Originally Posted by
dadamax
However, with this new earning on structure with CX I need a new FF home. Thinking of switching to AAdvantage. (classes which used to earn 100% now only 25%)
Originally Posted by
G-CIVC
Not sure if you want AAdvantage however as the earnings are probably likely to be less than 25% for lower tier members (they switched to $-based multiplier for earnings). Using ORD-LAX-HKG roundtrip as a random example, you would earn 4496 Asia miles at 25%, but suppose your base fare was $700 at AA that would be 700x5 = 3500 AA miles. (700x6 = 4200 for AADV GLD, 700x8 = 5600 for AADV PLT etc...)
Ah but that's where bulk fares come into play.
What you're paying is not transmitted to AA so AA will give you redeemable miles (RDM) based on class, miles flown and elite status.
As you can see below, the method is not 'fare' but 'distance - special fare'. For RDM, Q class gets 50% miles flown + 120% for being an AA OWE. I paid approx. $99 and got 1,529 miles. Using 'fare' method you mentioned above, I would've gotten approx. 600 miles because AA excludes taxes and fees when awarding miles base on fare. Accruing it to AM would've given me 348 because Q class earning is 25% of miles flown.
So in your ORD-LAX-HKG return example above (18,000 miles), assuming OP bought the cheapest discounted ticket (say O or Q or even B/Basic Econ), OP would would've gotten approx. 50% x 18,000 miles + 80% bonus (assuming OP's AA status is the equivalent of MPC GO/OWS) = 16,200 RDM when using bulk fare vs 4,500 AM miles. So yes, earning on the dAArkside is still better than AM even after the move to $-based multiplier assuming you know where to buy your ticket. Hence why I'm staying with AA and keep extending my 'holiday' away from MPC.