Originally Posted by
davistev
For me, the main benefit was going to be Oneworld Emerald status for my global flights when in economy for lounge access rather than any elite status perk when flying with AS. In the past I used Priority Pass combined with QF flights and that worked ok. There are a few months to go, but I am currently "stuck" in Australia and it is highly doubtful the borders will re-open anytime soon. Perhaps a "begging" letter may be in order as I really like AS as my main US airline of choice.
Might I suggest a polite request at approximately the time you see the "light at the end of the tunnel." My experience (without going into detail) is that AS has
generally been receptive to special circumstance requests. But I'd save the request for a time where it would be meaningful, i.e., if you're going to be stuck in Australia for another year, having OW status for most of that time will not be exactly put to excellent use. I've saved my handful of special requests over the decades for "special occasions" (not the "happy" ones).