I agree that this change has not been better for my situation. I have to book my tickets relatively last minute - sometimes 1-2 days before, sometimes 4-5 days before. I am definitely at the bottom of all EXPs on elite-heavy routes like BOS-DFW, DFW-LGA. At least with 24 hour checkin, I had a fighting chance (also, I connect from IAH or AUS), so i have a better chance as a thru-passenger. Now, I see at least 6-7 EXPs ahead of me every time.
I'm like 0/4 since the changes took effect, whereas before, I had like 75-85% upgrades clear. There's slightly less incentive for me to fly AA now, as I can pay the same or slightly higher amount to fly nonstop on another carrier somewhere since one of the differentiators for me to fly AA and connect at DFW and stay loyal to AA was to have a chance at getting upgraded (of course, there are other considerations too like AAdvantage
). A little frustrating, but maybe I'll get assigned to a city where it's not so elite heavy, or I get finalized travel plans so I can book way in advance, or I get to travel on non-heavy travel days from Thurs/Fridays. Thurs/Fri and Sundays/Mondays could have been contributing to my low rate, since those are the busiest travel days..
To be fair, I am sure there are arguments/considerations for other perspectives to base the upgrade requests on, like basing on fare basis (I think this would be the most fair), check in time, time of booking/request date, etc., so it'll probably be impossible to satisfy an entire group. There will always be folks that aren't happy with what is implemented especially if it puts them at a disadvantage.
Admittedly, I am a little disappointed because the system doesn't favor my scenarios/situation. And, looking back at my heading of my post, I probably should reword it at little. I guess I should give some more time to see how this new process plays out. It hasn't totally destroyed EXP, since I still have VIPs, the EXP AAngels, first class lounge access internationally, decent reward availability and waived fees for rewards, etc. so probably safer to say that it has "reduced" my perceived value. The good thing is that EXP still has its perks value - so I guess I should give it some more time to judge.