Hey they are the largest now -- why should they care about the traveling public.

I am sure some department at AA is trying to figure out how to run an airline without having to deal with passengers.

I hate it. Elite status should be earned by placing your butt in the seat for the required mileage or number of times. Period.

I am annoyed by the free Gold as well, since I earned my Gold the old-fashioned way. However, I also recognize a company's need to lure new customers in a competitive market in an economic downturn.

So, what to do? Do we (all the Elites-status holders) have any leverage? Do we have any collective power to tell AA what we think should be done? What's our bottom line when we inform AA of our dissatisfaction? What's our alternative? While some of us have the power to switch businesses, I'm afraid most of us don't, especially those also live in the DFW area or those who depend on AA as a hub.

Are there any practical advice or suggestions here? If there is a petition, I would gladly sign it; but I think we need something that can be registered powerfully with AA management.

Didn't OBC do exactly that?

I don't mean to sound flippant, but if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you...

AA management could care less about what its passengers as a whole think, elite or otherwise. Of course, if someone from AA management is reading this and wants to prove to me otherwise, I'm all ears.

Oh, and AAExecPlatFlier, someone (although not at AA, but they're trying, I agree) has figured out a way to run an airline without passengers. Based in Memphis, I think... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I will have flown 195,000 actual flight miles on AA this year and 115,000 actual flight miles on UA by year-end. I think the group boarding dilutes the most frequent of frequent flier benefits.

Here is the form letter I got back. I am Plat so presumably this is the Plat form letter. Has anyone who is real Gold (as opposed to fake Gold) complained, if so could they post the Gold "form letter" so we could compare all three.

There are a number of inconsistencies in there reply which I will take up with them.

QUOTE
Thank you for visiting the American Airlines Web site and for your
recent e-mail to AAdvantage Customer Service. I appreciate the
opportunity to assist you.

We understand your displeasure over the fact that some AAdvantage
members have been invited to enjoy?Platinum status prior to earning
50,000 points or miles. Thank you for letting us know about your
dissatisfaction.

We absolutely agree that the only way to keep the?Platinum program
viable is to maintain its ultra elite nature, and we do not routinely
offer membership to customers who have not met the strict
qualifications. Nevertheless, we have made a very small number of
exceptions for high value customers. This in no way changes our
commitment to maintaining the integrity of the program, that is,
continuing to offer the high level of service that is the hallmark of
the?Platinum program. Toward that end, we always ensure that the number
of people we dedicate to support the Platinum program keeps up with any
increase in membership. You should not notice any change in our service
to you, even as we welcome some additional customers as?Platinum
members.

Please know that we continuously evaluate additional benefits for our
most valued members. We are constantly working to ensure that our best
customers are properly recognized and rewarded for your exceptional
loyalty.

We sincerely regret your dissatisfaction with a few of our promotions.
While the AAdvantage program has been a success story, and other
airlines have since established similar programs, we are aware that some
of our members will not agree with every aspect of the program. I hope
you will consider the benefits you've enjoyed as an AAdvantage Platinum
member and agree that, overall, our Elite programs are the best in the
industry. We continually review our competitors' programs and consider
customer comments such as yours to ensure the AAdvantage Platinum, Gold
and Executive Platinum programs remain competitive. We also subscribe
to independent research that helps us determine which benefits are most
valued by airline customers.

Your business is appreciated and you may be sure that your comments have
been taken seriously. Mr. Yassukovich, I hope I have assured you of our
commitment to you as an?Platinum member. We shall always do our best to
earn your satisfaction.

Again, thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond. I look
forward to assisting you again in the future.

Regards,

END QUOTE

Incidentally I separately phoned the Plat desk to ask that they give me the bonus miles I didn't get between mid February and Mid June because I never took the Plat challenge (I qualified Gold and Plat this year for the first time). They posted 40,000 odd to my account . This doesn't appease me, I will still continue to complain but it was the least they could do, a quantity I suspect AA will speacialise in for Gold and Plat elite now that it means nothing.

As an infrequent flyer I am not too affected by this trend but I am loyal to AA flying them whenever I can and I am annoyed that my loyalty is being abused.

I'm Gold, and will post whatever reply I get. I chose snail-mail for my complaint, though, so it may be a while.

retracted

[posted before morning coffee... didn't make sense]


[This message has been edited by aamilesslave (edited 08-07-2001).]

Question for you AA folks:

Is this promotion really beginning to affect the Plat & EXP level? I ask because I am hoping to be the receiver of a Plat comp (through my UA 1K status). Now, in my case, I would be much less likely to try AA without status so I can switch my biz travel to them (the grass on the UA side right now ain't so green). The unfortunate fact of having elite status with an airline is that going back to having nothing on a new carrier is a scary thought or you become a miles slave to your current carrier. I'm hoping to become an AA Plat soon, but also plan to earn it with my butt in the seat (I just need the incentive to get my butt in AA's seats first) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

FWIW, I don't recall UA having a promo like this where they hand out Premier (lowest tier) for free but UA has always been more of a follower. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

------------------
Regards,
- Anna

I think it's way too early to tell. Wait 'til next year.

Any more cliches I can add?

Seriously, though: the mailers only went out recently. The only places I can really see a definite impact will be in the ticketing lines (gold, plt and EXP can all use first class line), and pre-boarding. It's at those stages primarily where we're all elite-but-equal in AA's eyes. That assumes, of course, that all these compled gold people actually use it.

The people really affected in terms of upgrades will be other Golds, since there will be alot more of them in the mix. EXP and PLTs clear ahead of them (provided they've booked prior to their upg window opening), so it shouldn't be too problematic. Of course EXPs may find their Y/B fare upgrades unavailable when they book at the last minute because they've been snapped up by Golds already. If I were an EXP (which I'm not) I'd be steamed about that.

I have a feeling, though, that most PLTs and EXPs object to this on principle more than anything else, as I do.

Hi Anna,

I think it is safe to say that all elite levels on AA have been diluted somewhat, but I would like to make it clear that EXP status on AA is still extremely, extremely nice, and the customer service is usually 110% of what I would expect.

One of the clear advantages of being elite is being able check-in in a special line as well as being able to board the plane first (this is an important benefit when flying coach and carrying on your bags). While this Gold status giveaway free-for-all doesn't directly impact PLTs and EXPs, it will definitely impact all of us when we start seeing 90% of the population checking in at the elite line and boarding the plane first.

I can't speak for everyone, but I don't have problems with legitmate elite flyers moving from another airline and being comped on AA. My beef is with the policy of giving elite status away like after dinner mints to those who clearly will not earn it any other way. If everyone is elite, then no one is really elite.

I still think AA is the best US airline, and I hope it stays that way. I recently took my first flight in coach with "more room throughout coach", and it was a very positive experience. Unlike UA, the entire AA coach section is "econony plus".

Good luck!

My husband and I recently did the Gold Challenge. It ended July 6. We each got a Gold card that expired Feb 2002. We were trying to figure out how to keep Gold for next year. We just started flying AA in May, so we only have 11 seg. All of our trips are short haul. (in Texas) So needless to say I was trying to give AA my business to get Gold, then they decided to give it away, but I couldn't be refered because I "earned" Gold status. I was a little PO'ed.

I sent them an email and told them so. They ended up giving my husband and I Gold until Feb 2003. At least with a full year of flying AA we can qualify for Gold on our own for 2003.

cblish, can you believe that AA actually took care of you. Unbelievable, those horrible AA people doing a good thing. Look, Let's say that AA gave out 10,000 of these promotions to 10,000 out of their 60,000 EXPs.

Of the 10,000 who actually got it I'll bet that over have don't take part in it. Most don't even read the mail that AA sends them or fully understand their own EXP benefits. I talk to them all the time on the plane. So if half of them or 5,000 each gave out all their gold referrals that would total 4 X 5,000 for a total of 20,000 new golds with questionable flying habits.

Since we estimate that there are 750,000 golds from earning, comps, and challanges the addition of 3% more who problably wont fly much anyways is really irrelavent. We fly, we think flying, we look out for points, we are a very small minority. This program will have insignificant or no effect on golds or any other AAvantage elites. The slow down in business travel will have greater effects and for most of us those will be positive.

Kovich - Please email me, you don't have an email in your profile. I need to ask you something. And no, not a referral.

[email protected]