Originally Posted by
stefg1007
I was on the fence about booking a C ticket on another airline for next year. This makes that decision easier now. Instead of actively booking OW tickets to get EXP (Ill be at 14k eqd this year), I'll settle for PP and more competitive pricing on flights. With my travel patterns, what am I really out? Some SWU's that rarely clear in advance anymore? Lower down on the upgrade list for the 3 times a year I fly this ragged airline? What hurts the most is going to be loosing the free redeposit on award tickets. I have a tendency to change them. I guess with some of the money I save, I'll still come out ahead!
I'm thinking I may go this route, as well. I had just at $13,000 EQD in travel this year. Another $2k would be doable but hard to justify without a major change in my travel profile. I'm not sure the systemwides are worth the effort. My biggest thing is loss of lounge access when traveling internationally, but frankly that's an area where PP excels. I also really like the EXP desk, they've been incredibly helpful for me this year. We'll see how this shakes out next year. I also managed to qualify on UA for Gold. Had I consolidated those travels on AA I'd have probably made the $15k cut but there are times when that's just not possible (routes, prices, etc).