Need status thoughts & Code Blue SWU
 

I would appreciate input as I decide what my future travel picture might look like. I have been ExPlat 5 years, once with top-off and once with almost all miles from DEQBM type promos. I was really proud of my epic mileage run in Jan of 2012: checked in security 0530 and walked out 3 nights and 4 days later. Strangely, I really look back on that with fondness--great experience. That, with a scheduled Hawaii meeting in Feb, got me to ExPlat for two years. (Yes, I know some of you guys hate people like me :p). Another year was earned on points for a DONE3. I am lifetime gold and about 85K from LT Plat. Given that I only travel for pleasure, rare conference, and given we don't know the future of AAdvantage or whether lifetime status will survive (my feeling is yes, but?), and given that double elite bonus miles seem to have gone the way of the dodo bird, I'm wondering if trying to rack up miles on AA is worth it for me. (And consider part two below). Are any of you going back to buying on price/schedule convenience? Are there any ways, short of another RTW to reach 100K for, say $5-6K? This would be worth it to me ONLY if it meant some fab vacays, lol. And I'd be Plat for life. Another consideration is that I'm within a few years of retirement (I'm67) or major slow down with more time for travel. (I already have great schedule flexibility.) If AA goes to revenue based status, the question is moot--no way. But, so far I still have the opportunity to accumulate those miles for lifetime plat. The only problem with getting it is that I will feel compelled to confine myself to AA regardless of price/convenience as I have since 2009 when I accidentally found out I was gold and what that meant. I am considering applying for the Elite MC with 10K elite miles as well. And, finally, what do you think of the buy-up to Plat? I'm considering it and grateful for the e-mail from AA which offered it and precipitated my re-entry into FT. Thoughts? I bet I'm not alone in these musings.

Code Blue: I have some gasping SWUs due to family and work urgencies limiting travel this year and necessitating last minute cancellation for this month. The fact I have them at all, I suppose, should factor in to whether ExPlat is really "necessary" for me. I usually do get upgraded, and had a great experience on my one international trip in 2013 using two SWUs. Anyway, if any of you could use, preferably longer haul, but at this point, I'd like to see them have a chance at life, please contact me. I'd love to put my cell in here, but don't know how wise that would be. PM or message here. Many thanks. Oh, also, would it be OK to "double post" just the SWU offer over on oneworld?

Forgot to add: free to good home. Is that OK?

I honestly dont understand people that fly 100k miles in 4 days of mileage runs if they were already EXP and plan on flying that much. If you arent flying anywhere near 100 segments or 100,000 miles, why on gods green earth would you spend thousands to get up to it for your little bit of "pleasure flying" in which I took from your post.

Save the money and just buy discount F tickets for $150-$300 more roundtrip, and for international use the $350 + miles option. You would have to fly ALOT to offset that $5k+ in mileage runs.

don't forget whomever you are giving your SWUs to has to make sure they will immediately clear for their purchased flights (or it is pointless and if not immediately taken out of your queue, they will expire in 8 days). Additionally do not forget often there is a fee that goes along with the SWU if it does clear. That will be on your cc.

It's really a matter of where you fly from - Wichita could be a challenge. From the Bay Area and even Sacramento we regularly see northeast and Florida fares for under $300, and those can easily be 2,800-3,000 miles one way with a connection. I've done weekends in both Philadelphia and Boston just this month and will be in New York City in two weeks. Have a mileage run to Tampa next week.

Much harder to do on international unless you want to go to China. I ran into a Delta flyer at the AC at PHL on Sunday who is moving to AA and he has six China trips booked to get to AA elite status. The only cheap Europe fares I've seen this winter have been to Ireland (SFO-DUB was $562 a few days ago).

Tom, although Mom is here at the moment, she lives in Palo Alto, so I've positioned myself there (remember the SFO-BOS runs?) I try to visit frequently and kill two birds with one stone by leaving from there for any leisure trips for which I might otherwise have flown a much shorter distance. Dublin sounds delightful :)

I find myself in a similar situation. Retired last year but still have a hand in the game. I doubt I will make EXP this year and Mrs. boerne drops to platinum march 1. We are LTP and LTG for whatever that is worth. If they move to spend for EXP I am outta there. There are many vehicles for finding value upgrades and I spend my leisure time studying how to maximize our experience. My very few MRs were similar to your experience. Not all that bad and kinda fun. However, I would not willingly go back to Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, or Lanzhou unless they paid me an outrageous amount of money, which could happen but I doubt it. My lungs can't take it. So I wouldn't suggest more MRs to China, in my opinion. However that camp out on the Great Wall was pretty special.

Bad Air links

https://twitter.com/cgshanghaiair

https://twitter.com/beijingair

Sleep on the Great Wall Links if you have good lungs

http://www.greatwalladventure.com/hi...all-2-days.htm

Just to note, we slept out in the open, not in a tent, and human elimination went into a large blue bucket around the corner, but not very private. PM me for more details.

I'd be more worried about the benefits for lifetime Platinum than EXP. UA changed the bonus miles on their equivalent lifetime tier from 100% to 50% 2 years ago. That was a game changer for me and I stopped buying UA tickets as I wanted more than 50% bonus miles. Made sense to just put everything on AA and get 100% bonus miles. Hopefully AA will treat their lifetime members better when considering any changes. I'd like to see the 100% bonus miles for Lifetime Platinum members remain in place.

Clearly I cannot make a $10,000 spend requirement at top tier if they enact the same qualifications that UA now has in place. Wouldn't make me walk away from AA, though.

Eeeeewwww. But what really got my attention was this line:

Individuals who do not have the permission to camp in the watch tower is considered against the law and will be executed

To be fair, I think it's a language thing and they met executed to mean 'carried out'. So, yes, only a slightly riskier MR than most.

Guess you don't know yet whether lifetime Plat is something to shoot for since you've been ExPlat. If it weren't for the double redeemable miles, I wouldn't bother, and tom911 raises a good question about whether that bennie might go away. Having loads of redeemable miles makes kettle status even tolerable if you want to buy up with miles plus cash, or just book a First award. Some might say I waste my miles getting first class award tickets for SFO-ICT, but when you have an 89 year old parent, the extra comfort is priceless.

You know, for those on here stating they cant make a $10,000 minimum spend for 100,000 miles, I can honestly say that AA probably doesnt need you as a customer. AA's CASM for 3Q2013 was 13.65 cents. The average yield was 15.2 cents. So if you are flying 100,000 miles and can't hit $10,000 dollars, you are yielding AA less than 10 cents, or 33% worse than their average.

This probably will be unpopular on FT, but frankly, if you arent even in the ballpark of the average yield, AA should jettison your valuable benefits. This is no longer the time with 70% LFs and your seat would have otherwise gone empty. Except on very few flights, there is spillage and spilling high yielding passengers, or keeping them from getting the same benefits (upgrades) because it was sold 4 months in advance to a MR'ing EXP with a 6 cent yield is not good business sense.

Well, if and when that time comes I'll be happy to move my spend to Southwest, Jet Blue, Virgin America, Norwegian, or any one of a number of discount carriers that would meet my needs. I haven't flown any of those carriers recently and would welcome the opportunity should AA decide to kick me to the curb. How many thousands of us, though, could they afford to lose? How many otherwise empty seats during slow travel periods do we fill?

As far as meeting $10K spend, it's not a question of can I, but do I want to.
I didn't invent loyalty programs, I don't set fares, and I don't come up with airline marketing strategies; nor, I suspect did you or most anyone else on here. I come to FT to maximize value and play the game within rules set by the "opposition". What's wrong with that? That's exactly why I posed the original question--I see changes on the horizon and wonder what others are thinking. I'm not asking anyone to tell me what to do, but I enjoy and find value in the opinions and experiences of other fliers, including the somewhat pessimistic one of yours. You're likely correct.

Furthermore, I know flying is cheap. If I use AirBnB I can go for a weekend in Paris for close to what it costs me to hook my LQ horsetrailer on to my dually and drive 500 miles one way for some trail riding in the Rockies. There are many changes in the works (for one example, what will happen to loyalty programs if merchants start charging 3% to use CCs)? Frankly, it would make it easy if AA would just come out and verify they intend to tell us to pony up or hit the road. Meanwhile I'm still weighing the pros and cons of buying Platinum status for this year, and reaching lifetime Plat for the future.

+1. I'm willing to bet that a good number of elite pax pay above-average prices for those last minute tickets on AA when they could find cheaper fares on other airlines just to experience the benefits. Are there really that many people who fly <5cpm fares obsessively just to have a shiny EXP/PLT/GLD card so they could experience the benefits on their future mileage runs? Throwing loyal customers under the bus for revenue could be deleterious in the long run. What if your spend is $13K for 100,000 miles one year and $9200 for 100,000 miles the next due to cheaper fares, etc? Wouldn't that be a slap in the face?

I'd be willing to bet that AA makes money in the long run off of that customer who does a mileage run or two at the end of a year to get those extra 5k miles to reach the next elite level. If I can't enjoy the benefits of status, I'll just switch to another airline like WN that meets my needs just fine.

With retirement, the lack of a soft landing makes EXP qualification rather less desirable, even with the consideration of SWUs.

And I still think the million miler program short changes the FFers who qualify by EQP. Being 960K miles from life time PLT does change ones perspective on the program.

But then FF programs are being updated worldwide. :rolleyes:

Happy wandering

Fred