UA elites now exempt from domestic miles upgrade co-pay - whither AA?

FWAAA · May 20, 10, 8:26 am

Wow. Didn't think this was possible. Odds that AA is forced to match this week?

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,53079,00.html

TrojanHorse · May 20, 10, 8:29 am

I don't know the odds but it could be the kick in the rear that we need for a real enhancement; I don't do many of these but you never know when it will be required down the road

brp · May 20, 10, 8:29 am

Only for CONUS and Canada, but still an improvement. It will be interesting (as opposed to most of the "will AA match" threads, which just aren't) to see what response, if any, might come.

Cheers.

rcrooter · May 20, 10, 8:31 am

awesome!!

abk · May 20, 10, 8:33 am

this is good but unfortunately it only applies " within the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada''. I always thought that charge was excessive given the number of miles they were already charging for the upgrade.

**miamigrad** · May 20, 10, 9:31 am

The only times I've used the miles to upgrade for domestic flying was during family trip with my sisters to Vegas. Since there are 3 of us flying, I always wanted to secure the upgrade (vs. requesting an upgrade for myself + 1 sister, while mileage upgrade the other... too much risk).

Since the introduction of the co-pay, I've foregone the upgrade request and have been putting all of us in the exit row. I, personally, did not find value in ticket cost + 15,000 + $75 for each ticket on a 3.5 hour flight.

If AA were to match, I would again start using those miles to upgrade the 3 of us. It helps me, and it gets 45,000 miles off of AA's books.

It would be nice, but I'm not going to speculate on the chance of AA matching.

MrPink · May 20, 10, 12:28 pm

The co-pay scheme on upgrades is pretty ridiculous, considering how many miles they take from you too. Let's hope they match, but AA never matched UA's lack of close-in award fees either.

demkr · May 20, 10, 12:33 pm

Here's hoping for a match. Of course, AA forces us to pay that $150 fee too when we cancel our awards!

brenc3 · May 20, 10, 5:36 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by demkr

Here's hoping for a match. Of course, AA forces us to pay that $150 fee too when we cancel our awards!

I have less of a problem with this since it keeps people from holding inventory on multiple dates and leaves more availability.

Waiving the co-pay would be great, though. It's not much of an issue as an EXP since I haven't missed one yet, but when I was a PLT and stickers got low, mileage upgrades were great on the heavily trafficked routes.

best · May 20, 10, 6:23 pm

Matching this by AA would be nice.

doodiedan · May 20, 10, 7:57 pm

I vote for the match as well!

Would make it easier to upgrade the Mrs beforehand and I could take my own chances. I too think that a co-pay is a waste and rarely use this option.

demkr · May 20, 10, 8:17 pm

I'm sure we'll find out in the coming days whether they plan to do this. Hopefully it's quick so we'll know for sure!

fixedwingflyer · May 20, 10, 8:53 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrPink

The co-pay scheme on upgrades is pretty ridiculous, considering how many miles they take from you too. Let's hope they match, but AA never matched UA's lack of close-in award fees either.

I tend to agree. The distance around the earth at the equator is roughly 50k miles and it's 30k miles to upgrade a single domestic round trip on most economy fares. Until AA improves its domestic F product, the total $150 co-pay for that round trip is a bit much to ask of a lot of people.

Of course, AA has to pay the bills. So perhaps the could start waiving the co-pay for just the EXPs.

cliffordchan · May 20, 10, 9:44 pm

I like the idea of co-pay, but it just charges too much. waiving it definitely encourge me to consume more miles..

brp · May 20, 10, 9:52 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by fixedwingflyer

I tend to agree. The distance around the earth at the equator is roughly 50k miles <snip>

Actually, it's about 25K miles, but I think your point is still the same

Cheers.