Originally Posted by
littlemookie
Loyalty program is now about pitching credit cards, not actual flying benefits. The old days of marketing 25k is a RT flight anywhere in the US are long gone. Complimentary upgrades are difficult with all the upselling, so what aspect of the loyalty program are you marketing to the masses?
Value for miles - This gets tricky since most of the value is on OneWorld partners or high cost low mile awards on regional flights. There are so many points chasing so few awards that the average consumer looking to book peak period vacations will struggle to find value.
OneWorld - Not really AA related and goes back to the route map is our selling point that put El Paso on the map.
New lounges - Def worth marketing but also very crowded and have been eclipsed by UA and DL, along with the bank lounges.
New planes - This is worth marketing, especially as more planes join the fleet. It would be nice to have a soft product component to include in the marketing (new amenity kits, food collaboration, etc)
I mean as for the points you mention with the loyalty program, you have to be flexible sometimes to find good deals, but I manage to find them on a regular basis and usually at pretty convenient times and schedules for me including on long haul AA metal in J to Europe between Christmas and New Years booked really close in. Domestic is really good too, I book close in a lot and I'm consistently finding flights that are $900 cash or <20k miles, I've even gotten tickets same day on flights with only first class available and a sold out main cabin with $2000+ cash fares for 19k miles. What I will say is I might be biased because I used to be a hardcore Delta loyalist where the miles are terrible, but relatively speaking compared to them and compared to what I've seen on United, American is a country mile ahead here and I've found much better value. All of this can tie into the credit cards too.
The oneworld thing also ties in a bit to the loyalty program for me, yes the network it provides is one thing, but I also think the service and benefits you get as a oneworld elite (especially OWE) are better than what Star and SkyTeam are putting out nowadays. There's good airlines and bad airlines in each alliance too but I think oneworld overall has a very well rounded group for the most part. I think BA has gotten a little better in their defense but BA is an airline in oneworld I don't love. With that said though, the grass is not greener with Lufthansa Group and Air France/KLM can be great if everything goes to plan but when things don't go to plan, they have had the worst customer service I've experienced from any major airline(s) on multiple occasions.
The new lounges I think are really nice and while I'm not the most qualified to speak to United Clubs and Polaris Lounges since I don't do a ton of United, the last times I've been in United Clubs it wasn't too impressive and I think these new Admirals Clubs are pretty sleek lounges and the food at a lot of them, like the new DCA E one, have been surprisingly pleasant. As for the Delta SkyClubs and the bank lounges, those have been plagued with overcrowding way worse than the Admirals Clubs have in my experience even if they're really nice lounges. The SkyClubs at ATL are always packed to the gills but I haven't seen any lines recently thankfully. Lounges like Centurion though I pass frequently in ATL and CLT and I can count on one hand the number of times I haven't seen a line at these two in the past couple years. CLT C/D Admirals is nowhere near the crown jewel of lounges, but I can appreciate that I don't have to wait in a long line to enter and I can always find a good seat in the back by the windows. I'm excited though to see more new lounges come online.
We're in full agreement on the new planes, so much potential to be had there and I'm really excited to fly the 78P again at some point. Thought the amenity kit was nicer than it used to be too and I'm hopeful that AA's limited edition centennial food menu will be a hit, but the soft product is still a huge part of the experience for sure.