Originally Posted by
xliioper
I think the poster's point is about spending money in the present tense (last 12 months), not simply "recent years". From the airlines perspective, someone who is currently spending high dollars now will likely continue to do so. And as most are aware, with the airlines its pretty much about what have done for me lately (and will continue to do in the future).
And a point of mine is that the most present spending for the flight for which the potentially two different kind of PLTs are waiting for an upgrade would be this: just the amount spent on the ticket whose flight the passengers are seeking an upgrade. After all, if this is just about "what have you done for me now/most presently, why not place the emphasis upon the dollar fare applicable to the flight on which the two passengers are competitively wait-listed for the upgrade?
And the other point of mine is that someone who doesn’t spend much money on AA may get a higher upgrade priority on AA flights than someone who spends much more money on AA.