Originally Posted by
scratchsd
All good advice, and thanks for the welcome!
One of the reasons AA is so attractive to me, is the price on non-stop flights LAX-MIA. They have a Q fair that is $149 each way, which beats just about everybody. But research shows that during my Challenge Period and for EXP status, Q fairs count for .5 points toward qualifying. So what is the trick to getting the best price, plus points, plus upgrades on AA? Do you guys just keep trying fares and seeing what code it is and the associated points? Is there any way to get full miles on deep discount fares? If I only got .5 points for my miles, I would not make EXP, but the difference in fare and cost of upgrading is about the same.
Welcome to Flyertalk.
You're making a common rookie mistake in interpreting the AA program. You only have to concern yourself with EQPs during the challenge. For EXP, you can qualify on 100k EQMs or 100k EQPs or 100 segments. ALL AA domestic published fares earn 100% EQMs, so you'd easily achieve EXP, and thus, from that point on, get complimentary domestic upgrades plus the eight annual one-way systemwide upgrades.
Your first year won't be much fun unless AA is willing to status-match you to Platinum or unless you complete the challenge quickly.
To get 100% EQPs (for the challenge), you may have to call AA to upfare the deep discount fares into L or W or V or higher fare buckets, since aa.com isn't always useful for choosing the bucket you need.
From your posts, it looks like AA would serve you well. 9 or 10 daily flights a day to JFK on 3 class 767s with 30 reclining biz seats - as an EXP, your upgrades would almost always clear. Several daily flights to MIA, including two on internationally-flown 777s and 763s with NGBC seats - again, as an EXP, your upgrades would probably always clear on those flights. Mine always have.
Four trips a year to Germany? 3 class 777s from DFW and JFK to FRA where those systemwides would probably clear and they can be used on any fare except for O and Q. Unlike UA, cheap international fares can be upgraded with systemwides.
Sure, during the challenge period, things won't be ideal. But the EXP phone reps alone are worth getting to EXP. Free domestic upgrades on any fare, systemwides on nearly any fare and much better international front-cabin service than you're used to at US.