Originally Posted by
Upgraded!
The point is that this is the type of analysis that needs to be conducted before marketing the product, not retroactively (other than to decide whether to offer it again and for how much).
I could not agree with you more. 100% agreememt. Had I been sitting at the table when the Aairpass was first proposed, I would have said something like "Folks, what if someone gets one of these things and decides to, essentially, sell their home residence for $350k, and live on the airplane? They fly every day, back and forth. There are homeless people who live on public transport, back and forth, on one Metro pass. What is the worst-case scenario?" Then, I would have suggested that they think of how most people would use the Aairpass and set up limits that would encompass the travel needs of most Aairpass holders, but exclude actions they later came to define as "abusive".
Obviously, I was not at that meeting.
It is amazing to me ("AAmazing") that such a contract was offered with no limits, no accountability. This should be a business school case study of institutional stupidity.
A cost/benefit analysis is great, but it should not form the basis for harassing and intimidating customers into forfeiting or otherwise being robbed of their contractually-entitled benefits. Saying "these guys are costing us too much and we need to eliminate the contracts with them, even if that means resorting to underhanded and dishonest methods of doing so" is morally reprehensible and actionable in court (will see how the appeals play out).
Again, I agree.
On the flip side, the analysis has to be far more detailed than the AAirpass program overall, since there were many different versions (some of which are obviously considered profitable, as they are still offered today). There were the lifetime versions, the lifetime + companion versions (both of which came in capped and unlimited versions), the 5yr versions, the current pay-per-mile versions and perhaps others.
Exactly my point. Evaluate the entire revenue from the AAirpass, program, then evaluate the entire cost, keeping all those things into consideration. The analyst would probably have to look at each AAirpass holder, case-by-case. Joe Blow's revenue, Joe Blow's cost. As I said before, look at the overall profitability instead of a handful of outliers. If the AAirpass program is
overall profitable, why go after the few people with whom it is unprofitable, spending legal fees, court fees not to mention bad publicity in the Los Angeles Times and Flyertalk?
As to your experience, when was this? The rules now specifically prohibit the selling of any kind of AA currency (such as award tickets) and at no time were you browbeaten (repeatedly) into "confessing" to some kind of wrongdoing.
aktchi Was there anything else "suspicious" about the award? AA's questionng seems wacky to me; people don't have to be married or even related in any way to fly together.
johndoe123 Was it redeemed out of one of your two accounts?
It's fairly unusual to go on a witch hunt when the award redeemer is at least present.
anabolism
I'm really surprised that it didn't end with you explaining that you were married -- that you had to show proof that you had the same address.
It's been 22 years, and I have to rely on my own memory for this. The award was for US-Europe. A single ticket was, in those days, something like 40k. The also offered an award + companion ticket for something like 60k. I don't remember the exact numbers, but do remember that the award+companion was a bargain compared to two separate award tickets, like they do it now.
Anyway, I can imagine that they had some issues with reselling. Joe Blow has 60k miles and is able to get two tickets. He under-the-counter sells the companion ticket to an acquaintance. The second ticket costs Joe Blow 20k miles mitigated by whatever he gets from his friend in cash. The friend goes to Europe and back for considerably less that the price of a Coach ticket. It is interesting to note that AA discontinued the award+companion discount soon after we used it. Now when I get award tickets for me and MrQ, I wistfully think of the old award+companion deal. Sigh.
The year was 1990, that I can state for a fact. I was pregnant, then, so the year is fixed in my brain. Remember, also, that those were the days of paper tickets, fax and telex, checkbooks instead of debit cards, and cell phones existed only in Star Trek.
Here's what happened, as best I can recall. We flew LAX - Paris, had a great time, then were checking in to fly back Paris - LAX. Some uniformed AA female employee who spoke English with a French accent politely asked us to follow her. We went into a small office, the AA lady, MrQ, me and maybe a few other AA people.
I will paraphrase from memory, again, remember this was 22 years ago:
"You are traveling on Aadvantage award tickets."
"Yes."
"What is the source of the Aadvantage miles?"
"My account."
"Are you the Aadvantage account holder?"
"Yes."
"May I see your Aadvantage card?"
"Sure." I got out my wallet and dug out the card. This is the one and only time in my life any AA employee has asked to see my Aadvantage card. Lucky for me, I actually had it with me. Since then I have always kept my Aadvantage card in my travel wallet.
"OK... You are traveling on a companion airfare." (She must have known that by seeing the 60k miles on the paper ticket.) "How do you know each other?"
"We are married."
The AA lady looked a bit surprised. As I said before, I do not use my husband's last name, so we had two different last names on the tickets. In a fraction of a second, I thought of how we could prove we were married, since I did not carry a copy of my marriage license with me. I had my wallet open and in my hand. In those days, both MrQ and I had wallets with the drivers license inserted into a clear plastic outside sleeve. (Handy when asked for ID when writing a check at a store.)
I just turned my wallet around where my drivers license was displayed. MrQ pulled out his wallet from his pocket, where simliarly his drivers license was displayed through the plastic outside sleeve. This only took a second or two, while the AA employee was getting her mind around the idea that a married couple could have two different last names.
"Here are our drivers licenses. See, same address!" I was thinking I could also take off my wedding ring and show her the initials engraved on the inside. What else did I have with me that would prove marital status?
As best I can recall, the AA employee did not ask to see our drivers licenses;
we volunteered them as instant proof of our marital status, or at least co-habiting status. That was enough for her. She looked at the drivers licenses, and the mood of the room immediately relaxed. She politely apologized for the inconvenience, escorted us out of the room and to an unoccupied ticket desk where she personally processed our check-in, took our luggage and gave us boarding passes.
My story has some things in common with Mr Vroom's experience at LHR. They confronted him and his companion as they were leaving the UK to fly home, not in their home airport. The companion was taken to a small office near the ticketing area, out of public view, for questioning. Based on my own experience, those elements in the story ring true to me.