J S

Let me explain:

I like the VIPs.
I like the earlier upgrade window.
But, I don't like getting free upgrades instead of earning stickers.

The vast majority of my flights are either Y, F or J since I fly mostly for business (or on free tickets). My current qualifying miles-to-points ratio is 1:1.45. (That missing .05 is for the couple of leisure flights I took that only earned 50% points.)

When I fly for pleasure domestically, I upgrade both myself and a friend on cheap tickets, so I need stickers for them. I would rather earn stickers for all my business flights that I can spend on my companion on leisure flights than have to buy stickers for a companion. (I have not had to buy any yet since I have such a huge bank of stickers, but some day...)

Even at the new lower sticker-to-miles conversion rate, those earned stickers represent an additional 25% mileage bonus for people like me who rarely spend stickers.

There must be a few other high revenue customers out there with a similar predicament. Has anyone ever asked AA to address this?

-J S

JonNYC

There are many of us-- I was much better off under the old system as well-- there have been identical threads on this before.

And, to answer the second question, AAdvantage is not contemplating making any changes-- the "free domestic upgrades" sounds good (and competitive) and appeals to most.

777-DCA

You are the first person I have heard that says they don't like the free EXP upgrades. Have your friend do a challenge so s/he can make Gold.

SanDiego1K

My ratio is a pure 1.5. I was much better under the old system, and knew I would be as soon as the new one was implemented. Still, no system will optimize returns for everyone.

MileageGoblin

(violin music playing in background)

chrisw

I don't see the OP's friend doing a challenge solving much of anything here. If the OP's friend(s) doesn't travel enough to get gold as it is, he will not earn many stickers if he did do a challenge. The OP can already use his own stickers / buy stickers for his friend, so unless the friend could come into lots of his own stickers some how, I think the OP has assessed the situation correctly -- that he was better off without the free EXP upgrades.

DataPlumber

How does the companion being GLD help the OPs situation???

ByrdluvsAWACO

While I do like stickers, I prefer the free upgrades. Most of my travel is by myself so upgrading others is not a concern for me. In the rare cases I want to upgrade someone with me, I'll use miles for both of us instead of playing the upgrade lotto.

gemac

Seems to me like a reasonable answer would be for AA to give EXPs sticker mileage for flights in paid F or J. This would be an incentive for EXPs to actually pay for F or J, rather than just ride the upgrade, so it would mean more revenue for AA. It would also enable flyers like the OP to accumulate stickers to upgrade companions. Seems like a win-win to me.

oklAAhoma

Quite a few FTers posted their dislike here. Of course, there were also quite a few who posted in favor of the policy in that thread.


I believe the topic (both for and against) was covered
here and here as well.

FWAAA

I assume it's so the companion can take the gold to UA and get a comp to PremEx, but I may be mistaken.

DasKitty

He'd need PLT to comp over to 1P (PremEX). GLD just gets you the basic Premier (2P) level.

oklAAhoma

If I may presume to speak for another, I'm pretty sure FWAAA is aware of the info you posted. (Note the winky smiley at the end of his statement.) It's just a shame that there's not a tongue-in-cheek smiley, it would frequently come in handy.

aaupgrade

Personally I ask friends to pay for their own upgrades. They may be getting upgraded because of my status, but there is no rule that precludes them from paying for the upgrade themselves and none of my firends have objected to doing so. They are very happy to pay extra for the big seats. Now, if its your girl/boy friend, spouse or SO then that is another story.

Although this is not directly related to this subject, but since it was brought up, I always get my firends into the challenges as I assume most of us do.

HardlyW8

I wasn't aware that there were other options...unless you're flying in the cockpit or a jumpseat

(or do you mean those fare classes?)