Originally Posted by
Bonaventure
Because 50k and SE are the only statuses worth buying up to but SE is the much higher cost of the two to AC. There's a reason other airlines don't allow buy ups to their top tier or limit it with a very high price or close-in threshold.
I often feel like it's difficult to see the outside world from inside the SE bubble.
35K would be worth buying up to for lots of people.
For example, last year I flew mostly American, so I had to do a hot-lap YVR-YYC, the last week of December, to hit 35K.
This year, I have had a 65-pound Pelican case with me, on probably twenty-five transcon legs.
If I had been a 34-segment flyer, holding 25K status, that single bag alone would have cost me $2,500 in overweight-bag fees.
As a 35K, it's been free.
Assume I received a value of $0 from any other 35K perk, including eUps, lounge, etc, and my $250 round-trip to Calgary still returned value at ten to one.
Now, say that instead, this year, the buy-up to 35K is $500, or $1,000. Some fliers will be better off doing a MR, other fliers won't find any value in it, but others will still be much better off paying hundreds of dollars to buy up to 35K.