Do we call them "disAAdvantage Miles" starting December 1, 2011?
 

After almost three decades enrolled in the AAdvantage frequent flyer program, I received an e-mail regarding a recent change to the value of the American Airlines program miles for earning Million Miler status and lifetime elite awards. This change could impact our flying and mileage earning and burning experiences.

American Airlines, in announcing their new million miler program writes:

"Starting December 1, 2011, AAdvantage base miles earned by flying on American Airlines, American Eagle® or the AmericanConnection® carrier or any eligible AAdvantage program participating airline will count towards Million Miler status. Also, as a limited time offer, one AAdvantage mile for every dollar spent on eligible purchases using the new Citi ExecutiveSM / AAdvantage® World EliteTM MasterCard® credit card that post to billing statements through December 2012 will count toward Million Miler status*. The Citi ExecutiveSM / AAdvantage® World EliteTM MasterCard® credit card account must be open and in good standing by December 1, 2011."

Due to this program change and, to help eliminate confusion, I think we should differentiate between our old AAdvantage Miles and our new AAdvantage Miles earned starting December 1, 2011. As American Airlines is deleting the lifetime Million Miler mileage accrual elite benefit where you previously earned miles from almost any source, would it be more correct for us to call our new frequent flyer miles, "disAAdvantage" miles?

After a recent program change at Delta Airlines, some flying road warriors now refer to Delta SkyMiles as "SkyPesos" due to the apparent perceived devaluation of the Delta SkyMiles program. However, American Airlines miles seem to be somewhat more valuable than Delta SkyMiles. Accordingly, calling our frequent flyer miles "AAdvantage SkyPesos" doesn't quite make sense to me.

I want to thank American Airlines for continuing to provide their lifetime frequent flyer Million Miler recognition. Their AAdvantage program, which offers significant benefits such as lifetime elite awards with associated bonus incentives, provides an appropriate motivational environment which for me, makes me want to strive to earn and achieve Lifetime AA Million Miler Platinum status as soon as possible.

To help welcome and give the proper recognition that our new American Airlines AAdvantage miles deserve, what is your recommendation in giving our new AAdvantage miles earned on or after December 1st, an endearing, charming clever, or cute name?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...-skypesos.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...er-leader.html

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...delta-skypesos

http://www.choosynomad.com/2011/08/d...pesos-skymiles

http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/...il-30-nyc.6950

No need for a separate thread on this already discussed subject.

This is perhaps enough of a variant on the other thread to justify it's own existence (specifically: OP asks whether we should come up with a funny name for AAdvantage miles rather than wanting to discuss the MM program in general).

For me personally, the MM program was a nice extra perk, but not an essential part of the way I valued my miles. Moreover, I think AAdvantage miles are still substantially more useful than SkyPesos or NonePass miles, so I think a moniker that suggests equivalence would be misleading.

In 3 decades - if you havent hit the 1MM or 2MM, I doubt you're really the target audience for AA's programs.

Based out of DTW, I have over 5 MM program miles when NW merged with Delta and over 1 MM on United. I was charter Diamond Elite with Delta but didn't see any significant lifetime benefits like at AA. After I received LT Gold on AA this year, I tried the AA service to Asia. I thought the service was better on AA than Delta Airlines and because of that, plan to fly more with AA in the future.

Unlike the changes at Delta, with the 3 tier award levels, AAdvantage is not changing the amount of miles needed for awards. The only change is that it will only include flown miles in the million mile counter. Therefore I am not sure that the program is becoming "disAAdvantage".

While AA did make it harder to achieve million miler status, it's hard to be especially angry about their decision. Between BankDirect, credit card bonuses, and elite bonuses, it was especially easy to hit the million mile thresholds with AA. United has had far more stringent MM thresholds (entirely BIS on UA metal, with the exception of doing a revision according to historical EQM to bring things on par with CO's EQM-based MM policy). Even with AA's new policy, you'll be able to continue to fly partner airlines.

This is orthogonal to any award chart/availability changes. They're call SkyPesos because of the difficulty to use them for high-value awards; as someone eyeing a RTW trip next year on AA miles, I'm not having any problem plotting my trip without heroic efforts.

Additionally, it's important to note that these changes have been long in the works. There were posts on FlyerTalk no later than April that bonus miles would stop counting. Contrast this with Delta's sudden shift to eliminate changes <72 hours out on awards.

That said, if you feel your AAdvantage miles are worthless, please us know. I'm sure I can find a reward trip that will put your useless miles to good use.

Maybe use the term to refer to those miles that do not get added to the MM counter? eShopping, AADine, and other mileage earning systems are now worth much less with them not adding to lifetime status. Granted they are still good for award redemption, but just not as valuable as BIS miles.