vanillabean

How can one tell?

Eastbay1K

Exacto. If they're not poaching bin space, it actually speeds up overall boarding.

dayone

They slow down (clog) the F boarding process.

Not my experience.

Kamiakdad

If that's a concern then 100k's not in 1st class should go before 1st class then no slow down of boarding process. But really how much "clog" time are we talking about anyways. It's negligible.

dayone

My "concern," apparently not widely shared, is the ensuring the priority and premium experience of F passengers.

Not "negligible," on an A321 when 28 people board when F is called. Again, I have silly, quaint view that F is special, more special than 100K.

seacarl

I have not seen any boarding at SEA approximate a premium experience regardless of how they treat 100Ks. Also true of outstations. If AS really wants to treat F boarding as special there is a whole lot more that AS will need to do.

Given how AS treats F boarding at present, there is no meaningful degradation to add 100Ks to F boarding, whether it's adding 1 to 12F or 8 to 16F. It's not a material change to boarding, after extra time, military, families with children

If you want to make F special, lots of changes are needed. If you want to make 100K special, put them with F and hardly anyone will notice.

QT31415

Who should AS value more, someone who flew 160K miles during the height of the pandemic, or someone who upgraded for $150? Oh wait, the chocolate bar! That proves it!

VegasGambler

So, where do they board non-AS OWE?

On other OW airlines (even those with "real", 3-cabin F, like JL, CX, and BA trans-ocean) I've been in F with no status (this was before AS joined OW and before I had AA status) and OWE always boarded before me (and the Asian airlines actually enforce it). I honestly never cared.

PaperGlider

Boarding order isn't much of an interest to me for a 100K benefit. In my order of preferences, it's way down there with my lack of interest in special luggage tags.

Without any snack or drink service during boarding, the only thing remaining that motivates me to board early is bin space.
If I board before the bin space is jammed, I am fine no matter what that group is called.

vji

It's probably been discussed before, but anyone think between a choice of 100k and 75k that 75k is a much better deal? To me 100k seems like a bit more RDM and a bit higher upgrade priority, and that's it. Especially since you have to fly 12 more segments (double that of 75k) to get there.

CalanMan

This might change with new benefits supposedly/hopefully announced for 2023, but at the moment I'm thinking of 100k more like 75k+. I don't think I'd mileage run to get it, but since I achieve close to that many EQM anyway (and the 24 AS-metal-segments is a breeze for a weekly commuter, I'll always have those done in the first half of the year), the incremental priority over 75k is really nice, especially on flights booked closer-in. Like a lot of elites, once I hit top-tier, I'm more likely to sniff around for good deals in First or Premium-equivalent on other carriers (assuming its the kind of trip where I have that option). 100k will keep me from doing that for another 25k miles. Seems to me like influencing decisions like that is exactly the point of the whole program.

But yeah, if you're aiming for a "sweet spot" as a FT mileage runner type, then AS 100k is probably overshooting.

mtofell

I have to think (or at least hope) the higher-ups at AS watch forums like this or do some other research and have caught word that 100Kers aren't exactly blown away with the new tier. I'm hoping they add to 100K rather than take away from others but we'll see. As for 75K v. 100K I totally agree that currently 75K is a far better "value". Once I get my 50K bonus miles and can nominate a free-loading family member to MVP I don't really have much else to strive for. The upgrades I'm seeing as 100K are statistically nearly identical to what I had as a 75K previously and all the bags of popcorn mean zero to me (despite AS holding them in pretty high regard, apparently).

hyedmd

I'd also expect many fewer elites in 2023, so the 75k tier should be even more valuable than in 2022.

mtofell

This is so true.... I do book a lot of last-minute-ish flights and it's nice as a 100K to leapfrog the 75Kers that booked their Hawaiian vacation (my route is west coast to Hawaii) 7 months ago.

QT31415

Absolutely agree. We fly the miles anyway - it's not something I'd "work" for, as it initially did more harm than good. It's improving though, the FA's seem to be more into it, I think mainly because they know they are dealing with an experienced traveller who was loyal all through the pandemic. Am all in favor of AS adding a second MVP nomination and an extra 25K bonus onto the 100K status however!