brp

If we take the trip to Iceland for the Clapton concert in August, that'll blow the cents/mile...unless we don't have to count the Iceland Air part since it will be on a separate ticket and earn nothing on AA. The trip to JFK is all that matters

Cheers.

chj

Based on the responses in this thread, AA must love me! I have appx. 21,000 q-points, 16,000 q-miles, and 7 segments thus far this year, and have spent north of $5500 already. No paid premium cabins either. So that makes, what, close to 25 cents per point? Depressingly, my firm books "cheapest refundable economy fare" so I only get 1 point per mile for most of my segments. At least they let us book BA WT+.

On the other hand - I love AA because I've sat in J/F for every segment on AA metal - would definately not have been so on BA or Virgin - and while AA NGBC is not quite up to the cutting edge it is better than any other US airline's J, in my opinion. Either way, I will probably finish the year PLT with around 60k points, 50k miles, and 25 segments, having spent more than $20,000 with AA and partners for sure. Doesn't seem quite fair.

Anyone have any ideas as to why AA sets the system up this way?

sherondaw

From experience, Segments are usually less than miles

It is interesting in the classic case where the traveler that lives in a HUB CITY, say Chicago, has the ease of nonstop flights to almost anywhere the want to travel but may sufffer from higher fares because of the 'hub city syndrom'

However, the traveler in nearby MKE may connect through Chicago for almost every AA or UA flight, pay 30% less on average and also get the benefit of 4 segments instead of two

I always laugh when I speak with someone in a mid size to small city that talks about 'HOW MUCH THEY SPEND ON TRAVEL'' Compared to major markets, they have it easier and it takes half as long for them to generally get the 100 segments because of connections for almost anywhere they want to go

billgrates3

Wow! that doesn't seem too efficient on the $/EQM scale. In 2007 I flew 102k AA EQM, (combo AA, BA & SN) and all Economy classes, but only spent about $11k company money and <$5k of my own cash.
However, like you, I really like the relative ease of scoring upgrades on AA, as I was upgraded 37 segments out of 40 segs on which I was eligible... and in 2007, was PLT until December.

bdemaria

Its the FF = of the great compromise in which different travel patterns can ultimately achieve the same goal. Is it fair.... oh, there's many a thread debating that issue.

Noctilux

I have EXP for 7 years now, the first 2 years I did it on miles, now I do it on points, although as I always get over 100k miles before the end of the year, so I suppose I would make it even if I did not fly some paid J.

Blumie

You have to wonder if, in retrospect, the airlines wish they had set up their loyalty programs to reward dollars spent, rather than miles or segments flown. But of course that train left the station a long time ago.

elitetraveler

In one of the articles I read about the launch of AAdvantage I recall it was originally supposed to be a points based program based on $$$ spent like Gold Stamps (or whatever that was called) but at the 23rd hour was changed to miles for simplicity. I'm sure Randy would know the exact story.

CO FF

John Wayne Bobbit had that same feeling one night in 1993...he's had that EXP-ness ever since too.

I hope your feelings had a different motivation.

Donut13

My dad did it by four trips around the world, JFK-LAX-LHR-DXB-SIN-NRT-SYD-BNE-AKL-LAX-JFK, all for work
He only needed three trips
(Not all on OneWorld) All in F

elitetraveler

Don't you mean EXP-less?

purpleskiesfly

I usually hit it on all 3 but not necessarily in any order.

becket5

Wish I was based in a US hub that benefits from cheap coach fare specials. Being located in Barbados I've never found a way get to EXP for much under $10k no matter what type of fare class/points/miles/segment combination I go for. I get there primarily through 6 BGI-LHR-BGI trips in "B".

IMH

Sounds familiar... Mrs IMH and I will probably come in at just under $15,000 each, but we'll miss EXP by a long way unless something unexpected happens to force two extra TATL returns on us.

In our case the high cost per EQM/EQP is a simple consequence of planning most of our travel based on where we need or want to go, and when, with cost and elite qualification being important but definitely secondary factors.

We've got great deals on some trips, on others we just have to live with the pain. Getting to YVR and back in a couple of weeks' time is going to cost almost twice the combined fares for trips to LAS and BOS in May. But we don't have much choice about the timing of the Vancouver trip and, unfortunately, it coincides with Spring Break in the US. We're paying the price in terms of a much higher fare and are already anticipating the joys of travelling that week.

A FRA-SIN-FRA trip in summer is also going to be expensive and relatively unrewarding. Our timing isn't flexible and our choice was between very expensive premium class and discount Y... the return leg of which will only give us 0.5 EQM/EQP. If we could do that trip three weeks later we could save $1,000 each and bank an additional 3,000 miles... C'est la vie.

anabolism

My company books lowest fare period for domestic trips. That means non-refundable 0.5 point-per-mile fares on AA, and often it's a struggle to stay on AA, since UA offers much better discounts.

I maintain status by personal travel in which I attempt to achieve multiple goals: enjoy great flights, visit fun locations, earn a lot of EQP, don't spend too much. Usually this means DONE3 and DCIRC fares for myself along with award tickets for my partner. It can be difficult to book these together, but coming up with the cash is the really hard part, along with not having enough vacation time.