Cathay Boy

This is exactly what will happen. True F/J fliers don't worry about benefits and program perks the way frequent Y fliers do. Their flying pattern won't change much just because CX kicked out Y-DM from their lounges or make priority boarding more exclusive.

Frequent Y fliers on the other hand are the ones that bean counts benefits, compares programs, and aim for highest tier possible with one airline. If I had to choose between AA EXP or CX GO (the highest tier the enhanced MPO will allowed me to make, or some watered down future DM tier that is pretty much the current CX GO), it's a no-brainer.

So in essence, CX forced someone like me to give my $35,000 to $40,000 annual revenue to AA, and of course once I saved up all the AA points guess which airline I'll spend it on, CX.....

As for posters that argues lounge access is a cost, it's a OW benefit, as OWE I will have access to F lounge, so ironically the new enhanced CX DM might bar DMs from going to a lounge that OWE can easily enter. And please don't say CX is making money at $50 a pop, that's the best guess in this group, that number seems high, in reality it's probably around $20 USD a pop.

percysmith

TPG recommends going for AAdvantage for Y travellers http://thepointsguy.com/2015/01/brit...+Points+Guy%29

percysmith

I argued a bit earler that this may bind some members with discretionary spend to CX more.

But to achieve the new requirements these people will have to be J/F fliers.

If they're already in J/F (i.e. qualifying for the next renewal), they don't see a lot more for being MPO.

They have to be back in Y for some reason (e.g. corporate travel in J, business travel in Y or redemption) in order to get any bang for their discretionary buck.

---

Why would CX do this I wonder. They won't bother with the trial balloons like the SCMP pieces unless they think it's a win for them at least initially (te trial balloons get us talking and they can fine-tune their models)

Perhaps there really are some split J/Y fliers out there. Or CX is merely trying to cut cost (they can charge AA if Cathay Boy and QRC3288 went over to AA EXP, for instance). Perhaps a bit of both.

JALPak

Sure hard-core Y FTers will compare programs and shop around. But is this true for regular Y frequent flyers?

Please...you are not going to give your revenue to AA. You have already admitted that.

nshizuka25

If he switch he will need to change his ID to American boy

wandering_fred

Depends I guess on how you define "split". In HKG, there are the exHKG fliers and the exTPE fliers. Or in my case exCMB fliers. Which of those category of J fliers does (or will) CX value if the "new MPC" comes into being?

And where will the regular PEY fliers find themselves?

Happy wandering

Fred

iadp

I'm one of them and it's on my own dime. J/PE on CX, J/Y on AA. I started out pure Y but each year my ratio of paid J increases to the point it's was about 50/50 last year. Mostly J so far this year.

brunos

Of course, there are many split J/Y flyers. Many companies pay for J travel for 10+ hrs flights to Europe or America but for Y travel regional.

And cost is becoming increasingly important when pax are increasingly price sensitive. In my experience there is a huge number of DMs in the wing F lounge gorging themselves on the food before their weekly regional flight in cheap Y. It is a business decision for CX to be more price competitive while reducing the lounge cost of all these SL/GO/DM. BA just did the same for the same price-competitiveness motivation (they also greatly reduced the ear/burn rate for most Y flyers, so much more expensive awards, meaning less cost for BA). And CX gets paid for other OW elites using their lounge, so that is not an issue.

Cathay Boy

Between CX service, hardware, and current DM benefits I still prefer MPO even thought I know AA will just shower me with freebie upgrades, bonus points, etc.

But of course MPO benefits reduction, I need to reevaluate.

cxfan1960

Understandable... For economy, you can only get AA miles for CX class H or above. As you are flying PEY these days, you can get 110% AA miles anyway.

Cathay Boy

Exactly since I don't fly Y anymore, and then I can make AA EXP easy and get more bonus miles, freebie upgrades, etc.

so in essence, with this "enhancement" I'm still going to "clug" the priority line as OWE, use the F lounges, and get more miles to redeem CX F/J cabins more easily and not even paying CX YQ/YR?

Is CX really better off with their top tier Y fliers all going this route?

JALPak

Absolutely. They get paid even more every time you fly with them and use their lounges. Also don't have to pay others when you enter other lounges. No liability for the miles from your flight once it paid AA to credit your flights. CX got paid when you redeem miles and it could care less whether you pay YQ or not on that redemption as AA pays a pre-negotiated rate.

Enhancements

Well then, so much for actually improving the experience for people front of the cabin...

JALPak

Not if CX is creating a Titanium lounge and implementing extra benefits for its F pax and top tier members which those people won't have access to.

percysmith

Jalpak: is it likely? Where's this new Titanium/F lounge going to be implemented (in HKG)?