Hello from an occasional AA forum lurker

Several year ago I requested an AA FF challenge when Starnet blocking made redeeming miles on *A a nightmare. Got a nice email reply back from AA CS explaining that I was good to go and encouraged me to buy Y tickets over deeply discounted Y. I knew right away reaching Exp Plt would not be possible. Company policy is to book cheapest ticket. Didn't make me feel comfortable knowing that 2500+ miles could vanish simply because I was following company policy when booking SFO-MIA.

Booked an SFO-MIA trip on AA website. Miles accrual was not a factor. I simply chose the only nonstop option available to me from SFO avoid connecting thru ORD or DEN in the winter. After that trip I encouraged my boss to send someone else to MIA or allow me to meet via video con rather than in person.

For my SFO-JFK flights, I'm happy with upgrades to PS C knowing that my backup will be an E+ seat. Since I have the discretion to choose between airlines as long as the fare difference is less than $100 I will always choose UA over AA unless the flight doesn't make sense.

Since that challenge I have flown 500K+ BIS miles on UA - all domestic. Most of them "could" have been on AA instead. Knowing that I "could" potentially end up with no miles or 0.5 mile per flown mile was the deciding factor in not finishing my status challenge. If I were allowed to accrue 1 miles per BIS mile then I suspect I would be Exp Plt instead of 1K today

On a side note..I tried to close my Citibank AA card once the free year was up. Was persuaded to switch to a lower level (bronze I think?) fee free card. I don't have the physical card itself anymore. It stays alive via a monthly comcast bill and in turn keeps my AA balance active. I've also found the Citiback Virtual CC# function to be very useful for online shopping.