uxb

No one said the APFA leaders/members were Rhodes scholars.

bubba198

True, but they think that in terms of running an airline they are a combination of Juan Trippe and Bob Crandall.

dtremit

By that point they'd devalued SkyMiles so many times I think anyone left had Stockholm Syndrome...

CatotheCat

1. What is an AA "upgrade instrument"? On US, there are no such things. The system automatically upgrades you without any intervention, instruments, coupons, noting. Perhaps this AA "instrument" is what I am talking about, what Parker got rid of a years ago at US.

2. I don't care about bonus miles. I care about sitting in first class. I'd take zero bonus miles if the program gave me a 95% chance of riding up front, like US's program does now.

CatotheCat

There is NO PDB on AA? Add another reason I wouldn't be so quick to criticize US. On some US flights, there is a PDB x 2.

wolf539

Why not take some time to read the "Stickies" at the top of the page before going on a rant?
Lots of good info there just waiting for you!

Ritz

Perhaps its not. Perhaps since you're posting in the AA forum, you should familiarize yourself with the terminology. And perhaps you should get used to the definitions you find, since you're an "AA person" now - whether you like it or not.

On a related note, since you've clearly painted a picture of US as the super-happy-good-fun-time airline - perhaps you should confirm how well the FAs and pilots think of Parker, the miracle worker. I know when I asked a flight crew late last year about the rumors of the AA merger, the first thing they said was how ridiculously it was for anyone to lend any credence to what Parker was selling, when his own house was still in shambles from 2005.

eponymous_coward

The OP's criticism of AA's current system is perfectly valid if the OP isn't breaking 6 digits of flying a year on US (so they'd make it to the EXP level)- stickers let you upgrade around 20% of your flights for free (4 500 milers per 10,000 miles flown = 2,000, so 20%). If the OP is getting 95% upgrades, that's a really huge hit on their pocketbook for buying stickers if they want to stay in F... and we can dish all we want about how AA F blows the socks off of US F, but I think it's pretty safe to say that US F > AA or US Y. So AA's system really penalizes the 50K-90K US flyer who values domestic F upgrades. That's a lot of customers to **** off in a merger.

I think this is why AA is likely to go to an "unlimited upgrade" system, combined with various strategies to otherwise maximize revenue from the F cabin (paradoxically, lowering prices and taking away upgrade opportunities).

wolf539

Criticism is one thing; commenting without even a basic understanding of the system is another.

eponymous_coward

I would say that if the OP isn't a Chairman's Preferred on US, understanding the AA system and it's eventual implementation post-merger would lead to a rant anyways- they'd lose a lot of free upgrades.

Also, if someone is mostly traveling for business and values comfort while doing so, over having the ability to cash in miles for vacations (in other words, the busman's holiday of going on ANOTHER plane trip has no appeal for them), yes, indeed, I can very much see wanting more upgrades over more miles to redeem for trips they don't really want to take.

dcAA

AA has a much higher percentage of elites that US does. Upgrades will be going down, whether its via stickers or via free upgrades for all.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

For many EXPs, particularly those with a family, the ability to earn RDMs comes into second to elite status and upgrades. Im sure there are quite a few FTs that save a marriage by being able to turn in miles for a trip to somewhere exotic. Just like there are EXPs that travel domestically and have less use for SWUs.

abk

USair logo on the website this morning.

MiamiFlyer

Oh I have....Cruising, the bottom feeding gets even better......

GadgetFreak

It is not true that there are no per departure drinks on AA.