Just made it again, and with only 28 segments!

Congratulations. That is impressive and hard to do!

Isn't that exactly how it works for AA upgrades on BA already?

Premium Economy will be a separate class of service. The expectation is one will use their SWU to upgrade Main Cabin to Premium Economy or Premium Economy to Business, as is done on BA, CX, QF et al, on those aircraft with Premium Economy.

I dont know is there anything else AA can do to once again upset its loyal (finding cheap fares to where I need to go ) customers :td:

That's going to be a huge devaluation right there. Honestly, I can't see a reason for going for EXP once the SWUs become PEY coupons, especially with the worsening phone service and the increased worthlessness of EXP during IRROPS. At that point, why go any higher than Platinum Pro (a name that sounds like a brand of dish soap)?

If there's one thing the soothsayers can glean from the future of airline status, it's that pax who pay for Y are going to sit in Y more often.

If PEY is priced as well as it is on CX and the hard product is as good as the pictures suggest, it will probably be worth paying for on transpac and other ULH routes. If I can easily upgrade it to J because fewer people are paying for that, so much the better.

Has anyone noticed any additional benefits this year of being an overachieving EXP?

I got an additional 2 SWUs automatically when I hit 150k EQM, and guess there will be an additional 2 SWUs at 200k when I get there in a few weeks, and so on.

The one thing I would really appreciate is access to OW or Flagship lounges when flying on Transcon J or Domestic F. I'd obviously appreciate CK but so far that has remained elusive :-)

Has anyone seen additional benefits for large numbers of EQMs?

You do get AC/FL access when flying premium cabin on transcon (JFK-LAX/SFO and MIA-LAX):

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...nge-access.jsp

Unfortunately you do not, that page is misleading. This one is clearer:

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...ip-lounges.jsp

- Customers traveling in First Class on a qualifying international* or 3-class transcontinental flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld® airline, and on a same-day (or before 6 a.m. the following day) itinerary
- AAdvantage® Executive Platinum members (regardless of cabin flown) departing or connecting to a qualifying international* flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld airline
- oneworld EmeraldSM customers** (regardless of cabin flown) departing or connecting to any flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld airline

*Qualifying international cities include flights to or from Europe, Asia, Central and South America, Australia and Mexico City only. All other international destinations are excluded from this benefit.

**American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum customers traveling solely on North American itineraries do not qualify for FlagshipSM Lounge access. North America is defined as the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska), Canada, Mexico (except Mexico City), Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

You certainly get access to AC when flying J or F transcon, and FL if in F on three-class a/c. I don't know what's misleading about the statement I quoted.

Fully agreed. My fear is that it'll be priced more like QF than CX, because of the revenue-sharing partnership...but hopefully I'm wrong.

I have no interest in paying for Y...because I sure don't want to actually get stuck sitting in Y if my SWU doesn't clear!

The link you sent is a pretty confusing page on Aa.com. It's not your fault, but it doesn't make clear what lounge is available to whom.

As to my point, it was specifically that I'd like access to OW or Flagship, i.e. premium lounges, on a J Transcon. I've got access to AC, but the Flagship lounges are much nicer. This is a perk I'd appreciate as a frequent flyer.

Specifically, the JFK T2 J lounge is shut right now, and therefore only F pax get showers. There is another lounge near gate 42, which is a trek.

Then use them to upgrade from PEY to Business, or from Business to First? Seriously - this whole being upset thing because the cheapest of the cheap cannot retain the highest status anymore is getting a bit out of hand.

Re-qualified last week 102KEQM/34EQS - the double EQMs for paid J/F made things pretty easy this year.