AA Exec or Delta Reserve?

[havoc]

        Will be acquiring an airline card in the immediate future, need help on decision. United Club card for perks is best of big 3 I have seen, but 5/24 has me locked out, so on to Delta and American. Am located in Kansas, major hubs out of here for AA are Dallas and Chicago (ORD), Delta is Cincinnati and Atlanta, so kind of a push if going to caribbean or east coast for hubs, AA has better options going west coast without going east then west. Both have comparable flight schedules to most visited destinations I use.

         So my question is, taking away all the "which airline I prefer" or "what city do I want to transfer through", can honestly go either way, have flown on both in last 30 days. Which card in terms of benefits do those that have them prefer, for example, redemption bonuses, upgrades if any, acceleration to elites statuses, or any other perk that have been beneficial to you? Have thoroughly browsed the benefits of both,  would be doubling up on SkyClub access with my Amex platinum so no gain there, Admirals Club would be the only add there. AA 7500 discount on redemptions is something I didn"t see on Delta, Am linked with SPG on Delta so get the crossover rewards, no knowledge of similar program with AA. Anywho, that is my dilemma, if anyone has any input on their fave or a way for me to sneak by 5/24 for United Club, please share. And as always, big THANKS for all your helpful insight and knowledge, is truly a joy learning and sharing with you all. Thank You.

[wasCB14]

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@havoc wrote:

        Will be acquiring an airline card in the immediate future, need help on decision. United Club card for perks is best of big 3 I have seen, but 5/24 has me locked out, so on to Delta and American. Am located in Kansas, major hubs out of here for AA are Dallas and Chicago (ORD), Delta is Cincinnati and Atlanta, so kind of a push if going to caribbean or east coast for hubs, AA has better options going west coast without going east then west. Both have comparable flight schedules to most visited destinations I use.

         So my question is, taking away all the "which airline I prefer" or "what city do I want to transfer through", can honestly go either way, have flown on both in last 30 days. Which card in terms of benefits do those that have them prefer, for example, redemption bonuses, upgrades if any, acceleration to elites statuses, or any other perk that have been beneficial to you? Have thoroughly browsed the benefits of both,  would be doubling up on SkyClub access with my Amex platinum so no gain there, Admirals Club would be the only add there. AA 7500 discount on redemptions is something I didn"t see on Delta, Am linked with SPG on Delta so get the crossover rewards, no knowledge of similar program with AA. Anywho, that is my dilemma, if anyone has any input on their fave or a way for me to sneak by 5/24 for United Club, please share. And as always, big THANKS for all your helpful insight and knowledge, is truly a joy learning and sharing with you all. Thank You.

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This would be the biggest consideration for me. Delta Reserve doesn't even give free guest access.

If you want checked bags and maybe a companion certificate, consider Delta Gold or Delta Platinum. With Reserve, you'd be paying a higher AF for a perk you already have.

AA Exec also offers a lot to AUs for a card with no AU fee...if that's a consideration.

Both AA Exec and Delta Reserve offer elite acceleration with enough spend, but I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make for you. On some routes you need to be pretty elite to actually get a meaningful upgrade.

I have Amex Platinum, Citi AA Platinum, and Citi Prestige. I'll be very interested in Citi AA Exec after Prestige drops Admirals access, but will time it for a good bonus.

[havoc]

That is would be another factor for me. Which card will let me "buy" my way to higher status through annual spend, won't fly enough on either particular airline to earn a platinum or equivalent status. So the card that would award the higher status through annual spend would be best basically for upgrades and miles flown bonuses. Can't really seem to find a definitive an scale for either though. I have been really eyeing the Prestige, mainly for 4th night, but that is all that card offers long term that would be an increase for me over others that I have.

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@havoc wrote:

        Will be acquiring an airline card in the immediate future, need help on decision. United Club card for perks is best of big 3 I have seen, but 5/24 has me locked out, so on to Delta and American. Am located in Kansas, major hubs out of here for AA are Dallas and Chicago (ORD), Delta is Cincinnati and Atlanta, so kind of a push if going to caribbean or east coast for hubs, AA has better options going west coast without going east then west. Both have comparable flight schedules to most visited destinations I use.

         So my question is, taking away all the "which airline I prefer" or "what city do I want to transfer through", can honestly go either way, have flown on both in last 30 days. Which card in terms of benefits do those that have them prefer, for example, redemption bonuses, upgrades if any, acceleration to elites statuses, or any other perk that have been beneficial to you? Have thoroughly browsed the benefits of both,  would be doubling up on SkyClub access with my Amex platinum so no gain there, Admirals Club would be the only add there. AA 7500 discount on redemptions is something I didn"t see on Delta, Am linked with SPG on Delta so get the crossover rewards, no knowledge of similar program with AA. Anywho, that is my dilemma, if anyone has any input on their fave or a way for me to sneak by 5/24 for United Club, please share. And as always, big THANKS for all your helpful insight and knowledge, is truly a joy learning and sharing with you all. Thank You.

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This would be the biggest consideration for me. Delta Reserve doesn't even give free guest access.

If you want checked bags and maybe a companion certificate, consider Delta Gold or Delta Platinum. With Reserve, you'd be paying a higher AF for a perk you already have.

AA Exec also offers a lot to AUs for a card with no AU fee...if that's a consideration.

Both AA Exec and Delta Reserve offer elite acceleration with enough spend, but I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make for you. On some routes you need to be pretty elite to actually get a meaningful upgrade.

I have Amex Platinum, Citi AA Platinum, and Citi Prestige. I'll be very interested in Citi AA Exec after Prestige drops Admirals access, but will time it for a good bonus.

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[wasCB14]

I mostly fly between LAX, SFO, and JFK, so my experience with Delta and American is that the flights are generally full and have a lot elites on board from the top two tiers. Getting an upgrade requires high status on those routes since other travelers represent tough competition. Maybe it's different for you en route to a hub, I don't know.

It is technically possible to buy your way to Delta Silver with Delta Reserve. You'd get a 40% mileage bonus, but I would be very surprised if Silver was enough for an upgrade on even a flight to a hub.

*It's one thing for an airline to advertise potential free upgrades as a perk for the barely-elite. It's another thing for those upgrades to happen in practice.

[Anonymous]

Are you positive United is part of 5/24?

[Anonymous]

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12velectronics wrote:
Are you positive United is part of 5/24?

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Also, if you have a Chase branch nearby, it might be worth it to go in and talk to a banker.  I have heard that they sometime waive 5/24 (esp on co-branded product) in-branch.

[odd_dog]

I may have missed it in this thread, sorry if I did, but having the Delta Reserve card even with the fee was/is worth the First Class companion ticket every year (after your first year with the card). The access to the clubs is better with AA as you can bring guests...Delta not so much!! LOL

[havoc]

At least for me it is 5/24, tried for it not too far back with a mailer I had received from United on it, denied for 5/24. Closest bank to me is OKC, but I do have an account there and have called my banker there, all they have for me is freedom and slate, same ones that populate in "my offers" section on banking site. The United would be my choice of all, but alas, not meant to be. Have heard conflicting outcomes on people trying to use Delta companion pass, some say easy others not so much.

[NRB525]

OP, you probably would be better off getting the Delta Gold card and regular AAdvantave Platinum card.

Each card steps you up one tier on general boarding. This puts you with the lower status tier Elites anyway. 

Each card has first checked bag free on your itinerary so some companions on the same ticket (purchased in the same transaction such as family) are first checked bag also.

You already have Delta Skyclub access through the Platinum AMEX. Admirals club, is that super stellar? For a 1 to 2 hour visit?

With the Delta cards, all of them, if you spend $25k on the card in a year, that satisfies the MQD Dollars requirement, and after that is completed, that "already spent $25k this year" is one of the few status differentiators to get upgrade award seats.

And of course these cards are only a total of $190 AF after the first year, not $900 AF immediately. That's a lot of snacks and Delta Comfort Plus upgrades you could buy.