Originally Posted by ReelChief
I thought that I had read somewhere that although there is indeed only 2 class service on the AA NA routes, that it was called economy and first. If so, would an A ticket still become a D there?
The NA segments to SJU and SJO are planned for February and so Alaska would be a big shock, temperature-wise. Although it is worth thinking about (for the glaciers, etc), I think we’ll pass that route for this trip.
Firstly, yes SYD-JFK should have been on the 'A' list.
As to AA North American routes, there is a difference between domestic US and North American routes. For domestic flights (mainland US and Hawaii) the cabins are First and Economy, for other North American flights the (identical) cabins are Business and Economy. SJO and SJU are thus 'Business and Economy'..
As to Alaska, based on current operating patterns it's a summer only route, so you wouldn't be able to do it in Feb anyway.
Moving onto trains, there are train options in Queensland, but the options and quality is nowhere near that which the Perth-Sydney route offers - which is also know for having the longest stretch of straight track in the world.
On the topic of BAEC, I'm not sure. I'm planning my own DONE4 and will credit it all to AA, for you - if you can get BA Silver
in addition to AA Exec Plat it probably makes sense, otherwise probably not. You also need to bear in mind that AA will almost always give you more miles and that redemption levels are lower on AA.