effective campaigns in the space.

In general, connections with Southwest stress their system and make for longer travel than necessary with other carriers

Not low cost. Low fee. 

Antique seating policy makes for trouble for families with children older than their cutoff of 6.

1:1 transfer partner from Chase Ultimate Rewards

Wide variety of Chase co-branded cards (but 5/24 constraints can be