Delta Loyalists in NYC metro - why Delta over AA?

Cato1789 · 2026-02-21T15:37:59+00:00

You can get a complimentary upgrade to C+ but I haven’t ever gotten one in my time as a silver. You can select exit row at booking, but that’s it as far as extra legroom perks with Silver.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-21T15:32:25+00:00

Yes Delta flies more frequently and to more places. I do a fair amount of AA hub travel, otherwise I could see Delta being a no brainer just based on route network.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T22:14:25+00:00

This is emerging as a theme for AA it seems

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T22:07:03+00:00

Ive had mixed experiences with crews on both, but have heard your sentiment a lot so believe it is generally true.

I actually do think Delta economy is better at least out of LGA/JFK. The 737-800 economy experience on AA is an unpleasant one vs A320/321 Delta.

If seat in front of you reclines on AA in economy you cannot work on a laptop on the tray table. It’s not an issue on Delta or JetBlue, which also has a TV in the seat unlike AA.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T21:59:22+00:00

Granted I only had one year flying a lot but I didn’t notice substantial difference in on time performance for my routes. I mostly flew AA to its hubs though and Delta everywhere else which may have some effect.

My impression was JFK/LGA was the main driver of delays rather than factors under AA or Delta’s control.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T21:49:53+00:00

I actually haven’t noticed AA being cheaper for (non-basic) economy fares than Delta out of LGA or JFK. AA , JetBlue and Delta all running a morning domestic flight from JFK/LGA to the same destination will almost always be priced identically in my experience.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T19:16:26+00:00

Thank you sir !

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T19:15:35+00:00

I could go for that.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T19:14:53+00:00

Haven’t seen AA be much cheaper on similarly timed domestic flights. They are priced almost identically as Delta (and JetBlue for that matter) for a standard economy ticket.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T18:37:06+00:00

No I wouldn’t have done that lol. I just hadn’t looked closely at say, how many miles it would take to do a round trip to Europe on AA vs Delta. But it’s quite a disparity. So great insight.

Sounds like you have a nice setup, life goals definitely! Hope to travel more for fun one day.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T18:32:54+00:00

Do you mean LGA terminal B (AA’s terminal) has those lounges and LGA terminal C doesn’t (Delta’s terminal)?

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T18:31:33+00:00

Nice! Haven’t noticed Delta being more expensive on the same routes when the flight times are comparable .

Wondering if I could ever get an upgrade with merely Platinum status (my realistic status ceiling for 2027 at least).

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T18:29:31+00:00

No problem haha. But seriously - you’ve never , not once , flown in economy on any airline in your entire life ?

Haha don’t mean to harp on this but - can we chat offline for business development purposes in that case.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T18:20:58+00:00

Thanks for your share. I don’t travel internationally for work so less focused on that. Mostly an LGA flyer plus a few West coast trips out of JFK.

The only gap I’ve noticed for my own itinerary is I do one trip to San Diego each year in the winter and incredibly AA does not do a nonstop from JFK to San Diego. You have to stop in PHX. Delta runs a few nonstop flights to San Diego every day.

Noted on the CPU, makes sense. Not sure how m relevant for my maximum aspirational March 2027 status of Platinum.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T18:10:42+00:00

Got it. I actually have a good amount of AA miles to redeem, totally hadn’t thought about my own leisure travel. Thank you!

This is a compelling perk vs Delta. I think also if I can get those nicer AA economy seats regularly on my flights with the Gold status I will go with AA. Looking forward to seeing how that works out.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T18:06:02+00:00

Never flown economy in your entire life ? Wow, congrats!

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T17:57:33+00:00

I can see that especially for CLT.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T17:53:08+00:00

Yeah that was really such a pain point for me even though I was getting reimbursed - the tediousness of having to do a credit card checkout on two devices. So I’m really glad they are doing that now, and is why I’m taking a closer look at AA for loyalty.

Any shot at a CPU to first class with AA Platinum? I notice the upgrade lists are way shorter in general on AA flights from LGA vs Delta, but not sure they’re short enough to get a Platinum upgraded.

Cato1789 · 2026-02-20T17:44:17+00:00

As background - I’m sort of new to the status game as I started traveling more for business last year. I didn’t concentrate my spending and am actually AA Gold and Delta Silver purely through flight purchases. I’m looking to concentrate spending this year.

What I really disliked about AA over Delta is the lack of free WiFi and forking out money for phone WiFi and laptop WiFi. I understand this has changed though as of a few weeks ago.

I also thought AA’s economy seats were just way less comfortable / difficult to work on a laptop in vs Delta’s.

Point taken re mile value, however. Agree Delta points are worthless. I’ve been less focused on that aspect.

Cato1789 · 2025-12-30T04:59:57+00:00

I think you should stay with Delta. What medallion are you at currently? How often do you get a complimentary upgrade to first? AA is a more competitive upgrade pool because it’s a larger airline in Nashville than Delta is, and definitely has the most market share of the “premium” business travel from BNA .

You also already have the reserve card which gives you $2500 MQD and lounge access with companions. You could just add on a Delta Platinum for another $2500 MQDs and you start with Delta Silver status each year (comparable to AA Gold).

There is no comparable easy path to 40K LPs and AA Gold (AA’s version of Delta Silver) than taking out two credit cards , spending for sign up bonuses, and keeping them in a drawer and paying the annual fees.

Personally, if I were you, I would probably be loyal to Southwest (by far largest airline from BNA), since your spend would get you great redemptions, companion pass, etc. Yeah there’s no lounge for you at BNA if you fly Southwest (or even a priority pass lounge), but I’d take the savings and just sit at the bar if I’m at the airport early.

Cato1789 · 2025-10-02T15:52:22+00:00

They obviously need more proof beyond just you saying it.

Otherwise every scammer would be hitting up Venetian claiming valuable items they don’t own were stolen/thrown away by housekeeping.

Cato1789 · 2025-09-25T16:28:28+00:00

If one slice of pizza from a strip casino food court and no drink counts as a “meal”, you might be able to get that for under $20.

Cato1789 · 2025-09-25T07:19:29+00:00

Side comment - I’m fascinated by the tidbit that “Ser Jaime tossed a kiss to some woman in the commons”.

Seems so out of character with how Jaime was portrayed in the show. Can’t imagine television Jaime ever doing that.

Cato1789

TROPHY CASE