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Hang on to your wallets - $50 co-pay increase for mileage upgrades, effective Oct 1st

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Hang on to your wallets - $50 co-pay increase for mileage upgrades, effective Oct 1st

 
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Old Aug 6, 2008, 8:30 am
  #31  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: LAX, CA
Programs: UA, AA, Delta, Marriott and Starwood
Posts: 350
Originally Posted by jrockway
Does anyone use eVIPs for domestic flights? I would just use stickers for upgrading domestic flights and save the eVIPs for international, which this new fee doesn't apply to.
Its better than wasting them
TheKnife is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2008, 8:32 am
  #32  
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Originally Posted by brp
Definitely not "A-therefore-B," but an "A-implies-B" IMO. I really think that the lack of knowledge of the AAdvantage minutiae (and these are minutiae to "real" people ) strongly implies lack of registration and benefit. Lack of knowledge among "AA's best customers" embodies that implication to me.

Cheers.
I'm gonna disagree with you there, Lou. I don't think there's any reason to believe that EXPs are more likely to know the minutiae of the AAdvantage program. The 20-year EXP probably knows a lot more than most about how to navigate different airports and about AA's service, but I don't know why that necessarily would translate into greater knowledge of the stuff that we obsess about. In fact the image I have in my mind is of a person who flies so f***ing much that the last thing she concerns herself with is the minutiae that we care about. Of course this is all speculation on both of our parts, but I'm sticking with my image of this woman!
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Old Aug 6, 2008, 8:44 am
  #33  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 1,337
Originally Posted by Blumie
I happen to agree with the conclusion; I think FTers fail to appreciate how unique we are in our obsessive knowledge (or feigned knowledge, in many cases) of all things AA. I just don't get the "A-therefore-B" suggested by the post I quoted.
Plus I think people here (once obtaining EXP or after a few years) like to moan about others at their same level infringing on their benefits with countless threads/posts such as:

"Didn't get my upgrade: are there too many EXPs?" ,
"Is EXP easier to obtain?",
"EXPs will be fighting for upgrades after AADER."
"AADER will dilute value of EXP and eVIPs."

Please slap me upside the head if I complain about other EXPs when I achieve the ranks in a month.
MileageGoblin is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2008, 8:54 am
  #34  
nrr
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Originally Posted by Blumie
I'm gonna disagree with you there, Lou. I don't think there's any reason to believe that EXPs are more likely to know the minutiae of the AAdvantage program. The 20-year EXP probably knows a lot more than most about how to navigate different airports and about AA's service, but I don't know why that necessarily would translate into greater knowledge of the stuff that we obsess about. In fact the image I have in my mind is of a person who flies so f***ing much that the last thing she concerns herself with is the minutiae that we care about. Of course this is all speculation on both of our parts, but I'm sticking with my image of this woman!
many of these (20-year exps) are traveling on business accounts and have all their travel booked through their corporate travel desk--so why should they be concerned with aa promos?
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Old Aug 6, 2008, 8:55 am
  #35  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Programs: AA 1MM
Posts: 3,182
Well, while I hate the idea of shelling out an extra $100 to use miles to upgrade, if this leads to more C seats to NY and more A seats to BOS and MIA from LA, then I'm actually for it. . .
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Old Aug 6, 2008, 8:57 am
  #36  
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Originally Posted by nrr
many of these (20-year exps) are traveling on business accounts and have all their travel booked through their corporate travel desk--so why should they be concerned with aa promos?


Exactly. This lady I met was in her 60s or so and actually seemed pretty oblivious to most AA procedures. She didn't even know about FEBO! And she certainly had never heard of FT.

I think it's clear that we FTers are a very unique sub-set of AA's frequent flyers.

(brp: I appreciate your backing me up.)
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Old Aug 6, 2008, 8:58 am
  #37  
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Originally Posted by JumboD
Well, while I hate the idea of shelling out an extra $100 to use miles to upgrade, if this leads to more C seats to NY and more A seats to BOS and MIA from LA, then I'm actually for it. . .

Exactly one of the points I was making. And don't forget that if more premium seats are available at departure time (because of fewer earlier mileage upgraders), then there will be more X/R inventory as well.

So, all in all, the copay seems to be a positive thing for those of us with eVIPs to burn.
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Old Aug 6, 2008, 9:11 am
  #38  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
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Originally Posted by ESpen36
Exactly one of the points I was making. And don't forget that if more premium seats are available at departure time (because of fewer earlier mileage upgraders), then there will be more X/R inventory as well.

So, all in all, the copay seems to be a positive thing for those of us with eVIPs to burn.
Also valuable for those of us who insist on the best price/availability ratio of guaranteed premium cabin seating. For the amount of times per year I go to NY or Miami I could afford to buy a biz seat, because I don't fly transcons in coach, but would rather an alternative that's cheaper and doesn't require waiting for stickers to clear.
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Old Aug 6, 2008, 9:14 am
  #39  
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Originally Posted by ESpen36
I think it's clear that we FTers are a very unique sub-set of AA's frequent flyers.
"Unique" is about the nicest thing that anyone has called me in reference to my frequent flyer obsession.

Not many people spend as much time worrying about this as we do. And that's their problem!

Mike
mikeef is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2008, 9:23 am
  #40  
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: SFO/OAK
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Originally Posted by ESpen36
I think it's clear that we FTers are a very unique sub-set of AA's frequent flyers.
FYI - One cannot be "very unique", one is either unique (i.e. one of a kind), or not.
billgrates3 is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2008, 9:45 am
  #41  
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Can we get back to .....ing about the new upgrade co-pays please?
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Old Aug 6, 2008, 9:58 am
  #42  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Posts: 6,526
Originally Posted by bdemaria
Valid point. I was pondering that post as well, but specifically the notation of a 20 year EXP. Did EXP exist in 1988?
I thought it was introduced around '97 or '98? And in the first year we got paper VIP2's effectively without capacity constraints.
bernardd is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2008, 9:58 am
  #43  
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: LI, NY
Programs: AA PLT, AAdv since Day One
Posts: 2,682
Originally Posted by jrockway
Does anyone use eVIPs for domestic flights? I would just use stickers for upgrading domestic flights and save the eVIPs for international, which this new fee doesn't apply to.
I use them for NYC-HNL flights with Mrs Inlanikai since they instituted the co-pay to HNL. Can't risk scoring two X-upgrades at the last moment or end up flying a total of 12 hours in coach each way. I buy Biz tix to Asia so the mileage upgrade "cost" to F isn't that bad if I don't have any left over eVIPs or I just fly CX in J and still get a true-flat seat (but that's another story).
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Old Aug 6, 2008, 10:24 am
  #44  
IMH
 
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Originally Posted by billgrates3
One cannot be "very unique"
That's the way I was taught it, too. How about "sort of unique"?

Back on topic: Sort of majorly unimpressed with planned co-pay increase.
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Old Aug 6, 2008, 10:40 am
  #45  
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Originally Posted by ESpen36
And frankly, there will be fewer AADER EXPs than you might think. I was on a MAD-MIA segment recently with a lady who had been EXP for 20 years, and she had never heard of AADER, even though it was posted all over AA.com for weeks!
I didn't know EXP status existed 20 years ago

me thinks someone was pulling your chain
TrojanHorse is offline  



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