I will speak as someone who has benefitted massively from the evolution of the AAdvantage program over the last few years (read: AAHotels), but also does not spend very much on AA Co-Brand cards. In no world before LPs would I have gotten close to EXP. Therefore, I try to not complain too much about the watering down of the benefits and look for ways to make them work for me. I do feel for the 100-segment road warrior, as they have certainly been left in the dust, and I am absolutely one of those "new" EXPs taking their upgrades and clogging up the phone lines during IROPS (well, mostly the X team). The game has changed, and I learned to play it to benefit my specific needs.

As someone who is generally flexible with my work and leisure travel schedule, I find AA miles to be exceptionally valuable on the domestic routes I travel, even while being Ex-DFW.

My personal opinion is that we are at or close to PEAK leisure travel spend. What will be interesting to see is what will happen to elite benefits/qualification thresholds/saver availability in the next five years. Will any airline have the cojones to ever LOWER thresholds in the future? Or is the cat out of the bag. For a company that loses money flying planes, they are sure making a giant bet on consumerism to keep the company afloat.