mrwise

The way I see it, US silvers will lose:

1. Unlimited complimentary upgrades for routes over 500 miles (which we had some chance of scoring depending on routes and times..bye-bye upgrades on LAS flights I guess )

2. MoveUp? Not sure about this, but didn't see any mention of MoveUp in the new program. Or maybe this is a DM benefit that's going away on the whole.

3. No more companion upgrades. This one is a biggie, as I think it's going away even on flights under 500 miles!

Any other changes/impacts that I may have missed, other than the sticker system? I'm obviously sad to see UDUs go, but with AA elites being added to the pool, my upgrade percentage would have diminished anyway. Probably stickers may help getting upgraded once in a while :-/ Not many options for me to switch, might as well stick it out with the new AA.

venkol

MoveUp is over for anyone except CP/EP members. They are following the AA System now, so $75 but you don't have to change to a flight with same number of segments or only within six hours.

I think MoveUP was one of the BEST benefits of DM. I know it had some weird restrictions, but I've used it countless times when my first leg of a flight arrives ontime/early and I can catch an earlier connection that would have been too close to book. I've also used it a few times when my work has wrapped up early for the day so the six hour limit was more then enough.

sushanna1

As a silver, I'm really sorry to lose MoveUP. Guess I will never understand why we have to pay extra for a seat that would have gone out empty.

rasheed

Is free standby for elites going away? That program is separate from CFC on AA.

Rasheed

PBIGuy

With the new system, do you need to use extra stickers to upgrade a companion, or only use the stickers of the elite? Confusing to me.

Milz02315

I could be wrong, but i believe the new system will require separate stickers for the elite and the companion. That's how the previous AA system worked and I believe that "feature" was left intact for the new system as well. I'll yield to other FT'ers to correct me if I'm wrong.

Bttc

You will not have moveup, but you will have free standby for earlier or later flights.

Standing by for a later flight is, of course, rather dangerous.

GoPhils

Complimentary upgrades and MoveUp are still the same on USAirways flights for most of 2015 until their reservation systems are merged. I guess it's assumed that it will eventually switch to the American model but it's technically not official as far as I know.

On the bright side, at least Gold sounds more important than Silver :-)

swag

With the AA Standby
- Instead of a 6 hour window, it's 24, anytime the same calendar day. Including later.
- There's no restriction on number of stops. You can change nonstop to connection or vice versa.
- On the rare flights that are very wide open (say, half full), you may still clear immediately at request time.
- If the certainty is important to you, you can still pay the $75 fee to SDC.

My success using standby is pretty good, even as an AA GLD. Not 100%, but then neither is move-up. All in all, I prefer the flexibility of the AA system to the certainty of the US way.

Some other changes you will like:
- No more $25 award booking fee.
- $75 award expedite fee (<21 days) is waived for all elites.
- No fee to change the date/time of an award ticket.
- One way awards at half the miles.

Superguy

Silvers also lose the ability to get exit rows/MCE until T-24 on AA metal.

mrwise

Thanks for the updates and info everyone. I believe US already had free standby, but maybe not as flexible as AA's is. I think the free MoveUp is useful for the majority of travelers who arrive at the airport within 3-4 hrs of their scheduled flight time and decide to get on an earlier flight. If I understand, I have to pay $75 to confirm my seat now? That isn't helpful for sure. Also didn't silvers lose the ability to select MCE seats until T-24 earlier this year?

GoPhils

But again those changes are only for AA flights right now, I don't think it's definite that those will be the policies when the systems are combined (but yes it's probably assumed)