Originally Posted by
MsRoadwarrior
After reading through most, not all, my opinion is those who use the cc once a year to book a discounted first class flight don't have a leg to stand on. Those of us that fly regularly or often enough to attain at minimum VIP status gave a little more clout and gold or better can legitimately gripe about losing the benefit. It appears that the more frequent flyers subsidize the once a year first class and that my friends, sucks.
I understand that's the case: AS actually loses money on anyone who just gets the card to use the companion certificate in First (and, I would suspect, on some coach routes) and doesn't use it to charge purchases.
While the FlyerTalk membership is hardly likely to be representative of the flying public at large, it seems that kind of use isn't rare.