Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
Simply put, AS being in full OW would mean AS elites would be exempt from paying for luggage and so on as OW Sapphires and Emeralds. It reduces the appeal of AAdvantage for USA-based customers to have a domestic program offering that AND a non-zero amount of domestic service. Airlines usually don’t kneecap their own programs and ancillary revenue.
It’s not 2004 and CO, NW, HP and US are all out of business now as separate airlines. There is little incentive to be nice when you have four major airlines, plus two regionals, as opposed to eight or nine regional players. And ancillary revenue is huge in ways it wasn’t back then.
Well put and I agree. The issue for AS going forward is how to compete and survive. Their " international partners" fairly diverse for many travelers flying on points my rub is when you're traveling paid then the benefits of an alliance of some form pays off. I remember once flying from JNB to CPT on SA, our agent had bungled our transferring flight seating all the way in the back separate. I remembered that one of my CC gave me status on United when I showed this to the gate agent we got seats in the first row of coach, and he apologized for no FC! Of course one asks how many AS FF travel internationally to make a difference, I think more than one thinks.
I am not in favor of any alliance with AA as long as Dougie is running ( if that whats one calls it)
Just saying