1/4MM@20

Today is the last day to get those upgrade requests in before the co-pay goes into effect.
mAAke the most of it!

kenm

Well, this thread has over 40 pages, over 600 posts and over 43,000 reads.

Do you think AA has noticed?

GadgetFreak

A drop in the bucket compared to what will happen when the 99.5% of the AA frequent flyers who dont read Flyertalk find out about this.

krug

Hello, I'm a first time owner to a 7 month old male JRT who lights up my life everyday. Whenever I take him to the beach he would start digging a hole, puts himself in it, at the same time rolling and practically covering himself with sand. Sometimes he would just dig a small hole and stuff his head in and then using his nose to further dig into the sand.

Response:

Hi Celine,

Sounds like perfectly normal JRT behavior to me! The only thing I would watch is his ingesting the sand. Just watch him and correct him when he starts to do that, otherwise have fun!

Regards,
Marie

Like the dog owner seeking advice, just have fun while you can, but don't expect to teach an old dog new tricks.

If the allegorical ingestion of sand (read:sending in your alternate carrier J BPs) gets too much then they might listen - but don't expect a climbdown. Much more likely an introduction of a four/three class plane without "First Class", an improved Business Seat instead, a Middle Class Premium Product (Akin to WT+) and the LRTCs in the back of the plane.

When they can afford to invest, that is.

I even found some of Mr Carty's holiday snaps:

http://www.iol.ie/~gerardnorris/nami...the%20sand.htm

JonNYC

Absolutely. Today is the day the fun really begins for AA. Notwithstanding FT and the brief mentions on AA.com and in aairmail, I would say that over 90% of the people who will be very upset about this have no clue about it's existence yet. They will simply call in, ask to upgrade (as they have for years) and be told about the small matter of the $250 each way. I can hardly wait to hear some of the results of those conversations.

ElmhurstNick

Funny, that sounds like a 1992 767 flight. I wasn't flying American in those days, but United had about a 40" pitch in J so the bulkhead was the only acceptable row on an overnight flight. No IFE, which had the odd benefit that the drink table between the two J seats could be yanked out of the seat base and placed in the overhead bin.

Teacher49

I'm on it this afternoon - between my wife/business partner (OK, boss) and I its only 6 trans-Atlantic round trips, but as self-employed, the
'co-pay' would take a chunk.

On the scary side: as of yesterday the law expired which required other carriers to honor - in any way at all - the tickets of a defunct airline. This means we are making a good sized wager on the survivial of AA for the next 12 months.

Best wishes,

Teacher49

skye1

Great reminder...man, this day has snuck up on me fast. I am working on a couple of international itin's today! I have a funny feeling that Row 31 and others like it on the 777 is about to become the "Boardwalk & Park Place" of that plane as people start re-thinking shelling out the extra $500 r/t.

FWAAA

I wouldn't be very scared, as it's a wager you are almost certain to win; next week marks two years that UAL has languished in Ch 11. With an unrestricted cash balance of over $3 billion, the odds that AA will not be flying one year from now are very long odds.

Now, if you were buying tix on UAL or USAir for 12 months out, that would be a risky bet.

CoMooter

There is going to be some anger on this, but I think it is here to stay. I've got six trips to Europe over the next couple of months already booked, confirmed in most cases or at least waitlisted.

After that, we might need to take a hard long look at switching more biz than I would prefer over to UA on those Europe routes - which is still H+.

JonNYC

I would agree. I guess the hope is that at some point one of the the following (all admittedly firmly in the "pipe dream" category currently) would be considered:

• Reduction to something more reasonable ($150 each-way, etc.)
• Exempting some of the higher fare classes, besides just the two highest (say, H, K, M w/ no fee or substantially reduced fee, like $100 each-way.) Or maybe it could be (something like) $250 each way on G, Q, V, W $150 each way on L, M $100 each way on H, K-- or any combination of such that would recognize the HUGE difference in fare between netsaaver/ bottom barrel type fares and H, K type fares-- it's too big of a spectrum to have a "$250 co-pay" apply equally. To me that seems like common sense.
• Some kind of exemption or reduced fee for elites.

Governator

Well, I just requested my first and possibly last mileage upgrade for a European trip. Maybe it will even clear. It's certainly not clear that I would spend $250 more for this option. I do think I'm still with AA for most travel, all in all they have treated me ok. Let's hope AA doesn't forget it's loyal travelers.

Teacher49

Well, I got two round trips scheduled for my wife and two for me just now - 35 minutes before the deadline. Thus saving $2,000.00.

They couldn't do the third reservation because it is more than 330 days out (next November).

So on that one we will have to choose $500 each for upgrades both ways, AA coach or another airline. It we choose the last option it would be the first time in well over 10 years not flying American.

Interestingly, the ticket agent mentioned that rules can change and if there is enough complaint, this one might well change too.

Best wishes,

Teacher49

ntamayo

Well, I barely made the deadline before the co-pays would kick in. With 12 minutes to spare, I called to complete a held itinerary for LON. Was on hold several times for them to confirm inventory, apply an unused ticket, and authorize my CC for the balance. By the time I got off the phone, it was 5 past. I wonder, though, how stringent the deadline really is in AA's reservation system?

Aaah, the rush....

jaynyc

This is also my first and probably last mileage upgrade to Europe. While on the phone with the agent, I asked if they were busier than usual with international mileage upgrades. She said yes. Everyone is trying to get in under the wire.

As I indicated in a complaint letter to AA, there is no longer a reason (other than double miles) for me to use AA on my international flights, especially when the competition offers a lower fare.