pinniped

Some observations....

(1) The OP wasn't given miles, he didn't give AA miles, and he didn't "earn" miles. He bought them in one way or another. If he chooses not to use them, that's his call. (My guess is that as time passes, he'll realize that crappy F service on a rather short midafternoon flight isn't worth throwing in the towel for.)

(2) The service in F shouldn't vary based on whether it's paid F or upgraded F.

(3) Domestic F on a narrowbody is pretty lame with few exceptions. You're upgrading for the bigger seat and free beer, not a big meal. I know that sucks, but it's not like United is passing Dom around their domestic F cabin while pax dine on steak & tail. It's the snack box if they're lucky, and to me $3 (if that) worth of food isn't enough for me to swear off one carrier.

(4) All of that said, AA does seem to be cutting costs to the bone more than some others. But AMR is healthier than the other majors as well. It's a trade-off I guess: I'm pretty comfortable that AMR isn't going to go Chapter 7 on us.

tom911

That was my first thought when I saw this thread. I had 839,000 actual flight miles on UA when I moved to AA, and it took me over a dozen years to rack up that many. If the OP has flown that much and is just Platinum, he must have been flying on AA for over 15 years. Could a bunch of those even be credit card miles?

I don't see the issue in not getting a meal in a flight just over 2 hours. It's a non-issue to me (certainly wouldn't jump carriers over it).

So, LewDog, did you actually fly 860,00 miles with AA, or are those miles from other sources? Do you have lifetime status if those are actual flight miles?

olimaspecto

Agreed for sure. AA is definitely the cheapest for me almost all the time (in many cases much more so than JetBlue) and even when its not the cheapest, its usually only a few bucks more.

nako

Like pinniped, I disagree that stickers should matter. In my experience, I get treated no differently when using stickers than anyone who pays for F.

The meal window issue, however, is key. And since no one has posted them, these are (as far as I know) the current meal windows in F (based upon departure time):

Breakfast: 4:00am – 9:00am
Lunch: 12:00pm – 1:30pm
Dinner: 6:15pm – 7:00pm
Snack: All flights longer than 2:30 outside the meal window

Mike

tom911

Well, they'd likely have to stop in chapter 11 first, and I don't see that anytime soon. Don't they have something like $4 billion cash on hand?

DataPlumber

Amen. The meal windows and offeriengs are well documented. Caveat Emptor, but its no different on any other airline.

mia

<< AA does seem to be cutting costs to the bone more than some others>>

I would say AA is testing premium cabin service elasticity. It's safe to assume they already know the effect of raising or lowering fares, but how else can they ascertain which of the bundled service elements affect their load factors?

dennis

olimaspecto

I originally posted something of the lack of paid F, and I wasn't meaning that one should be treated differnetly with stickets or Paid F, but it was in response to someone a while back who mentioned that paid F passengers shouldn't be held responsbile for looking at what their meal service is (whehter a L, S or nothing). I agree with this.

However, if one is upgrading with stickers I would guess taht person would be more in tune with such devices as EF, etc and thus would be aware of how to accurately check what type of service (meal, aircraft type, etC) would be provided on a given flight. If one chooses to use stickers to upgrade then IMHO they would want ot check ahead of time to see what type of service they are using their stickets to upgrade to.

pinniped

Yeah, I don't see it now either, but it wouldn't bother me if they did. Ch.11 is simply a business tool - granted, if they were going to use it, they would have done on the same day DL and NW did.

MJonTravel

I've been on this same flight several times over the last year, and I don't think it's ever had a meal on it, nor was it scheduled for one.

I have very low expectations for airline meals. If I get one on any flight other than a transcon, I'm surprised, if I think it's pretty good, I'm surprised even more. My low expectations have served me pretty well. Frankly, I was shocked that the mid-con F meals I had last week on AA were as good as they were based on some of the things I've been reading on the forum. But there again, my low expectations for airline meals continue to serve me well.

However, I don't think I will ever pick an airline I'm going to use for domestic travel based upon the quality of the meal. Now... if we're talking about several grand for a F or J international ticket, that's another subject entirely! In any event, everyone is entitled to their feelings on this subject and if the OP feels that this is the final straw, then that's their business.

andrzej

that line was meant to go along with my final statement - let him find a better deal somewhere else.....

I do agree with you that the treatment should be the same.

JDiver

Let's see... AA 1370 Lv MIA 13:35 - Ar DCA 15:59, block time 2:24, 922 miles.

Well, at least you didn't have the opportunity to starve to death on a brief flight outside of any meal windows. I do hope you enjoyed your après-lunch drink(s), but I remain curious how many of those 860k miles are "butt-in-seat" miles? (My 2.9M+ include over 500k transferred from TWA, miles from status and class-of-service bonuses, credit cards, etc. I went after purposely, so my curiosity is aroused when people throw numbers around without any meaningful context. If it is all 860,000 EQMs in paid premium cabin, that could be significant, IMO.)

Er, btw, how much did you pay? Or was in a courtesy or points upgrade? Regardless, you got the space you deserved, which was considerably more space than if you had used an LLC, or if you'd been flying BA in CLub Europe, for instance.

I mean no animosity, but I do question some of the "diva-ness" I see on these boards, and seem to not be in considerable sympathy with your estimate of what you were owed vs. what you paid for. If you'd been on a transcon or transocean flight during a meal hour(s,) I'd be more inclined to feel your alleged pain.

Cheers

MiamiBeach

There are 8 flights a day MIA-DCA. In First, the first two flights serve breakfast, the next one (@ 11.51am) serves lunch, next 2 (your flight included) have no meal service, next one (@5.50pm) serves dinner, next one (@7.06pm) serves a snack, last one has no meal service. I think this is very good for a flight that often is less than 2 hours in the air (I just flew it last week). If a meal is so important to you, check the schedules instead of throwing a hissy fit.

MileageGoblin

What does it matter how the miles were accrued? However the OP got the miles, he/she generated money for AA whether it be through BIS or AA partners (who would have to purchase them from AA). The point the OP was making was how he has been LOYAL to AA. To discredit the OP's comments/rant based on how he got his "Total Miles" is irrelevant.

Hoc

FWIW, I just flew transatlantic in coach, and the food they served there was exactly equivalent to the food they serve in domestic F. That is not a compliment to the food in coach, either. And, while some do not fly F solely for the space, we need to start recognizing that AA's attitude is that the space is the only benefit they believe is sacred in F, so that is the only benefit upon which we can count. . . for now.

It's kind of like the "flight attendants are there primarily for your safety" bit. A way for them to justify downgrading service by redefining the function of that service.