Originally Posted by
Carioca
In my opinion, they are reducing the value of the VIPs and in the near future the VIPs are going to be the new 500-mile vouchers. I much rather see a CK or other status at 150/175K to reward the top elites with true benefits other than a bucket full of VIPs that we will not be able to use.
That is exactly what I worry about. Too many eVIPs floating around the system are not good.
Originally Posted by
teemuflyer
I think that there is also an expanded inventory for seats that are traditionally used for the SWUs with the new planes (especially 77W) and routes coming online. I don't think that they would have radically expanded the SWU inventory w/o having a corresponding increase of reasonable uses for them.
What makes you say that? The new planes have less premium seats than the old planes, and the new routes are few and far between...in 2012, AA turned on the evip spigot when they matched a ton of UA and DL fliers, so there is a precedent for expanding eVIP supply without capacity increases.
AA is really going for UA's jugular with this. Speaking for myself, I was going to fly quite a bit of UA this year starting in July. Now I am reconsidering...I can go over 200k on AA if necessary or I can split my flying. The decision just got much harder...