Originally Posted by
mahasamatman
Sorry, but this is a flawed "analysis". Gary has an agenda that is not served by reading the facts. But we're veering off topic now.
the main flaw seems to be that he doesn't count miles spent on AA redemptions as money from flying passengers, which is ridiculous.
If AA sells Citi 57.5k miles at whatever rate they sell them at (say, $400), Citi gives them to me for credit card activity, and I use those miles to fly SFO-LHR on AA in business class, AA is not flying me there for free. They are flying me there for $400.
FWIW, I don't think that this is off topic. It's exactly why this is such a terrible idea for the major airlines. They do not want to give up this secondary way of selling tickets (essentially, using awards to get revenue for space that might otherwise go unfilled).