Originally Posted by CloudCoder

The old game (a few years ago) allowed frequent flyer hobbyists to score upgrades. This forced deep-pocket corporations to pay premium fares if they wanted premium travel. As far as I can tell, it was a great system.

Nowadays the game has changed. Deep-pocket corporations can buy premium fares at a discount (via negotiated rates). If you work for a big corporation which doesn't allow premium fares, you get CK status where you get the upgrade even on cheap fares. Meanwhile, the frequent flyer hobbyists must compete against deep-pocket corporations by paying full list price for the same seat that the corporate traveler gets at a discount. Newfangled aircraft have few premium seats, thus making it even harder to score the upgrade.

Even though the game has changed a lot, there are still plenty of frequent flyer hobbyists who want to play. But keep in mind that even if you win the game, you can never get to the highest (CK) rung of the ladder. That rung is especially reserved for big corporations so that, in case of a tie, the big guys always win, and you sit in the back.

If AA can convince you to spend a lot of money to chase that empty dream, so much the better.

There's an old saying, "Las Vegas welcomes all gamblers. But if you have a "System", they'll send an airplane for you". The AAdvantage program has become the "System", and they send an airplane for you with every ticket you purchase.

Yes, it's a tough game nowadays.