Originally Posted by
787fan
That's a big can of worms that AA has just opened. I'd envision all the major airlines eventually trying to do free matches for each other's elites (not just top tier), and waving any challenge requirement.
A pax can theoretically wave surf between the 4 legacies with minimum effort. The airlines would incur the cost of elites with the benefit to prior revenue, and thus forced to dilute their elite programs even further.
But with only four legacy carriers surviving (for the moment), each FF only has three chances in a lifetime to match. Moreover, I would wager a bet that many, possibly the majority of FFers have no clue that this possibility exists. I certainly didn't until I discovered Flyertalk, and got a match from CO to UA 1P (when the sainted Gordon introduced 50% EQMs on all flights not booked directly with the airline). I had quite a few very good years with UA, but fat lot of good it's done me in the longer term.