CalRef, not in the lest trying to dissuade you as I had very similar experience with UA. Just sharing what I have experienced.
IMHO the overall context is one of increased emphasis on the top tier and not always subtle backing off on bennies for everyone else. So by all means grab what you can while you can, but AA has made it very clear that their strategy moving forward is to emphasize topmost tier, and the US acquisition does not bode well for any positive change there.
The concentration of the airline business with market domination close to de facto regional monopolies decreases the ROI on FF programs so I expect all airlines to hack away whenever and wherever they can. Of course if my crystal ball was so great I'd have bought a winning lottery ticket a long time ago.
