thanks to your post, christep, i have actually taken some time over Chinese New Year to check out AA's program. The differences are quite stunning. There must be thousands of AA elites waiting to be upgraded or use their SWUs on every flight -- which kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it? I am really not surprised that AA members complain about lack of recognition on CX flights.

Unless all oneworld carriers make it equally hard to become top tier, these issues won't go away. So are we in favor or a oneworld club membership, or will that make it even worse?