UA just went rev based for miles in 03/2015, will AA soon follow??
Jun 10, 2014, 8:50 am
#16
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RIP frequent flier programs in general.
Jun 10, 2014, 8:58 am
#17
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The mileage earning is capped at 75k so any J ticket over $6818 purchased by a 1K/GS will not earn miles over 75k - so it's positive for domestic flyers who buy at the last minute but it doesn't reward those who buy expensive J tickets at all. Why would you buy a $13k LAX - SYD J ticket on UA if you essentially can't earn miles on 50% of the purchase price
Jun 10, 2014, 9:03 am
#18
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Jun 10, 2014, 9:04 am
#19
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Disagree AA already rewards high revenue flyers and this model only rewards the smallest sliver of high revenue flyers.
The mileage earning is capped at 75k so any J ticket over $6818 purchased by a 1K/GS will not earn miles over 75k - so it's positive for domestic flyers who buy at the last minute but it doesn't reward those who buy expensive J tickets at all. Why would you buy a $13k LAX - SYD J ticket on UA if you essentially can't earn miles on 50% of the purchase price
The mileage earning is capped at 75k so any J ticket over $6818 purchased by a 1K/GS will not earn miles over 75k - so it's positive for domestic flyers who buy at the last minute but it doesn't reward those who buy expensive J tickets at all. Why would you buy a $13k LAX - SYD J ticket on UA if you essentially can't earn miles on 50% of the purchase price
On the other hand, I think UA would be thrilled to pick up AA's $1000 ORD-MEM travelers.
Jun 10, 2014, 9:06 am
#21
Join Date: Aug 2012
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You will be able to earn up to 75,000 award miles per ticket. There will not be a minimum number of award miles you can earn for a flight.
Jun 10, 2014, 9:11 am
#22
Join Date: Dec 2013
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Cannot wait for AA to adopt this model. Almost in every instance of my last 10 flights would I get more miles under the new UA RDM scheme than the current AA scheme.
FTFY: RIP and good riddance cheapo MRers.
FTFY: RIP and good riddance cheapo MRers.
Last edited by YouGeeElWhy; Jun 10, 2014 at 9:17 am
Jun 10, 2014, 9:11 am
#23
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,394
just guessing but you have have more than 7K to spend on one ticket you probably don't need the miles anyway. (I know most of those are OPM) But 75K miles is not nothing and far more than you're getting now on that fare
Jun 10, 2014, 9:14 am
#24
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That makes no sense at all, but I don't think many people are spending $13k LAX-SYD. I would venture that all but a tiny, tiny decimal of a percentage of UA's ticket sales are $6800 or more. If you're spending more than that, you're more likely to take a carrier with decent service, or book private.
On the other hand, I think UA would be thrilled to pick up AA's $1000 ORD-MEM travelers.
On the other hand, I think UA would be thrilled to pick up AA's $1000 ORD-MEM travelers.
Though I disagree on the second point - maybe for personal travel if you're spending more than $6.8k a ticket you're booking a carrier with decent service / private but a huge part of this industry (especially the HVF business side of things) is people spending OPM and those people may be limited to US carriers in spending that money.
As for the domestic portion - that's why I exempted that from my statement - this model clearly benefits the short haul expensive flyer which is where AA would see value in this model namely in expensive East Coast tickets (DCA - LGA / DCA - BOS, etc.).
Jun 10, 2014, 9:21 am
#25
Join Date: Mar 2013
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I'm not so sure that AA will go this direction. A big component is the east coast route network, ostensibly the value that US brought to the table. I'm not sure how big a segment all of that shorthaul flying is for new AA, but those flights will generate more miles even at the base level. I don't know that the cost-cutting approach that Parker and other ex-US management like is compatible with that.
Example: Most of my flying with US is PWM/BOS-PHL/DCA. I very rarely score a $250 fare, but that's all I'd need to earn the same mileage I do today - and that's using 500 mile minimums that I get today versus UA's non-status 5x. Apples to apples, I'd be looking at 1400 miles as a bottom tier vs 1250 today. To bring that into "real life" terms, the best fare I've booked on US this year is $260 for PWM-DCA over the Independence Day weekend. The next cheapest was a ~400 PWM-PHL run.
At a minimum, folks flying the Shuttle would be doing better.
I no longer care about status, so I'd be fine with accruing miles this way. I'd keep US for shorthaul travel and keep flying AS when I need to go to the west coast.
Example: Most of my flying with US is PWM/BOS-PHL/DCA. I very rarely score a $250 fare, but that's all I'd need to earn the same mileage I do today - and that's using 500 mile minimums that I get today versus UA's non-status 5x. Apples to apples, I'd be looking at 1400 miles as a bottom tier vs 1250 today. To bring that into "real life" terms, the best fare I've booked on US this year is $260 for PWM-DCA over the Independence Day weekend. The next cheapest was a ~400 PWM-PHL run.
At a minimum, folks flying the Shuttle would be doing better.
I no longer care about status, so I'd be fine with accruing miles this way. I'd keep US for shorthaul travel and keep flying AS when I need to go to the west coast.
Jun 10, 2014, 9:23 am
#26
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AA is next, guaranteed. @:-)
What they don't realize is that loyal flyers are not the ones racking up liability in miles. 1K/EXPs only earn about 200K miles per year. Manufactured spenders are the ones racking up far more than that.
Jun 10, 2014, 9:36 am
#27
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Yes when the FFs programs are put together AA certainly will. Possibly the change may not take effect until calendar year 2016 but this is where the industry is headed, despite FTs that seem to have the fantasy that AA is going to continue with a business model from the 1980s.
Jun 10, 2014, 9:44 am
#28
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Yes when the FFs programs are put together AA certainly will. Possibly the change may not take effect until calendar year 2016 but this is where the industry is headed, despite FTs that seem to have the fantasy that AA is going to continue with a business model from the 1980s.
Jun 10, 2014, 9:52 am
#29
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Perhaps AA could eliminate EQM qualification and require everyone to use EQP if they want to kill the mileage runners for next year without going full revenue based. If qualification was based on EQP only they will avoid giving out benefits to the "gamers".
Jun 10, 2014, 9:55 am
#30
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Though I disagree on the second point - maybe for personal travel if you're spending more than $6.8k a ticket you're booking a carrier with decent service / private but a huge part of this industry (especially the HVF business side of things) is people spending OPM and those people may be limited to US carriers in spending that money.