CharlesMD

AA better enhance their J product if they want to charge this fee
CO, BA, and VS J is far better than anything AA offers. With the $500 surcharge, you could easily book into WT+ on BA and upgrade to CW on a transatlantic flight. So for upgraders willing to pay the premium, it's far better to fly with BA or CO.

How many of us look completely stupid now to the friends we've switched over to AA?
I think I converted about 8-9 colleagues, got them on PLT challenges, mainly from CO. And now they have to pay to upgrade as well?

This will probably end up decreasing AAs revenue
For family and friends I'd usually upgrade them to J on international flights using the 50K miles for Christmas and birthday presents. Now spending 25K miles AND $500, that's getting expensive! What it's probably better to do now is just gift them a couple of free domestic r/t tickets, which would deprive AA of revenue it would have already gotten anyhow.

If this change affects VIPOWs, the complimentary domestic upgrade policy, or using stickers to HNL I'm switching to another carrier
Probably BA trans-Atlantic exclusively and maybe UA domestically and to Asia, using a status match in 2005.

Overall, these changes have shaken my view of American Airlines and frequent flier programs in general
What is the point of being loyal to an airline if they can make all kinds of changes like this? Now it's pay to upgrade, no more MRTC.... What differentiates AA from any other airline??

Maybe it's time for a new hobby-- my gf is always telling me we should get our pilot's licenses or learn to sail. Everytime she sees contrails in the sky she's like, "Look, Charles there goes your money!" If I knew as much about the stock market and mutual funds as I do about frequent flier miles, well.... Maybe it's time to start reading the book she gave me for my birthday-- Mutual Funds for Dummies.