Originally Posted by
sdsearch
Did you just post without reading?
These new transcon planes will have 50% (36 out of 72) Main Cabin Extra (MCE) seats (MCE is AA's equivalent of E+, in case you haven't heard), and if you are Plat or EXP (or for a little while at least Gold, too) you can get those for free in advance. But if you don't qualify for them free, how do you know they won't cost less than $100?
So why require that everyone pay $100 extra, instead of allowing you to choose to do so (if you didn't choose to pursue mid/high-level status instead)?
Yes - I do know what the offering is, am well aware that MCE~=MRTC~=E+ and that, as a Plat, I qualify for free. I wasn't asking a question but making a statement. No confusion on my part.
My comment was that I would not mind (and think might work) if AA focused on the biz trade for this route. Sometimes I have to contemplate a last minute flight to the coast for a quick meeting (like today where I almost decided to take an afternoon flight to SF for an AM meeting and back tomorrow afternoon).
On short notice, playing the upgrade game does not work. So, I either pay a fortune for a F/J seat or have my pick of crappy leftover seats in Y. If I do the former, I might as well shop for the J seat and get the best price with any carrier. If I do the latter (buy Y and try to upgrade), I will most likely get stuck with a crappy seat. Guarantee me a good Y seat and a shot at the upgrade, you've got my business. Make me pay and I am shopping all the carriers (in fact, today, I had a $2600 RT fare on hold with AA while I figured it out if I was going and if I had, I might have looked at other carriers for times/$).
I can choose what class/price I pay for travel; I choose to mainly fly Y & upgrade to set a good example. Occasionally, for certain trips I do paid F/J to keep from getting myself beat up traveling but I try not to do it too often.