Originally Posted by
milypan
I interpret that comment as saying that not having an elite tax (prior to the Saver rollout) was a potential draw for AS. But now they're no better than their competitors along that dimension, and potentially much worse along several other dimensions (at least for the OP).
Reminder that most other US carriers have multiple "elite taxes" where earning on flights is explicitly tied to revenue and/or a minimum spend requirement, plus paying to get out of basic economy. While AS has added that last component, there's still no min spend requirement for any elite level, and still 1 mile flown = 1 mile earned (at least on AS metal). I still see that as "better", though wish their route network was larger.