Originally Posted by
FallenPlat
I'm not going to defend Gary. We're not friends. His post on discriminatory price offering is indeed absurd.
But for low-level elites like me, he's dead flat right that "free" upgrades would be a disaster: sure, they'd be free; it's just that I could never get one. Price controls produce scarcity, a subject on which I happen to be (through experience behind the Iron Curtain) a self-appointed expert. And before you say it, yes, I know prices are already de facto controlled and that there's consequently already scarcity; making upgrades free to all would just exacerbate the situation.
As for the merged FF program, I'll agree with the prior surmise that Gary's simply embargoed.
I personally prefer stickers over unlimited free upgrades too, because I like to buy premium tickets, sometimes at the last minute. And there is nothing worse than not being able to find space on a flight to BUY 2 premium tickets on a flight because the premium cabin is full of upgraders. And, for the same reason, I like it when a premium cabin is not packed to the gills from time to time.
So I don't have an issue with Gary's position. In fact, I think it would be awesome if AA changed its policy so that ExPlats had to use stickers too!!!! @:-)@:-)@:-)@:-) (I seriously doubt Gary would agree with THAT!).