Choosing an Airline for Repeated Business Travel: JetBlue, AA, United, or Southwest? Points?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
I’ll soon be traveling frequently for work, and I need to choose between American Airlines, United, JetBlue, and Southwest. Since this will be a long-term arrangement, I’d like to maximize the benefits of my frequent flyer points, particularly for upgrades and other perks.
From what I understand: AA and United offer the opportunity to earn status and potentially upgrade to higher classes (business/first). This could be a big perk for frequent travel. JetBlue and Southwest seem to focus on economy class, so upgrades to premium experiences might be limited. I’m curious if anyone has insights into the benefits of points for JetBlue and Southwest. Are their loyalty programs worth it if upgrades aren’t part of the deal? Do they offer other advantages (e.g., free flights, waived fees, or better redemption options)? Which airline would you recommend for someone traveling frequently for business, considering upgrades, points value, and overall experience? Any advice on how to get the most out of these programs would be much appreciated! |
Anonymous
| The airports you'll be using matter more than anything... |
Anonymous
|
What airports?
Typical destinations? |
Anonymous
Exactly. The thing that matters most is who has the most convenient hub to where you live. I'd choose between AA or United based on that. |
Anonymous
+1. You want the most nonstop flights from your preferred airport to the destination. This should be the determining factor. Ie: AA has way more flights out of DCA and United has way more out of IAD. But most of the IAD flights go west or overseas, and since we mostly fly up and down the east coast, we end up at DCA most of the time even though we are closer to IAD. Check your city pairs and see what’s available. |
Anonymous
| Without knowing more I’d pick United bcs they have more flights to Europe, which is what I’d use my miles for. Also if you get a chase sapphire card it’s easy to transfer points to United to supplement the miles you fly. |
Anonymous
This. Whichever has direct flights where you’re going. Beyond that American or United. If you plan on accumulating miles and going anywhere outside of the US you want a major carrier that has partnerships with other airlines. You’re not getting to Europe on JetBlue or Southwest miles. I wouldn’t count on upgrades until you’ve been traveling for a long time. Even then they’re not guaranteed. DH flew weekly for close to 2 years and has the highest status on AA. Even with that he’s upgraded maybe 50% of the time. There are a LOT of people with status and first class is generally full with paying passengers. Figure out which airline has the best flight schedule where you’re going and what kind of benefits you want (award miles you can use to destinations you want to go to). |
Anonymous
| It's the wrong way to make individual travel decisions. Overall, choosing based on points. |
Anonymous
True. But for regular travelers, the more you can stick to one airline the better. |
Anonymous
|
With frequent business travel, time has become the most important thing for me. So that means flight schedules, ease of getting to the airport (fast, easy), and ability to reschedule/flexibility to change (options to change to).
A few things to consider: --the airports closest to you. Others have mentioned this. If you're near an airline's hub, that's great. --Regions that you will be traveling to. If domestic, some airlines have more options cross-country while others are better with smaller airports. If international: some airlines have great options to Europe while others have better South American options. Check the international alliances/partnership (OneWorld or Star Alliance) to see strength of coverage. If your business travel leans towards one or the other, this might help. --frequency of flight options. I chose United bc they have hourly flights out of DCA to my one of my main destinations, and lots of options Personally I've gone with the big carriers and I do a lot of changing of flights, rescheduling so the ability to do that has been a help. For example, I often call United within 24hr of my flight and push my reservation to a flight a few hours before or later, so being able to do that with no fees and with alternative flight times has been most helpful. Just an example to help you identify which might be best. Other airlines have other points of flexibility (or advantage) and perhaps those might be most helpful to you. |
Anonymous
| Most flights from where you live. I use IAD so I fly united. If I lived in Dallas, it would be American. |
Anonymous
| American tends to have more domestic flights out of DCA than any other airline. My spouse does lots of domestic flights to the South and Midwest; American has the most direct flights in/out of DCA to those destinations. Even with 10 roundtrips last year, she was nowhere near getting the lowest level of status with American (Gold) |
Anonymous
Yeah I don't think people understand how the status game has changed. It's all about spending $$$$ on tickets, so if you are traveling on a $300-400 roundtrip ticket once a month, it won't be close to get status. And even if you get low or mid- level status, you will NEVER get upgrades. The most important thing with any level of status is higher priority for rebooking when there are weather issues. Most other things aren't worth that much really unless you/your company spends a boatload and you get the highest or 2nd highest levels. It's generally not worth concentrating on one airline if all you can achieve is low level status, if that means you are going to be adding stops to trips, or taking flights at bad times, etc. |
Anonymous
|
Southwest allows 2 checked bags and 1 carry on for free
United zero everything is extra |
Anonymous
Business travelers generally don't check bags. This is not a deciding factor at all. |