Originally Posted by
JDiver
It looks like there will always be some who will complain when the playing field no longer tilts in their favored direction. I suspect fewer EXPs will be gored by blitzkrieg upgraders of all Elite persuasions using the 24 hour check-in (and maybe the 4 hour "push" if it no longer works,) and the new system will be better for more and worse for fewer. Just an opinion, but...
I'm still baffled by the logic behind this change.
The 24-hour check-in rule rewarded people who cared enough about the system (and/or flew enough) to learn the system and take advantage of it. If you just checked the box and hoped for the best, IMHO you didn't have as much emotionally invested in getting the upgrade.
Okay, so AA wants to make the system more "fair" - and so now the people rewarded are those who buy the cheapest tickets?
I would honestly love to understand more about bucket analysis and yields now - is there really more value in having predictable yields (tickets bought far in advance) than in selling the higher-priced buckets close to the date of flight? Is a $300 ticket bought three months early worth more to AA than a $700 ticket bought two days before the flight?
I'm not saying the old system made business sense on its own, but *changing* the system alienates the truly dedicated FF - those who know and work the system. For these people, the time they've invested in learning the ropes makes them possibly the most dedicated passengers of all, because they have the greatest emotional investment. So if you're going to rock the boat and risk losing them, you would do so in such a way that makes business sense to do so (increases revenue, grows the pool of return passengers, etc).
Maybe analysis shows that this method scatters upgrades among a larger pool, and the theory is that this will create more FF loyalty? That might make sense. Otherwise it really is baffling.