BackandForth

Hello All,

I'm about to reach EXP status and was wondering if there are any issues I should be aware of such as:

- I have 230K miles and plan to use them in Feb06 for vacation. Do I use/make reservations now (pre EXP) or is there an advantage to making my reservations after I hit EXP?

- I have stickers (30) -- should I try and use them before reaching EXP or are
they still worth something after I hit EXP?

Are there any other considerations when you go from PLT to EXP to keep in mind?

Many Many Thanks in Advance,

B&F

ihermit

Others may differ with my oppinion but I have horded my nearly unusable stickers. Occaisionally I use them to upgrade friends/co-workers/familly. These upgrades are only stickerless after EXP if they are flying full fare and you are flying full fare. Also after EXP you do not earn more stickers your only opton should you desire or have need of more is to buy them with miles or real dollars. So as they are a scarce resource I am hording mine.

There is of course the other option of using a SWU to upgrade a companion but to me those are better reserved for longer and more international flights.

Val

If you know where and when you want to go, make the reservation NOW.

I would hoard the stickers, but that is just me. I use them to upgrade spouse/friends.

techgirl

I'm still burning down from my sticker stash from 2003. Another hoarder here - but it depends on how often you fly with folks who don't have their own status/stickers.

Definitely make your reservations now if the flights you want are available.

JGR01

Hoarder yes.. provided you have spouse/friends/co-workers who will be traveling with you. Trouble is that they are not worth anything as EXP .. they USED to be able to be turned back to miles (at a decent rate) but now I do not think they can go back or the rate is poor.

Reservation. I am going to differ with other posters. Twice when trying to book a ticket (award) I was told NO the space is not open .. then they looked at my tier and said .. 'wait .. as an EXP one seat opened up because of your status'. So there is a tier within the awards that none of us can predict.

ExpertFlyer now as EXP is even more valuable to you .. and I strongly suggest getting it. That will tell you the 'general' availability of awards and upgrades sans this 'reserved for EXP' that I have seen in action twice.

NOW when you make EXP, you will be getting 8 one way eVIPs which are wonderful upgrades (from most fares - Q fare exception typically) for international travel. You MIGHT want to wait until they post into your account (within a week of making EXP) to book your trip. By purchasing a ticket and using the eVIP you still get miles (and the new bonus). THAT might be the better option for your Feb06 vacation.

If you post the from/to/dates someone with ExpertFlyer might be able to look at award vs upgrade options for you.

aaupgrade

I tend to agree with JGR01 but would need to know more about where you intend to go on your vacation before giving specific advice. Generally if you are going somewhere in NA then you could us your newly acquired free upgrades. If you are traveling somewhere internationally then you could use your eVIPs. It also depends on your other travel plans for next year as you may already have plans for those eVIPs. If you are taking your husband/wife/SO with you on this vacation in Feb06 then you may want to get them an award ticket and you an eVIP (international) or mileage/free (domestic) upgraded ticket in order to get miles for your flight.

Since this vacation is in Feb06, if you are going to some place like EGE where the high-rev customers buy most/all FC seats then your plan is a good one, as locking in domestic awards/upgrades to destinations such as that is smart.

gemac

You only asked about making reservations, not ticketing. If you are thinking about reservations that do not need to be ticketed before you make EXP, go ahead and make them. If they do need to be ticketed before EXP, then it depends on how much flexibility you have. If you really need/want those specific flights, I would go ahead and get the tickets. If not, keep an eye on the availability. Get ExpertFlyer now.
If you make reservations or get tickets before you make EXP, then you will need to call in to have your status updated for those tickets/reservations when you become EXP.

Efrem

Try to book the award tix now. If you get them, great; you have them. It's not like the ones you get as EXP will be any different. If you don't, call back when you're EXP to see if yield management will release the seats.

Use the stickers as you normally would before you reach EXP. Keep the left-overs for the reasons posted above. Converting them to miles at 500 per isn't worth it unless you have to top up your account for an award or something like that.

Blumie

On the money, as usual. There is absolutely no advantage in waiting to book an award ticket, and in fact waiting could allow any available award inventory to be claimed by someone else. If you don't get the flights you want, call back once you're EXP to try again, but as Efrem points out, an award seat for a PLT is identical to an award seat for an EXP.

BackandForth

Hi.

Thank you all for you help and for taking the time to write.

I'm going to see if I can book the award travel now so I can deal with availabilty issues that might pop up. I'll use the stickers as I do as a PLT and when I hit EXP (this month) I'll use them for travelling with my wife.

FT is great!

BackandForth

ihermit

One last bit I don't believe got mentioned, and I will probably get corrected on. If you have any upgrades with stickers pending when you become EXP, I would reccomend calling AA and having the status of the reservations updated to reflect your new status and the lack of need of the stickers. I've heard this may happen automatically but since I've learned now to hoard instead of horde, I realize if they get used it may be a long time before you get them back.

FlyAO2

Why hold on to the stickers and fly coach for the next month or so till you hit EXP???

Efrem

One reason might be that, for those of us who still need stickers and don't earn enough to upgrade all our eligible flights, some flights are worth upgrading but some aren't. When one turns EXP the tradeoffs change since one doesn't need stickers for oneself, but the concept doesn't go away completely since the stickers don't become totally worthless.

FlyAO2

Agreed, but flying in coach today, so that you can upgrade "someone else" tomorrow doesn't seem to make much sense.