Originally Posted by
fastflyer
I did receive the survey.
I do not understand the "problem" that AA is trying to fix. I am a multiyear EXP, and my e500 (UDU) upgrade %age has dropped from circa 90% three or four years ago to about 65% today. I have circa 20,000 EQD every year, so I should be somewhere near the midpoint of EXPs on any given flight.
I do monitor availability on ExpertFlyer, and I use alternate instruments (BXP1s, 15,000 mileage awards, SWUs) on occasion. I am excluding those instances from my percentages.
For my flights at least, I believe AA has already successfully monetized the domestic First Class cabin. Of my 35% "misses", most are flights where no upgrades clear at all, implying that the cabin has been entirely filled with paying customers (miles or dollars). About 1-in-3 of the misses, or 10-15% of my total upgradeable flights, one or two upgrades are processed, and I miss out because of my EQDs.
So to recapitulate:
65% domestic flights I get my UDU, usually one or two days in advance (rarely four days out aka T-100 hours)
25% domestic flights nobody gets a UDU -- first is sold out
10% domestic flights, a couple of higher value EXPs get upgraded, but not all EXPs including me.
I figured this is how the eggheads at AAdvantage want the upgrade program to work, and I am OK with it. Why change it again now, just a couple of years after its last overhaul?
The financial media are reporting, and for some time now, that AA's margins trail the other majors. Thus they are walking a fine line. Many companies looking to accomplish this cut expenses and announce measures publicly. After fuel, it's people costs. Further cuts to previously announced cuts from the "conclusion of merger and merging systems" activities hurts morale, particularly in a the current national economic expansion. Looking at revenues, pushing capacity up while remaining firm on pricing won't happen with the LCCs and ULCCs. Further nickle and dime-ing on fees puts AA in the annoyance category of Spirit, Frontier, et al. That leaves working to increase yields in the front of the plane. It feels like they are putting out a feeler in the form of a first survey to test options with a forced choice. Perhaps next comes a survey that would help a determine the downside of another series of downward adjustments to elite benefits - i.e. is there enough demand on a cash basis from those in Y to pay cash to get up to J (and to see how much) to more than cover the ticked off EXPs who may take their business elsewhere.