Originally Posted by
toomanybooks
I certainly did. In fact, the GCs plus the usability of codes (plus TEQM!) pushed me over the edge to make a lunatic run for EXP in January, having not flown a revenue AA flight in probably 10 years.
I bet some of the hundreds of other runners who flew alongside me had similar thoughts.
Of course, it's debatable how much effect we had on AA's overall situation/thinking/planning. Probably not too much.
Yeah, I did that once, and 'lunatic' was the operative word. EXP did nothing for me - I called the desk once to get a friend's booking changed, never found a use for an SWU (I always found better/cheaper I-class fares on other carriers than AA's SWU'able fares). Strictly YMMV.
Oh, I did realize that the primary benefit was, effectively a second year of platinum for 'free'. Plat is the level that works best for me.