AAdvantage elites get Admirals Club for less

American Airlines is closer to merging with US Airways

I hope that American Airlines will prosper because prices of flights have gone up substantially since United Airlines took over Continental and moved to their Chicago HQ. Houston is now one of the most expensive cities to fly from, so Houstonians are getting the bad end of the deal. American is based in Dallas and a lot of Houstonians are flying via Dallas to get cheaper flights.

As American Airlines board meets next week, expectations are high that the airline's plans to merge with US Airways and AMR's creditors will come together. In a message to employees, Horton said there's no specific deadline for the evaluation to end, but the company expects to "bring this to a conclusion within a matter of weeks." The Pilots union for US Airways must still vote on how to integrate labor contracts, but the process got a boost late on Friday with a recommendation by the board of the US Airline Pilots Association. Other unions also are reviewing the details. American is the last of the three major U.S. airlines to restructure through bankruptcy.

US Airways( LCC) has key operations in Philadelphia and Charlotte, North Carolina. The East Coast operations could be structured in a way to make a combined American-US Airways more competitive against Delta Air Lines which operates out of Atlanta and New York. American faces more competition for corporate clients on the lucrative New York-to-London Heathrow route now that Delta is buying a stake in Virgin Atlantic and plans to apply for a joint venture that would allow revenue-sharing if they can integrate their workforce. This will give us travelers a better opportunity to earn Elite tier points, to propel you from Flying Club Red, to Silver, up to Gold. With Virgin Flying Club Gold (the top ELITE tier), . Gold members earn an extra 50% of base flown miles for every flight, access to Clubhouses, Upper Class Check in and enjoy so many more benefits.

American Airlines will give you automatic elite status if you prove that you hold it with another Airline. AA offers good benefits for AAdvantage Executive Platinum, AAdvantage Platinum, and AAdvantage Gold members. elite status entitles you to receive exclusive recognition and earn automatic mileage bonuses like the National Car rental Emerald Club membership that alows me to bypass the counter and choose my own car. I earn 100 bonus miles per rental when renting from National Car.

AAdvantage elite members enjoy reduced mileage redemption rates for an Admirals Club lounge membership. As an AAdvantage elite member, you can save up to 55,000 miles when you redeem your AAdvantage miles for your annual membership compared to the mileage rate for a non-elite AAdvantage member.